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Julienne Soup
1 qt. brown stock 1 pt. mixed vegetables--celery, turnip, carrot, onion, cabbage 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon peppercorns Cut celery and turnip into cubes. Cut carrot into long thin pieces, slice onion. Cabbage should be coarsely chopped. Cook the vegetables in boiling seasoned water until tender. Drain them and add to the soup a few minutes before serving. A richer soup may be had by retaining the vegetable stock. Serves 8.
A clear soup that depends entirely on the stock; the vegetables are cooked separately so the broth stays bright. Almost nothing here needs updating beyond the units and a note on the peppercorns.
- Quantities1 qt. brown stock is 4 cups; 1 pt. of mixed vegetables is 2 cups. The recipe does not say whether the vegetables are measured before or after cutting. Either way the ratio gives a soup that is mostly broth, which is the point of a julienne.
- Brown stockA stock made from roasted beef bones and browned mirepoix. A good low-sodium beef broth substitutes, but taste before adding the half teaspoon of salt, since commercial broth is already seasoned.
- The peppercornsAn eighth of a teaspoon of whole peppercorns is for perfume, not for eating. The recipe does not say where they go; "boiling seasoned water" suggests the salt and pepper season the vegetable water. Wherever you use them, strain them out or tie them in cheesecloth rather than leaving them loose in the bowls.
- CuttingJulienne properly means matchsticks about 1/8 inch square and an inch or two long. The instruction to cube the celery and turnip is inconsistent with the name; cutting everything into matchsticks gives the classic look and cooks more evenly.
- Cooking the vegetables apartThis is the hinge. Boiling carrot, cabbage and turnip directly in the stock clouds it and pushes cabbage sulphur through the whole pot. Cook them in salted water, drain, then add them to the hot stock a few minutes before serving.
- Timing by vegetableThe recipe says only "until tender." Cut fine, carrot and turnip take the longest, then celery, then onion, with cabbage quickest; cubes will take appreciably longer than matchsticks. Cook the cabbage separately or add it last, since overcooked cabbage will dominate a delicate broth.
- The richer versionRetaining the vegetable water means combining it with the stock instead of discarding it, which adds body and sweetness at the cost of clarity. Reduce it a little first so the soup is not thin.
- YieldEight servings as written, which means small cups of about 6 oz. As a first course in bowls, count on four to five.