Best Watercress Vichyssoise Recipes

BUTTERMILK VICHYSSOISE WITH WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add leeks, and cook, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add potatoes, stock, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely; stir in 2 cups watercress.
• Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth. Transfer pureed soup to a large bowl. Season with salt and white pepper. Stir in half-and-half, if using; chill at least 1 hour. Add buttermilk just before serving. Adjust seasoning as needed. If necessary, thin the soup with a bit more chicken stock or water to achieve desired consistency. Garnish with remaining cup watercress leaves.

WATERCRESS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Lightly saute the onion and potato in the butter. Add the watercress, chicken stock and salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Puree mixture in blender until smooth.
• Bring to room temperature and then refrigerate. Serve chilled. Before serving, lightly stir in cream or sour cream and garnish with chopped chives.

BUTTERMILK VICHYSSOISE WITH WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, and cook, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add the potatoes, stock, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely; stir in 2 cups of the watercress.
• Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Transfer the pureed soup to a large bowl. Season with salt and white pepper. Stir in the half-and-half; chill at least 1 hour. Add the buttermilk just before serving. Adjust seasoning; if necessary, thin the soup with a bit more chicken stock or water to achieve the desired consistency. Garnish with the remaining cup watercress leaves.

WATERCRESS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Simmer potato, onion, broth, and cream, uncovered, in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in watercress and cook mixture, uncovered, over moderately low heat 3 minutes more.
• Purée soup in 2 batches in a blender until very smooth, about 45 seconds per batch (use caution when blending hot liquids). Force soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them. Season with salt and pepper and let soup stand, uncovered, until cool, 45 minutes, then chill, covered, 1 1/2 hours.

WATERCRESS AND BUTTERMILK VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• MethodFirst of all, melt the butter in a large (6 pint/3.5 litre) saucepan, then add the prepared leeks, onion, potatoes and half of the watercress. Stir them around so that they're coated with the melted butter. Next, sprinkle in some salt, then cover with a lid and let the vegetables sweat over a very gentle heat for about 20 minutes, giving the mixture a good stir about halfway through. After that, add the stock, bring everything up to simmering point and simmer, covered, for about 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are quite tender. Then remove the pan from the heat and leave the soup to cool a little, then liquidise until it is smooth - you'll need to do this in batches. A bowl to put the first batch in is useful. Next, transfer the soup to a large bowl and leave until cold. When the soup is cold, stir in three-quarters of the buttermilk and season to taste. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill the soup thoroughly before serving - overnight is ideal. When you are ready to serve the soup, put the other half of the watercress in a large bowl. Then, using the end of a rolling pin or a pestle, 'bruise' the leaves - this will release the oil in the leaves. Now whiz the watercress in the blender with about a third of the chilled soup (remembering to reserve a few leaves for garnishing) and when it is smooth, stir it into the rest of the soup. Serve the soup in bowls that have been very well chilled and garnish each one with a swirl of the remaining buttermilk and a few reserved watercress leaves.