No. 98 — Pale-Green Bagration Purée Soup with Asparagus, Quenelles and Spinach
English translation of original recipe No. 98 from Elena Molokhovets’ 1901 cookbook, with the historical preparation and exact source references.
Make and strain white broth from beef, a little soup root and a bunch of greens. Separately cook three-quarters of a glass of pearl barley in stock until soft, rub through a sieve and thin with broth.
Immediately before serving stir in two egg yolks beaten with half a glass of cream and strained; heat, stirring, until very hot, as described in No. 94.
Prepare the spinach essence: pick over, wash and squeeze the leaves, blanch in salted boiling water, cook, drain in a sieve and rinse cold. Once drained, rub through a sieve and put in the soup tureen with half a spoonful of butter. Dilute with a little of the hot soup, immediately add all the remaining soup, and serve with asparagus cooked separately in salted water and quenelles.
The finished soup should be pale green from the spinach.
To provide
- 3 Russian pounds of beef; 1 carrot, leek, celery, parsley root, onion and a bunch of greens
- ¾ glass of pearl barley; ½ Russian pound of spinach
- ¼ glass of cream and 2 egg yolks as printed in the ingredient list
- ½ spoonful of butter; ¼ Russian pound of asparagus; ingredients for quenelles No. 226
Serve with puff-pastry pies baked in shells.