No. 144 — Cauliflower Purée Soup (Text Describes Asparagus)
Complete English translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 144 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original quantities, preparation and source.
Prepare and strain broth from a bunch of greens and one Russian pound of firm, non-mealy potatoes; salt. Take 2½ pounds of inexpensive young soup asparagus and cut off the tips. Cook the tips separately in boiling salted water.
Cut the remaining asparagus into small pieces and put it in a saucepan with a spoonful of butter and a little strained stock. Cover and stew for one to one and a half hours until entirely soft, then rub through a sieve while hot.
Mix the purée with rice or pearl-barley purée Nos. 94–95, or with a spoonful of flour lightly fried with ½ spoonful of butter and boiled with a glass of strained stock. Simmer together for twenty to thirty minutes.
Half an hour before serving, slowly stir in the rest of the strained vegetable stock. Beat two egg yolks with ½ glass of cream, temper with a glass of boiling stock, return to the soup and add another ½ spoonful of butter. Heat, stirring, until very hot but do not let it boil. Add the cooked asparagus tips, transfer to a tureen and serve.
To provide
A bunch of greens and 1 Russian pound of potatoes 2½ Russian pounds of asparagus and ⅛ pound of butter 2 egg yolks and ½ glass of cream | ½ glass of rice or pearl barley Or 1 spoonful of flour and ½ spoonful of butter |
Serve the potatoes separately with butter and hard-boiled eggs, or put them into the soup.