Great for cooking for one or two.  Adapted from a recipe from Julie Powell, and a half-remembered recipe I read long ago from Mark Bittman. Leaving the cloves on adds more flavor, plus it’s just easier, and it’s going to be strained anyway.

This makes 2-3 portions of broth, so if you’re cooking for only one, cook the egg or shrimp in just one portion and save the rest for another night.

half a head of garlic, broken into cloves but not peeled
1 T olive oil
1/4 t smoked paprika
1/4 t thyme
3 fresh sage leaves, or 1/4 t dried sage
1/2 t salt, or to taste
1/2 t fresh ground pepper

6 or 8 shrimp per person, peeled (optional)
1 egg per person (optional)
fresh parmesan cheese (optional)
crusty bread (optional)

In a 1 1/2 quart saucepan, combine garlic cloves and next 6 ingredients (through pepper). Add 1 quart of water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, about 30 minutes. Strain the broth into a heatproof bowl, squishing as much of the “meat” of the garlic through as possible.

Place as many portions of broth as you’re going to serve in as small a saucepan as will hold it (so it’s as deep as possible). Bring back to a low simmer. Add the shrimp, or slip in an egg. With shrimp, cook until they’re pink. With an egg, cook until it’s really barely set, as it’ll continue to cook after you take it off the heat, and it’s easy to overcook the yolk.

To serve, top with grated parmesan cheese, with crusty bread on the side, and maybe a simple salad.

Well, I’m still waaayyy behind on Whisk Wednesdays, but I’m finally trying to do some catching up and posts some of the ones I’ve cooked but haven’t written up. This soup was supposed to be up a couple weeks ago, when we were still on our soup unit. Le Cordon Bleu tells us that “Madrilene” — which means Madrid-style — can be used for any dish containing tomatoes, but it is particularly appropriate for this consumme in the golden and red colors of the Spanish flag. I really enjoyed this soup since it was pretty hot when we made it, and this cold soup was very refreshing. I was also pleasantly surprised at how flavorful the broth was. I had a fair amount leftover that I froze, planning to use it at some point in place of stock.

The way this was cooked was also very interesting. You add the meat, vegetables, and egg whites to the chicken broth, and after simmering for a while they form a kind of crust on top, which is supposed to help filter out the impurities and make a perfectly clear broth (which is then additionally strained to make it even clearer). If you want some more details about how this was made, you can look a the pictures below, and of course for the recipe, get a copy of Le Cordon Bleu at Home. And as always, don’t forget to check out the results of the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group!

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So I only joined this group three weeks ago, and I’ve already screwed up three times. First I missed an assignment — two weeks ago’s Julienne Darblay, a creamed leek and potato soup. The next week, I actually made the Veloute Agnes Sorel on time, but I obviously didn’t get it posted last Wednesday. And now this week, I’ve missed another assignment, the Bisque de Langoustines. Hopefully I’ll do better from here on out. I think I actually have a reasonable excuse this time — July has been pretty busy anyway, and last Wednesday Matt and I took a redeye to New York for my cousin’s wedding Saturday, then flew from NYC to Raleigh, NC on Sunday for another cousin’s wedding (which I was in) on Sunday night, and then back to California on Monday. So, not a lot of time for cooking this weekend!

Anyway, here’s my Veloute Agnes Sorel, a cream of chicken soup, a week late, as I continue to cook through some version of the Cordon Bleu cooking school curriculum along with the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group. If you want the recipe, I highly recommend buying the book, Le Cordon Bleu at Home. But here’s the gist of it, also in pictures below: I made stock from chicken, carrots, onion, and a bouquet garni, and cooked some mushrooms in butter. I added egg yolks and cream to some of the stock to make it creamy, and then added chicken, mushrooms, and ham to the base. I wasn’t so sure how the ham would be, but it actually gave the soup a really nice, kind of smoky flavor, much more interesting than normal cream of chicken soup. I know this is only my second recipe from this cookbook, but so far I’m pretty impressed with the recipes, though everything sure does seem to require a bunch of dishes!

So in order to balance out my recent attempt at cooking more simply, I decided to join another blogging event! This one is hosted by Shari at Whisk and is called Whisk Wednesdays. I’m joining late, but they have been cooking through the lessons in Le Cordon Bleu at Home, which includes an entire cooking school curriculum. As I said, I’ve come in several lessons into the process, so I may also be playing catch-up while I try to keep up with the recipes everyone else is on as well.

They’ve just started a new chapter on soups, and this week’s “assignment” was Billy Bi, or Mussel Soup. I’m not sharing the recipe here; for that you’ll have to buy the book. (Mine’s still in the mail, by the way, so thanks go to Kayte for typing up the recipe for me while I wait.) The pictures below give you an idea of what the process of making this soup was like. (Unfortunately, my camera battery died as I was downloading the picture of the finished soup, so I’ll fill that in tomorrow)

I will say, the final product was absolutely delicious. The soup was rich, but somehow not overly heavy at the same time. It was creamy, but still pretty thin, so even though it’s summertime, it wasn’t too heavy to eat. The mussels are cooked in the broth, and then some of them are simmered further to flavor the broth (but removed since the meat is overcooked), helping to give the soup it’s rich flavor. I hope we have this much success every week!

Now, go to Shari’s list and check out how everyone else fared!

This is the recipe for butternut squash soup that I mentioned in my last post, but I decided it deserved its own so it could be found more easily later. It comes from our good family friend, Kelly Branson. It’s deliciously smooth and rich. The goat cheese, pine nuts, and chives garnishes are optional, but I highly recommend including them, especially the goat cheese and pine nuts.

Butternut Squash Soup
Recipe from Kelly Branson

2 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
4 c chicken stock
1 1/4 c crème fraîche or sour cream
2 T butter
salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne
1 T sugar
several chives, chopped
goat cheese
toasted pine nuts

Combine squash and stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes, or until squash is tender. (Puree can be made a couple days in advance). Cool a bit, and puree the mix in a blender. Return puree to saucepan, and turn heat to medium low. Stir in crème fraîche and butter. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Cook, stirring until heated through. (Do not allow to boil.) Add sugar. Keep warm over low heat. Garnish with goat cheese, pine nuts, and chives.