Redpeppervichyssoise Recipes

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Cook the potatoes in salted water to cover until just tender. Melt the butter in a skillet and cool the leeks gently, tossing them lightly, for a few minutes. Add the chicken bouillon and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the leeks until tender. Add the potatoes to the leeks and the broth and season to taste with salt, papper and nutmeg. Put this mixture in the blender (you will need to blend it in two lots) and blend for 1 minute, or until smooth. Chill. When ready to serve, mix in sour cream or heavy cream. Garnish with chopped chives.

RED PEPPER VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Cut the peppers into thirds; remove seeds and membranes. Place the peppers in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 6 minutes. Drain and let cool. This will make it easy to remove the skins of the peppers. Remove and discard the skin from the peppers. Place the peppers in a blender, and cover and process until smooth. Make sure you stop at least once to scrape down the sides of the blender. Cover and chill thoroughly.
• Saute leeks in the butter in a Dutch oven over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add broth and potato. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or until the potato is tender.
• Place half of the potato-leek mixture in the container of a blender; cover and process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down the sides. Repeat the procedure with the remaining potato mixure.
• Stir in the whipping cream, salt, and pepper. Cover and chill thoroughly.
• Combine the pepper mixture and the potato mixture. Stir well. To serve, ladle cold soup into individual bowls. Top each serving with a dollop of Creme Fraiche and garnish with chopped chives.

ITALIAN VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• For the soup: In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, chicken broth, and arugula. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes. In batches, ladle the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and whisk in the cheese, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Let the soup cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until ready to serve. Before serving, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.
• For the croutons: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, toss together the bread, oil, and salt until coated. Spread in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.
• To serve: Ladle the soup into small bowls. Garnish with croutons and cherry tomatoes.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. In a second stockpot over low heat, warm the chicken stock. Meanwhile, slice the white parts of the leeks in half lengthwise; then thinly slice. Trim and thinly slice celery. Add leeks and celery to the melted butter; gently sweat until translucent, 7-8 minutes, adding a pinch of salt halfway through. Make sure the vegetables do not take on any color.Meanwhile, slice potatoes lengthwise into 4 wedges, then roughly dice into 1-inch chunks. When the leeks and celery are translucent, add warmed stock, followed by the potatoes.
• Make a sachet: Lay a square of cheesecloth large enough to fit the herbs on a flat surface. Place thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and garlic in the middle; then wrap into a bundle and tie with butcher's twine. Submerge the sachet in the soup and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.
• When a fork easily pierces a potato, the soup is ready to be blended. First, remove the sachet. Then use a ladle to remove 1½ cups of broth; set aside. Carefully add the rest of the soup to a blender and cover. Blend, beginning on low speed, then slowly increasing to high speed. When the soup is pale and completely puréed, turn off the blender and add crème fraîche. Cover and continue blending on high speed to a light, smooth texture. Test the thickness, then add some of the reserved broth as necessary to thin the soup, and blend again. Set aside the remaining broth.
• Strain the soup (optional): In a large bowl filled with ice, chill a second bowl large enough to hold the soup. Strain the soup through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer into the chilled bowl; use the back of a ladle to help push the soup through the strainer. The vichyssoise will have a syrupy texture when it's warm, but it will become thicker and more velvety as it chills in the bowl. Let cool for 1 hour.
• When the vichyssoise is chilled, strain more reserved broth into the soup as needed to thin to desired consistency; stir well to combine. Ladle into a bowl. Shape quenelles of crème fraîche (optional): Pass about a tablespoon of crème fraîche back and forth between two spoons, smoothing and shaping it until you have formed an egg-shaped dollop, or "quenelle." Garnish each bowl with a quenelle of crème fraîche and several chive batons before serving.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Put the leeks, potatoes, celery and onions in a pot. Add mineral water to cover and season with salt and pepper. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer until very tender. Puree and strain into a glass bowl. Thin with the cream, and with more liquid if needed. Let cool, then chill.
• Before serving, thin the soup to the desired consistency with more water or milk. (You can also use chicken stock, but if you're trying to be vegetarian, then obviously don't.) Check the seasonings. Serve sprinkled with chives.

RED PEPPER VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Place peppers in a steamer over 1 inch of water in a wide-mouthed pot. Cover pot, bring water to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes or until peppers are very soft.
• Pass peppers through the medium disk of a food mill, or puree in a food processor and then force through a sieve. Reserve.
• Place shallots, potato and stock in a small saucepan. Cover.
• Bring to a boil. Lower heat, and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, or until potato pieces are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.
• Combine potato mixture with pepper puree, salt and cream. Puree in 2-cup batches in blender until smooth.
• Refrigerate at least 2 hours. If refrigerating overnight, remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.