Garde Manger I: Vichyssoise (Cold Soup)

One class was devoted to cold soups, like vichyssoise or gazpacho.

Here are links to both:

• http://www.starchefs.com/JChild/html/recipe_02.shtml - a Julia Child recipe
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gazpacho-recipe/index.html
  

Vichyssoise soup is a potato leek soup made with chicken stock and heavy cream (sometimes) and served cold. This photo is from a vichyssoise I made with cucumber last summer.

My teammate and I created our own recipe and made an avocado vichoyssoise topped with red bell pepper slices. We think croutons would have added some crunch as well.

Ingredients in our soup:

• Avocado
• onion
• garlic
  
• bay leaf, pepper, kosher salt, cayenne pepper
  
• potatoes
• chicken stock
• red bell pepper
• lime juice

We sauteed the garlic and onion in olive oil until fragrant. Next we added the potatoes (chopped into quarters) to the pan. We covered the potatoes with chicken stock and brought it to a boil. We allowed it to simmer until the potatoes were soft. While simmering, we added the bay leaf, pepper, salt and a pinch of cayenne. Meanwhile, we thinly sliced a red bell pepper to use as a garnish and juiced limes. If you decide to add croutons - prepare them at this point. We did not use cream b/c we worried that the combination of cream and lime juice would cause the soup to curdle - not very appetizing! About five minutes before pulling the soup off the stove, we diced up avocado as we pureed the soup and avocado together to make a smooth, velvety consistency. We cooled it using an ice bath and serve it with the red bell pepper garnish small bowls.

For an original recipe created on the fly, my teammate and I were very happy with how this soup turned out. The chef instructor recommended a few dots of a flavored oil to add a little zest and help with presentation.