Thomas Keller's Cream of Walnut Soup
decadent soup
This is adapted from Thomas Keller's recipe in The French Laundry cookbook The original recipe calls for 1 1/s cups of walnuts, but I think has too strong of a taste, so I reduced it a lot. 8 (small) servings
Ingredients
Walnut Cream
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) walnuts, toosted, excess skin rubbed off, and chopped
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split
Pear Puree
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 large pear
- 1 1/2 cups Poaching Liquid
- Walnut oil
Poaching Liquid
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup water
- 1 ltbsp sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
Instructions
Walnut Cream
- Place the walnuts, cream, and milk in a saucepan.
- Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan and add the pod.
- Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to keep the liquid just below a simmer and heat for 30 to 45 minutes to let the flavors infuse.
- Strain the infused liquid into another saucepan and discard the walnuts and vanilla pod.
- You should have about 1½ cups of walnut cream.
Pear Puree
- Peel the pear, core, and cut it into & wedges.
- Put the wedges in a saucepan with the poaching liquid.
- Cover them with a parchment lid and bring the liquid to a simmer.
- Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the pear wedges are completely softened and there is no resistance when they are tested with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Transfer the pears and 1 cup of the poaching liquid to a blender.
Assembly
- Reheat the walnut cream.
- Puree the pears, then, with the motor running, pour the hot walnut cream into the blender to combine (the cream must be hot when it is added to the puree, or the soup may break).
- There will be about 2 cups soup.
- Strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a saucepan and reheat gently over low heat.
- Serve warm in demitasse cups, sprinkled with a few drops of walnut oil.
Notes
- The soup is best when eaten shortly after it is made, but, if necessary, it can be refrigerated for a couple of days.