I’m getting excited about spring. I want to be surrounded by warm green instead of cold white; I want fresh vegetables and spices in my life and in my soup.
I had my friend Katie over for dinner this weekend and I was excited to give this recipe a try… Mainly because last week I discovered that “blinis” exist. And who wouldn’t want a mini savory pancake?
This soup and pancake combo is pretty, luxurious and just whimsical. And I felt pretty fancy pants about it since this soup is called a “velouté”.
The flavors in this soup are subtle and delicate with that of mushrooms and fresh rosemary, topped with a sprig of parsley and a mini pancake. If this isn’t a welcome to spring, I’m not sure what is.
P.S. After looking up “velouté” in the Larousse Gastronomique I learned that it is a sauce or soup thickened with a roux (equal parts of melted butter [fat] and flour). So there you go. Now, not only are you a fancy pants, but you’re a smarty pants too!
Mushroom Velouté {makes 8 servings}
Both recipes adapted from The Los Angeles Times
Ingredients:
- 4 T butter, divided
- 1 cup diced leeks
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms*
- 6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 small bay leaf
- 1 (2-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 T flour
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 T beaten egg (reserved from blini recipe below)
- salt
- white pepper
- fresh parsley for serving
* 1 lb cremini mushrooms and 1/2 lb oyster mushrooms are suggested, but I used a random assortment and it was delish.
Directions:
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large sauce pot over a low heat. Add the leeks and sauté about 5 minutes, stirring often, until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 minute or until fragrant. Add mushrooms and sauté until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add chicken broth, bay leaf and rosemary. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, loosely covered, for 45 minutes.
- Make the blini’s. (Recipe below.)
- Remove bay leaf and rosemary sprig from the soup.
- Transfer the soup into a batter bowl or large bowl and purée the soup in a blender until velvety smooth, pouring the smooth soup back into the large sauce pot. When it is all blended, bring the soup to a simmer.
- Blend the remaining tablespoon of butter (melted) with a tablespoon of flour to make a roux. Whisk into the soup and simmer about 1 minute until the soup is slightly thickened. Lower heat slightly. In another small bowl, beat together the heavy cream and one tablespoon of beaten egg until blended. Whisk this into the soup until it is combined and the soup is slightly thickened; do not bring to a simmer or the egg will scramble. Season with about one-eighth teaspoon of salt and white pepper to taste.
- To serve, ladel the soup into bowls and top with 1 or 2 filled blini and a parsley sprig.
Buttermilk Blinis
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3/4 t sugar
- 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/8 t baking soda
- 6 T buttermilk
- 1 egg beaten, divided (2 T)
- 1 T melted butter
- oil or cooking spray for the griddle
- scant 2 T crème fraîche
- 1 t thinly sliced green onions
Directions:
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, two tablespoons of beaten egg (reserve the remaining tablespoon of beaten egg for the soup above) and butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add the liquid ingredients. Stir until just blended.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over a medium heat with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan or spray with cooking spray.
- Spoon 1 teaspoon of batter onto the griddle or skillet for each blini. Cook 30 seconds to a minute on each side until both sides are golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is used, adding oil to the pan as necessary. Reserve in a warm place until ready to use.
- Mix together the crème fraîche and green onions. Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket in each blini and spoon about 1/4 teaspoon crème fraîche mixture onto each blini half, then put together to make a sandwich. (I’m going to be honest with you guys. I maybe just sandwiched the crème fraîche between two pancakes instead of in the center of one. I guess I didn’t read the bottom of the recipe. I wish I would’ve though because I think that this way would’ve been even better.)
Can you even believe that the bay leaf and rosemary are spooning. Scandalous.
Mushrooms, leeks, creme fraiche, little baby pancakes?!? This is like everything I love in life! Glad to know what a velouté is, too. I’d heard it and had it, but never quite knew what set it apart from other soups. I first had blinis as the accompaniment to Russian caviar. I think I was more enchanted by them than the caviar itself! Tiny pancakes – who wouldn’t love them?
I know what you mean about blinis!
We should have blinis for dinner. A tall stack of the teeniest pancakes.
🙂