Take carrots, turnips and potatoes and cut them in strips about 3/4 of an inch long and 1 1/2 of an inch wide. There should be 3/4 cupful of each. Melt 2 tablespoonfuls of butter, add the vegetables and fry gently, stirring carefully, until they begin to shrivel. Then put them in the soup. When it boils, add 1/4 cup of sorrel, and 1/2 cup of spinach, which should first have been scalded with boiling water to take the sharpness out, then drain and chop fine. Add to your Julienne also 3 stalks of celery and 2 beets cut up like turnips and carrots. Also 1/2 cup green peas, when they are in season.
This soup should be made with beef broth, about 2 1/2 quarts, or if water is used 3 spoonfuls of dried beans that have been soaked should be put in. It should cook for two hours. Before serving cut 3 slices of bread in small cubes and brown in butter. Add to soup.
Fun Fact: No one knew more about the geography of North America in his own day than Thomas Jefferson. A skilled surveyor and cartographer, he amassed a remarkable collection of explorers’ accounts, geographic works, and maps for his personal library. Although Jefferson himself never traveled any further west than Warm Springs, Virginia, he was promoter of four attempts to reach the Pacific, and as president, he personally planned the successful expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1804–1806.
This Soup à la Julienne recipe is from the Best of the Best from the East Coast Cookbook Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
