Watercress Vichyssoise Recipes

WATERCRESS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Simmer potato, onion, broth, and cream, uncovered, in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in watercress and cook mixture, uncovered, over moderately low heat 3 minutes more.
• Purée soup in 2 batches in a blender until very smooth, about 45 seconds per batch (use caution when blending hot liquids). Force soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them. Season with salt and pepper and let soup stand, uncovered, until cool, 45 minutes, then chill, covered, 1 1/2 hours.

BUTTERMILK VICHYSSOISE WITH WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add leeks, and cook, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add potatoes, stock, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely; stir in 2 cups watercress.
• Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth. Transfer pureed soup to a large bowl. Season with salt and white pepper. Stir in half-and-half, if using; chill at least 1 hour. Add buttermilk just before serving. Adjust seasoning as needed. If necessary, thin the soup with a bit more chicken stock or water to achieve desired consistency. Garnish with remaining cup watercress leaves.

WATERCRESS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and cut into 3/4-inch chunks. In a 3- to 4-quart pan over high heat, bring potatoes and broth to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced, 18 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse and drain watercress. Pick six tender sprigs from stems and reserve. Coarsely chop remaining watercress, including stems; you should have 2 1/2 to 3 cups. Stir chopped watercress into potato-broth mixture and cook just until watercress is bright green and wilted, about 1 minute.
• Pour half the potato-watercress mixture into a blender and, holding lid closed with a towel, whirl until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Repeat to purée remaining soup; pour into bowl. Stir in buttermilk.
• To serve soup hot, return to pan and stir over medium heat just until steaming (do not boil). To serve cold, cover and chill until cold, 3 to 4 hours.
• Ladle into bowls. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with reserved watercress sprigs.

BUTTERMILK VICHYSSOISE WITH WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, and cook, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add the potatoes, stock, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely; stir in 2 cups of the watercress.
• Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Transfer the pureed soup to a large bowl. Season with salt and white pepper. Stir in the half-and-half; chill at least 1 hour. Add the buttermilk just before serving. Adjust seasoning; if necessary, thin the soup with a bit more chicken stock or water to achieve the desired consistency. Garnish with the remaining cup watercress leaves.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in the pressure cooker pot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, celery leaves and 1 teaspoon of the salt and cook, stirring often, until soft, approximately 8 minutes. If the leeks start to brown during this process, reduce the heat.
• Drain the potato pieces and add to the pot along with the simmering chicken broth. Clamp on the cooker's lid, (according to the manufacturer's instructions) and bring to full pressure over high heat.
• Once pressure is attained (there will be a loud whistle) back the heat down to medium-low, just maintaining a hissing of steam for 8 minutes.
• Kill the heat and release the steam pressure by opening the dump valve or setting the cooker under cold, running water. When the lid can be removed, carefully transfer the mixture to a blender carafe. (If the mixture fills your carafe more than two-thirds full, work in two batches!)
• Top the carafe with the main lid but remove the center lid so that air can escape as it heats and expands. Cover the lid tightly with a tea towel and blend on low for 1 minute before slowly increasing the speed to smoothly puree the potatoes. (Although you want to increase the speed slowly, try not to puree the potatoes too long as they could become gummy.)
• Transfer the mixture back to the pot and whisk in the cream. Stir in the white pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning (I always need the rest of the salt). Chill thoroughly then serve garnished with a small spoonful of the roe and dill fronds.
• Tightly covered, the vichyssoise will keep a week in the refrigerator. The soup can also be frozen in ice-cube trays then kept in freezer bags for up to three months.