Green Bean Cream (Crème de Haricots verts)

Ingredients

• 650 grams fresh green beans
• 1 liter béchamel sauce (mother sauce of roux and milk)
• 1 deciliter white consommé (clear broth)
• 3 tablespoons green beans cooked English-style
• chervil leaves (pluches de cerfeuil)

Instructions

1. Blanch the fresh green beans briefly, cooking them only halfway through. Drain them well.
2. Add the partially cooked beans to the béchamel sauce and finish cooking them until tender.
3. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve (étamine). Complete the preparation with white consommé, heat through, and cream the soup at the moment of service by enriching with butter (monter au beurre).
4. Garnish with green beans that have been cooked English-style, cut into small diamond shapes, and scatter chervil leaves on top.
5. Note: This cream soup can also be made as a velouté (silky-finish soup).