Crème de Laitues, otherwise Judic

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5 to 6-quart pot for parboiling
• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
• •Immersion blender
• •Sturdy 8-inch fine-mesh sieve
• •1½-inch (4 cm) round cutter
• •10-inch shallow skillet with lid
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the lettuces

   Remove and discard the toughest, greenest leaves, exactly as the source directs; they bring bitterness and a muddy color to a soup meant to remain delicate. Reserve eight broad, tender leaves for the garnish. Quarter the remaining lettuce lengthwise, remove the cores, then cut it cisel, crosswise into narrow strips about ¼ inch (6 mm) wide.

2. 2

   Parboil and press

   Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season it with most of the salt. Blanch the eight reserved leaves for 20 seconds, lift them into cold water, then lay them flat on a clean towel. Add the cisel lettuce to the boiling water and parboil it for 90 seconds, just until it collapses. Drain, cool briefly, then gather it in the towel and squeeze firmly until no water runs. If the bundle still feels heavy and sodden, open it, turn the lettuce, and squeeze again. Water left here follows the lettuce into the soup and weakens everything built afterward.

   Parboiling takes away the raw, grassy edge. Pressing afterward is equally necessary; one softens the leaf, and the other makes room for butter.
3. 3

   Stew in butter

   Melt the butter in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the squeezed lettuce and a small pinch of the remaining salt, cover, and stew gently for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the lettuce is completely tender and the pan is nearly dry without any browning. If liquid gathers around it, raise the heat briefly and keep the lettuce moving until the excess evaporates; if the butter begins to color, lower the heat at once. The lettuce should taste sweet and concentrated, not toasted.

4. 4

   Fold into Béchamel

   Warm the prepared Béchamel in a clean saucepan over gentle heat, then fold in the butter-stewed lettuce. Hold the mixture at the barest simmer for 8 minutes, stirring along the bottom and into the corners so the flour-bound sauce cannot catch. This short cooking joins the lettuce to the Béchamel; simply blending the two while cold leaves the flavors sitting beside one another.

5. 5

   Pass the soup

   Blend the hot lettuce and Béchamel until no visible strips remain, keeping the blender head submerged. Press the purée through a sturdy fine-mesh sieve with the back of a ladle, scraping the smooth purée from the underside. This is the home equivalent of rubbing it through a tammy, and it must stay; blending makes the lettuce small, while passing makes the soup silken. If the mixture is too thick to move through the sieve, work in one or two spoonfuls of the measured consommé, no more.

6. 6

   Loosen with consommé

   Reserve ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of the white consommé for poaching the garnish. Whisk the remaining consommé gradually into the passed purée, keeping the mixture smooth after each addition, then heat it at a quiet simmer for 5 minutes. It should coat a spoon lightly rather than sit on it like sauce. If it is thin, reduce it gently now, before the cream enters; the measured poaching liquid and cream will loosen it further.

7. 7

   Poach the roundels

   Pat the reserved blanched leaves completely dry and cut sixteen 1½-inch (4 cm) roundels. Spread each with a thin, even coating of cold chicken forcemeat, about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick, and place one piece of truffle at its center. If the forcemeat slides instead of holding, chill the assembled roundels for 10 minutes; cold is the correction, not extra flour. Arrange them coated-side up in a shallow skillet, add the reserved consommé around them, cover, and poach at the gentlest quiver for 4 to 6 minutes, until the forcemeat is opaque and reaches 165°F (74°C). A boil will roughen the coating, so lift the skillet from the heat if the liquid becomes lively. Transfer the roundels with a slotted spoon and strain their poaching liquid back into the soup.

   Keep both the forcemeat and the lettuce leaves cold while shaping. Warm forcemeat smears, while cold forcemeat holds a neat, delicate layer through the poach.
8. 8

   Finish with cream

   Bring the soup back to gentle heat and whisk in the cream. Season with the white pepper and as much of the remaining salt as it needs. Do not let it boil once the cream is in. If overheating makes the surface look grainy or dull, remove the pan from the heat, whisk in a spoonful of cold cream, blend briefly, and pass it once more. Ça se rattrape. Divide the soup among warm bowls and float two lettuce roundels on each, truffle centers facing up. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose butterhead or Bibb lettuce with tender, cupped leaves. Romaine is too fibrous for this passing, while iceberg contributes water without enough flavor to repay the butter.
• •Use a pouring Béchamel that coats the back of a spoon while warm, not the stiff sauce intended to hold a gratin together. Its body must support the lettuce without turning the finished soup pasty.
• •A small whole preserved black truffle is an honest pantry choice when fresh truffle is unavailable. Drain and dry it well. Do not replace it with truffle oil; the source asks for a dark, earthy center on each roundel, not perfume through the entire pot.
• •The source permits a velouté version. That is a legitimate branch of the same soup family, but it replaces the Béchamel and therefore is not the principal Judic method given here.
• •Pour a restrained white Burgundy or a dry Champagne. Both have enough freshness for the cream without trampling the lettuce and truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Béchamel and white consommé up to two days ahead and refrigerate them separately. Prepare the chicken forcemeat no more than one day ahead, keep it below 40°F (4°C), and cook it to 165°F (74°C).
• •The soup may be completed through the consommé stage earlier in the day. Cool it promptly, refrigerate it, then reheat gently and add the cream only before serving.
• •Blanch, dry, and cut the lettuce roundels up to 6 hours ahead, separating the layers with parchment in a covered container. Coat and poach them close to serving so the leaves remain neat and the forcemeat stays tender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)