by Julia Child
STOCKS
Light Chicken Stock
Bring to the simmer in water to cover a collection of raw and/or cooked chicken bones, trimmings, gizzards, and necks (but no livers). Skim off scum that rises to the surface for several minutes, then salt very lightly. Cover loosely and simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, adding water if needed. You may also wish to include chopped onions, carrots, celery (½ cup each for every 2 quarts of bones), and an herb bouquet. Strain and degrease.
To make a “strong chicken stock,” boil it down to concentrate its flavor.
When the stock is cool, cover and either refrigerate for several days or freeze.
VARIATIONS
TURKEY, VEAL, OR PORK STOCK. Proceed as for the light chicken stock, above.
HAM STOCK. For 2 quarts of ham bones and scraps, include 1 cup each of chopped carrots, onions, and celery, and an herb bouquet consisting of 3 imported bay leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, and 5 whole cloves or allspice berries. Proceed as for the chicken stock, but simmer about 3 hours.
BROWN CHICKEN, TURKEY, OR DUCK STOCK. Chop the bones and scraps into ½-inch pieces and brown in hot oil in a frying pan, and for every 2 quarts of them add ½ cup each chopped carrots, onions, and celery stalks. When nicely browned, transfer to a heavy saucepan. Skim fat out of frying pan, pour in cup of dry white wine, and scrape coagulated browning juices into it, then pour into the saucepan, adding chicken stock and/or water to cover ingredients. Include an herb bouquet, salt lightly, and cover loosely. Simmer, skim, strain, and degrease as for the light chicken stock.
Simple Beef Stock
Arrange a collection of meaty raw and/or cooked beef bones, such as shank, neck, oxtail, and/or knuckle, in a roasting pan, adding (for every 2 to 3 quarts of bones) ½ cup each of roughly chopped onions, celery, and carrots. Baste lightly with vegetable oil and brown for 30 to 40 minutes in a 450°F oven, turning and basting with oil or accumulated fat several times. Scoop bones and vegetables into a stockpot. Pour fat out of roasting pan and deglaze with 2 cups of water, simmering and scraping up coagulated juices. Pour into pot, adding cold water to cover ingredients by 2 inches. Add more chopped onion, celery, and carrot (½ cup each for every 2 to 3 quarts of bones), a chopped fresh tomato, 2 large cloves of smashed unpeeled garlic, and a medium herb bouquet. Bring to the simmer, skim off scum for several minutes, and continue as for the preceding chicken stock, but simmer 2 to 3 hours.
VARIATIONS
BROWN VEAL, PORK, OR LAMB STOCK. Proceed as for beef stock, above, but omit the carrots for lamb stock.
Fish Stock
Wash fresh fish frames (bones and head, minus gills) from lean white fish such as cod, hake, flounder, halibut, sole. (Do not add dark skin.) Chop into pieces. Bring to the simmer in a large pot with water to cover by 1 inch. Skim off scum for a few minutes, salt lightly, cover loosely, and simmer 30 minutes. Strain. Boil down to concentrate flavor. Cover when cool, and refrigerate for a day or freeze.
USING CANNED BROTHS AND BOUILLONS. To disguise your use of the can, simmer the broth for 15 to 20 minutes with a handful of minced carrots, onions, and celery and perhaps a bit of dry white wine or dry white French vermouth.
NOTE: I use the terms broth and bouillon interchangeably, whether fresh or canned; stock refers to homemade.
COOKING WITH OR WITHOUT WINE. For red wine, use a young, full wine such as a zinfandel or a Chianti. White wines should be dry and full-bodied, such as a sauvignon, but because many of the whites are too acid, I prefer to use a dry white French vermouth. In addition to its strength and quality, it keeps nicely. Port, Madeiras, and sherries must be dry. If you do not wish to cook with wine, simply omit it, or add stock or more herbs.
SOUPS MADE FROM STOCK OR CANNED BROTH
MASTER RECIPE
Chicken Soup with Vegetables
For about 2½ quarts, serving 6 to 8
8 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
1 imported bay leaf
½ cup dry white wine or dry white French vermouth
1 cup each julienne or fine dice of onion, celery, white of leek, and carrot
2 boned and skinned chicken-breast halves
Salt and pepper
Bring stock or broth to the simmer with the bay leaf, wine, and vegetables; simmer 5 to 6 minutes, or until the vegetables are just tender. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into thin slices, and the slices into julienne matchsticks 1½ inches long. Fold them into the soup and let simmer just a minute or two, until cooked through. Correct seasoning, then let sit for 15 to 20 minutes, allowing the chicken to absorb flavors. Serve hot with melba toast or buttered toast points.
VARIATIONS
BEEF AND VEGETABLE SOUP. In a large saucepan, sauté 1 cup each finely diced onion, celery, carrot, and leek for 2 minutes in butter. Pour in 2 quarts beef stock or canned bouillon. Add ½ cup diced turnip; ½ cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta), quick-cooking tapioca, or rice; and, if available, any cooked and chopped beef shank or oxtail meat left from making beef stock. Simmer 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blanch for a minute or so 1½ cups shredded green cabbage leaves; drain, chop, and add to soup with ¾ cup peeled, seeded, diced tomato. If you’ve not used meat, add also ¾ cup cooked or canned red or white beans. Reheat to the simmer for a few moments; season to taste, and serve.
FRENCH ONION SOUP. In a large saucepan, slowly sauté 2 quarts thinly sliced onions in 3 tablespoons butter and 1 of oil for about 20 minutes, until softened. Stir in ½ teaspoon each salt and sugar; sauté 15 to 20 minutes more over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour over onions and cook slowly, stirring, for 2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in 2 cups hot beef stock or canned beef broth and ¼ cup cognac or brandy. When well blended, stir in 2 quarts more stock or broth and 1 cup dry white wine or dry white French vermouth. Simmer, loosely covered, for 30 minutes. Season to taste, and serve.
ONION SOUP GRATINÉE. Line the bottom of a large casserole or individual crocks with hard-toasted French-bread rounds (see box below); top with thin slices of Swiss cheese. Ladle the hot onion soup over them, float more toast rounds on top, and cover with a layer of grated Swiss or Parmesan. Bake in a 450°F oven 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and browned.
HARD-TOASTED FRENCH-BREAD ROUNDS—CROÛTES. For about 18, made from a 16-inch baguette. Slice the bread ¼-inch thick and dry out for 25 to 30 minutes in a 325°F oven, until light brown and crisp. You may wish to paint them with olive oil halfway through.
Mediterranean Fish Soup
For about 3 quarts, serving 8. Sauté 1 cup each sliced leeks and onions in ¼ cup olive oil until almost tender. Stir in 2 or more large cloves of chopped garlic; 3 cups peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped tomatoes; a tablespoon of tomato paste; 2 pieces dried orange peel if available; and ½ teaspoon each dried thyme and fennel seeds. Simmer another 5 minutes. Pour in 2 quarts fish stock or light chicken stock. Stir in a pinch of saffron if available. Season lightly, and bring to the boil; simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make a rouille (red garlic sauce; see box below), and cut into 2-inch chunks 3 pounds (6 cups) of skinless and boneless lean fish, such as cod, halibut, sea bass, monkfish. When almost ready to serve, add the fish to the soup, bring to the boil, and cook a minute or so, just until fish turns opaque and is springy to the touch. Spread the rouille on hard-toasted French-bread rounds and place in soup bowls. Ladle on soup and fish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese, and serve, passing more rouille separately.
ROUILLE—RED GARLIC SAUCE. To accompany fish soups, boiled potatoes, eggs, poached fish, pastas—and for all garlic lovers. In a heavy bowl, purée 6 to 8 large minced cloves of peeled garlic to a fine paste with ¼ tsp salt. Pound in 18 large leaves fresh basil, chopped; ¾ cup lightly pressed-down fresh bread crumbs; 3 tablespoons soup base or milk. When paste is smooth, pound or beat in 3 egg yolks. Switch to an electric mixer and beat in ⅓ cup diced canned red pimiento, and by driblets, as for making mayonnaise, ¾ to 1 cup fruity olive oil, to make a strong, thick sauce. Season with salt,
pepper, and Tabasco.
AÏOLI. Omit the pimiento here, and you have the famous garlic sauce, aïoli.
Scotch Broth
For about 2 quarts, serving 6. Bring 2 quarts lamb stock, or lamb stock plus chicken broth, to the simmer. Stir in ½ cup barley, lentils, or almost cooked white beans (or add canned beans later), and ½ cup each diced onion, turnip, and carrot. Fold in 1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced tomato. Cover loosely and simmer about 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender; season to taste. Stir in 3 tablespoons chopped parsley, and serve.
CREAM SOUPS
MASTER RECIPE
Cream of Mushroom Soup
For about 2 quarts, serving 6
4 Tbs butter
1 cup minced onion or white of leek
¼ cup flour
1 cup hot chicken stock
6 cups milk
1 quart fresh mushrooms, trimmed, washed, and diced
¼ tsp dried tarragon leaves
½ cup or more heavy cream, sour cream, or crème fraîche, optional
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Drops of lemon juice, optional
Sprigs of fresh tarragon or slices of sautéed fresh mushroom caps, for garnish
The Soup Base. Sauté the onion or leek slowly with the butter in a heavy-bottomed covered saucepan, for 7 to 8 minutes, until tender and translucent. Blend in the flour and cook slowly 2 or 3 minutes, stirring. Off heat, gradually whisk in the hot stock. Bring to the simmer over moderate heat, and whisk in the milk.
The Mushrooms. Blend in the mushrooms and dried tarragon, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Stir in optional cream, simmer briefly, then season to taste, adding drops of lemon juice if needed. Garnish with tarragon sprigs, or with sautéed mushroom slices floated on each serving.
CRÈME FRAÎCHE—FRENCH SOUR CREAM. This is unpasteurized heavy cream allowed to ferment naturally. You can simulate it either by blending 1 tablespoon of sour cream into a cup of heavy cream and allowing it to ferment and thicken at room temperature, or by whisking together equal amounts of sour cream and heavy cream until thickened. The cream will keep for a week under refrigeration.
TO KEEP CREAM SOUPS AND SAUCES. To prevent a skin from forming on the surface of flour-thickened soups and sauces, stir them up every few minutes. Or, to keep longer, float a film of milk or stock on the surface by filling a large spoon with the liquid, laying the spoon flat on the surface as you tip it, then spreading the liquid over the surface with the back of the spoon.
VARIATIONS
CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP. Prepare the soup base as described above. Meanwhile, separate the small buds and stems from 1 or 2 heads of broccoli (about 1½ pounds) and set them aside. Peel and slice the stems, and boil them over ½ inch of water. Purée them in a food processor with 1 cup of the soup base, then fold into the remaining soup. Simmer the reserved tender buds briefly in the broccoli-boiling liquid; refresh in cold water to set color; drain, and set aside; just before serving, reheat briefly in a tablespoon of butter. Rapidly boil down the cooking liquid until reduced to ½ cup, and add to the soup base. When ready to serve, heat soup to the simmer, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes with up to ½ cup of heavy cream or sour cream. Correct seasoning and serve, decorating each portion with broccoli buds.
CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP. Boil 2 pounds peeled fresh asparagus spears until almost tender. Refresh in cold water and cut off about 2 tender inches at the tip of each spear. Cut the bud ends off each tip, slice buds in half or quarters, and reserve for garnish—sautéing them briefly in butter before serving. Reserve the rest of the tips to purée later, and chop up the remaining stalks. Add these stalks to cook with the onions for the soup base, and purée the finished soup base through a vegetable mill to eliminate coarse asparagus strings. Purée the reserved tips (not buds!) and add to the soup base. Simmer with ½ cup or so of heavy cream or sour cream, correct seasoning, and top each portion with the sautéed asparagus buds.
CREAM OF CARROT SOUP. Trim and peel 8 medium-size carrots. Reserve one for garnish. Chop the rest roughly and add them to cook with the onions in the soup base. Shave reserved carrot into strips with a vegetable peeler; steam over boiling water several minutes until tender. Decorate each serving with a cluster of warm carrot strips.
OTHER VARIATIONS. Adapt other vegetables such as spinach, parsnips, celery, broccoli to the same system, and see also the next section using a rice purée.
FAT-FREE CREAM SOUPS WITH PURÉED RICE
You can follow this system with any of the preceding cream soups: rather than using a butter-and-flour roux for thickening, you simmer rice in the soup base until very tender. When it is turned into a very fine purée in the electric blender, you have a deliciously creamy, literally fat-free cream soup.
MASTER RECIPE
Rutabaga Soup Soubise—with Rice and Onion Purée For about 2¼ quarts, serving 8
¾ cup sliced celery stalks
1½ cups sliced onions
2 cups light chicken stock
⅓ cup raw white rice
4 cups additional liquid—light chicken stock and milk
1½ quarts (2½ pounds) peeled and roughly sliced rutabaga
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Optional: sour cream or crème fraîche, and chopped parsley
The Rice and Onion Soup Base. Simmer the celery and onions in the 2 cups of chicken stock until very tender and translucent—15 minutes or more. Stir in the rice, and the rest of the liquid.
The Rutabaga, and Finishing the Soup. Stir in the rutabaga, bring to the simmer, season lightly, and simmer loosely covered for about 30 minutes, or until both rutabaga and rice are very tender. Purée in batches in the electric blender. Reheat, correct seasoning, and top each serving, if you wish, with a spoonful of sour cream or crème fraîche, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
VARIATIONS
CREAM OF CUCUMBER SOUP. For about 2¼ quarts, serving 6 to 8. Peel 4 large cucumbers, save half of one for garnish, halve the rest lengthwise, and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Chop the halves roughly and toss with 2 teaspoons each of wine vinegar and salt; let stand while the celery and onions have their preliminary simmer. Then turn the chopped cucumbers and their liquid into the soup base with the rice, and finish the soup as described in the preceding recipe. To serve, garnish with a dollop of cream, cucumber slices, and a sprinkling of fresh dill weed.
CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP WITH VEGETABLES. Combine the rice-and-onion soup base with the chicken-and-vegetable soup, using only 4 cups of the liquid called for in the chicken recipe.
CHOWDERS
Traditional chowders all start off with a hearty soup base of onions and potatoes, and that makes a good soup just by itself. To this fragrant base you then add chunks of fish, or clams, or corn, or whatever else seems appropriate. (Note: You may leave out the pork and substitute another tablespoon of butter for sautéing the onions.)
The Chowder Soup Base For about 2 quarts, to make a 2½-quart chowder serving 6 to 8
4 ounces (⅔ cup) diced blanched salt pork or bacon
1 Tbs butter
3 cups (1 pound) sliced onions
1 imported bay leaf
¾ cup crumbled “common” or pilot crackers, or 1 pressed-down cup fresh white bread crumbs
6 cups liquid (milk, chicken stock, fish stock, clam juices, or a combination)
3½ cups (1 pound) peeled and sliced or diced boiling potatoes
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Sauté the pork or bacon bits slowly with the butter in a large saucepan for 5 minutes, or until pieces begin to brown. Stir in the onions and bay leaf; cover, and cook slowly 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions are tender. Drain off fat and blend crackers or bread crumbs into onions. Pour in the liquid; add the potatoes and simmer, loosely covered, for 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, and the soup base is ready.
CHOWDER SUGGESTIONS
NEW ENGLAND CLAM
CHOWDER. For about 2½ quarts, serving 6 to 8. Scrub and soak 24 medium-size hard-shell clams (see box below). Steam them for 3 to 4 minutes in a large tightly covered saucepan with 1 cup water, until most have opened. Remove the opened clams; cover, and steam the rest another minute or so. Discard any unopened clams. Pluck meat from the shells, then decant steaming-liquid very carefully, so all sand remains in the saucepan; include the clam-steaming liquid as part of the chowder base. Meanwhile, mince the clam meats in a food processor or chop by hand. Fold them into the finished chowder base. Just before serving, heat to below the simmer—so the clams won’t overcook and toughen. Fold in a little heavy cream or sour cream if you wish; thin with milk if necessary, correct seasoning, and serve.
TO PREPARE CLAMS. Scrub one at a time under running water, discarding any that are cracked, damaged, or not tightly closed. Soak 30 minutes in a basin of salted water (⅓ cup salt per 4 quarts water). Lift out, and if more than a few grains of sand remain in the basin, repeat. Refrigerate, covered by a damp towel. Use them within a day or two.
