Dr Jekyll title: Simple Garlic Soup
Mr Hyde title: Pink Lautrec Garlic Soup with Poached Cod in Star-Anised Perfumed Milk, Fried Slices of Bread and its Unique Fried Parsley Tail.
I’ll never read anything signed by Ducasse anymore.
Serves 3 (recipe states 4, but I don’t agree with this)
48 hours before, take your cod 400g and with a little brush, bring all the salt you can so you can use it later. The recipe refers to this interesting and very long operation by just writing "cod salt". When you finished upcycling all the cod salt you could, place the fish in a basin with water and let it unsalt, changing the water every 6 hours. It’s important to do it minute-precisely, otherwise your fridge is going to explode. Ideally, you should change the water during the night and in the dark because cods don’t like to be waken up.
So, start with your chicken stock. In principle, you’re supposed to do it half veal stock, half chicken stock, but f*ck that shit. Chicken stock.
One carrot, six chicken wings, one onion spiked with cloves, 2 branches of celery, one small leek, all united to form a nice chicken stock. Place in approx two liters of cold water, like "generously covered" light the fire and from the moment it starts to boil, which takes a certain time, count at least one hour. It’s important to cover
generously otherwise you’ll be frustrated because the recipe already isn’t much and I’ve been inflating all the quantities and 4 servings barely served 3. Go.
Meanwhile, start peeling 6 garlic heads. Yes, heads, not cloves. Try to go fast. And to find Lautrec’s ones. Otherwise the pan will explode. Remove the germination, otherwise it’s your kitchen that explodes. Yes, also the new oven. Set aside.
Once this is done, cut 100 grams of potatoes (it’s a rather small potato. Yes, just one). Cut 75g of salted, not smoked, bacon or equivalent. Recipe says 50g, but just take a good slice, I’m not afraid to die. Chop 1 small onion.
Prepare 1L of milk in a next-to simmer temperature with 3 star anise thingies. They say 2, I preferred 3.
By then, your stock should be fine. Pass the whole thing through a sieve in another pan to keep the broth. Keep your chicken and vegetables to do something else another day.
2 alternatives: you can unsalt the bacon before starting by placing it in cold water and then making it boil then remove the water and start to cook it with a bit of oil. I say: bleh. I’m just going to cook it. Once it’s golden, pour your small onion and let it sweat around. Once that’s done, high the fire and wait a bit, then blash your broth over it and wait for it to boil. On the moment it’s boiling, pour your potatoes and garlic in, as well with parsley tails bound together, one tall branch of thyme and a single bay leave that will never find her mate. Cover.
Place your timer on 25 minutes. No, it won’t finish in 15 minutes unfortunately.
If you like décor, this should be the moment you fry your parsley and set it aside. Beware, it looks simple but it’s a pain in the ass. If you don’t do it you still can do it later but stuff will get cold, but you can also not doing it at all and drink something or read a book or better, quickly wash the pans you already dirtied. When you see you’re approaching the 25 minutes hit, raise the fire of the milk so it starts to boil.
At the 25 minutes hit, place the bits of cod in the milk and let it poach for 5 minutes. Remove it, set it aside in a nice small glass plate that you cover so it carries on cooking in its own vapor for more 15 minutes.
Now we’re reaching the end. Find 4 nice fresh eggs and place the yolks at the bottom of nice bowls.
When the 15 minutes hit, pluck the herbs out and mix the soup. Recipe says to pluck the bacon too but I said, f*ck that shit, I’m mixing all together. Mix what you decided to mix. Don’t forget that you’re on time and that any more time mixed should change the moment you boil your cod. Anyway. Keep mixing.
When it seems alright filter the thing so you remove a sort of awful paste and keep a beautiful light brown soup.
Take your cod, artistically drop it in your plate and then pour the soup, trying not to make it splatter everywhere and also making the composition look pretty.
Remember the cod salt? Salt it with the cod salt. Pepper. Take a single plush of fried parsley and use it as a brilliant décor on the top of this work of art. Hint. Just use more fried parsley. You already made the effort and it’s really nice, so go ahead.
The original recipe goes with fried bread but I just put toasts.
That’s all folks. You can drink the cod milk the day after. It’s quite nice.
)
craaaving… with no beef in the house
