Lucky me, lucky you. My wildly talented friend Daniel de la Falaise has promised to “bombard” me with soups recipes. You might remember his recipe for Carrot Tarragon Soup that I posted in September—so delicious. What I love about Daniel is that he not only has a zeal for cooking, but also insists on doing it well and getting it right, while keeping it simple. You can get a sense for his passion when you read through his recipes. Even if you don’t cook, it’s easy to appreciate his dedication to freshness and seasonally appropriate creations. Always the best.
homemade chicken broth
a young leek (whites for the soup and leaves to infuse broth)
a generous bunch young autumn parsley ( first cut of parsley planted in August/ September)
a fleshy chili, for flavor not taste
a generous head of bay in bud
a young cauliflower
To create a light broth for the base of soup use outer leaves of the leek, stalks of parsley, bay and a hint of chilli. Bring to a simmer, cover. Allow broth to stand off the heat to infuse. Whilst the stock rests off the heat, the fresh herbs will gently continue to cook in the carefully accumulated temperature. Keep covered with a lid.
Mandolin the cauliflower, aspiring to paper thin proportions, and finely chop the leek. Heat olive in a pan and add bay, parsley stalks and chili to infuse the oil. Add a knob of butter to carry the flavor of the herbs and infuse the cooking fat some more.
Remove the herbs squeezing them for all they yield. Add cauliflower and toast it in the herb infused cooking fat. Add the leek. Toast some more; taste and season
Once translucent de-glaze the whole with a little broth so as to make an emulsion between the cooking fat and the essence extracted from the vegetables and the broth.
Add the remaining broth (less for a thicker soup and visa versa) and bring to a simmer. Add fresh bay, parsley and cover. Stand the pan off the heat to rest. It will infuse in its accumulated temperature.
Resist the urge to meddle for a good twenty minutes. As the soup is off the heat nothing bad can happen. It is merely a question of embracing a sensory awareness of the quality of flavour one aspires to. Once achieved remove the herbs squeezing them for all they yield.
Spoon the vegetables into a liquidiser then pour in the broth. Liquidize. Add an abundance of parsley leaf and olive oil for texture. Return the finished soup to the heat and gently bring up the temperature. Never boil or chlorophyl will oxidise—greens turn grey and delicate flavours turn to bitter tastes.
Serve immediately in hot soup plates. Garnish with a young sprig or two of parsley and a slug of good olive oil.
