Velouté à la Doria

Ingredients

• 1 litre Velouté ordinaire (ordinary velouté, a mother sauce–based soup)
• 625 grams cucumbers, peeled, seeded, sliced thin, and stewed in butter
• 2.5 décilitres Consommé (clear stock)
• as needed liaison (egg yolk and cream binding)
• as needed butter
• 2 tablespoons large cucumber pearls (balls or quenelles), blanched and stewed in butter
• 25 grams butter
• a few spoonfuls Consommé
• 2 tablespoons rice grains

Instructions

1. Add 625 grams of peeled, seeded, thinly sliced cucumbers that have been stewed in butter to 1 litre of ordinary velouté (a velouté is a soup made from a light roux-based stock). Finish cooking gently, then pass through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Thin the velouté with 2.5 decilitres of Consommé (clear stock) and heat through without boiling.
2. Finish the soup at the moment of service with liaison (a mixture of egg yolk and cream) and butter, mounting it (monter au beurre) to incorporate the butter smoothly.
3. For the garnish, blanch the large cucumber pearls (shaped balls or quenelles of cucumber) and stew them gently in 25 grams of butter with a few spoonfuls of Consommé. Serve the soup topped with 2 tablespoons of the prepared cucumber garnish and 2 tablespoons of plain boiled rice grains.