Parisian Creamy Green Bean With White Wine And Fresh Herb Soup

I have concocted my personal culinary dream soup.  Of course you can be the judge and add a little of this or a little more of that because after all soup is very personal right?  It's a recipe or maybe you'll even declare it a revelry once you saute, stir, whip, pour and then taste.   My son  called it my signature soup and interrupted a moment of skateboarding with a friend to grab a cup after he'd tried it in it's preliminary stages and what can I say....fell in soup love.  Enjoy my friends.  I certainly am. 

  

1.  You'll need 2 lbs. of French green beans which you'll need to boil in a pot of salted water until nice and tender (about 15 minutes).  Trim the ends first.  P.S.  I grabbed a bag of perfectly measured French green beans from Costco.  Once cooked, put under cold water so they stop cooking and put aside.

Then you'll need to make a French Mirepoix.  Every country has their "Holy Trinity" of a few vegetables and herbs to heighten a flavor for soups or casseroles.  In North America it's the sautéing of celery, onions, and garlic.  In this case I would like you to saute:

2.  1 onion, 1/2 cup of diced celery, 1/2 cup of diced carrot, and four fresh minced cloves of garlic in a pot of 1/8 cup of olive oil until tender.  Watch to make sure you don't burn garlic.  Put aside with the green beans until you need your family of vegetables.

3.  Make a roux in another pot of 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. of flour.  Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, then add all of the flour and stir for about 15 seconds.  Add 2 cups of whip cream and then two cartons of chicken broth and whisk so that it stays smooth.  *****To lighten your soup you can instead add 2 cups of lite evaporated milk).  Add one cup of dry white wine.  You have to bring a roux to a boil and then turn down to simmer.  Add veggies and then all the fresh herbs:

Fresh herbs to add:

3 tbsp. of Italian flat leaf parsley (it's nice and peppery), 3 tbsp. of fresh thyme leaves (no stems), 3 tbsp. of fresh chives, 3 tbsp. of fresh dill.

Add to the pot and continue simmering  for 10 or 15 minutes.

Let cool because you will need to blend the soup.

I put one cup of soup aside and blended the rest.  I then added it all together in the pot.  By not blending 1 cup you get some pretty whole vegetables in your creamy soup and it adds to the presentation.

When serving your soup add more fresh dill and fresh chopped chives as a garnish and if you want spiral some more whip cream over top of the soup in the bowl or some gorgeous chive oil with more pepper.