Un menú básico del gran Escoffier

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The meal here is a simple one, but it takes time and some thought. It certainly requires no skill or expertise. To me, this food -- a winey, flavorful mushroom soup followed by crepes stuffed with pears and vanilla ice cream and swathed in hot chocolate sauce -- is both elegant and cozy. It's the sort of meal you might find in a restaurant in the French countryside or the sort of lunch you might want for a relaxed Saturday at home with friends.

Mushroom soup has been so debased by the canned versions that it is a cheering relief to eat the real thing. In the recipe here, dried porcini mushrooms permeate the soup with almost meaty flavor.

The potatoes are cooked not in water but in white wine, which elevates them considerably from simple filler.

Even a small amount of dried porcini in the soup makes a huge difference. Most fresh mushrooms, except for portobellos, don't have an awful lot of flavor, and if you use too many of those the soup will be unattractively murky.

Although the recipe calls for specific mushroom varieties, you can use whatever mushrooms you find when shopping. If there are no portobellos, relax. Even pearly button mushrooms, those little pretty things that taste of not much other than bouncy plastic, begin to have a little depth and resonance when cooked with dried porcini.

I cannot be as permissive, however, about the wine. You should not use any wine in the soup that you would not want to drink at the table.

This is a rule that always holds in cooking, but here especially the taste of the wine comes through distinctively. Anything too sharp or vinegary will make the chopping of mushrooms and peeling of potatoes an utter waste of time.

If you want, you can make this soup in advance, adding the final shot of wine and cups of milk when you reheat. If you are having dessert immediately afterward, you do not need anything with the soup other than fabulous bread, and lots of it.

The dessert itself is a glorious assembly of lacy crepes, pears, ice cream and sauce. It reminds me of the great Escoffier invention poires Belle-Hélène (the same dish, without the crepes), which I always asked for at my grandmother's house.

She used canned pears, and so can you. Poaching pears in vanilla and lemon syrup makes for wonderful flavor, but canned pears are certainly not a shameful substitute: just make sure you buy pears in juice, not syrup.

Crepes can be made and then reheated in a microwave or low oven. In some places you can even buy them, but there is a huge difference between homemade and store-bought crepes: many of the premade ones are not of high quality.

The chocolate sauce is patently easy, and can be left to cook itself while you eat the soup. If you have some Poire William or other pear liqueur, do add it to the sauce, but it isn't crucial.

Poires Belle-Hélène are traditionally sprinkled with crystallized violets on serving, and violets look beautiful over the dark, glossy chocolate sauce here, too. But if you do not have them, you do not have to rush out to buy some.

This is truly a menu that shows the alchemy of cooking. Modest ingredients -- potatoes, mushrooms, flour, egg, milk and pears -- are elevated by the addition of wine and chocolate and by careful, loving preparation into a restrained but elegant meal.

MUSHROOM SOUP WITH WINE

Time: 1 hour

3/8 ounce ( 1/2 cup) dried porcini mushrooms

1 pound (about 2 medium) baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

2 cups good white wine

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 large clove garlic, minced

8 ounces portobello mushroom caps, coarsely chopped

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely sliced

4 ounces button mushrooms, finely sliced

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

2 cups milk

Heavy cream, for garnish

Finely chopped parsley, for garnish.

1. Place dried porcini in a 1-cup measuring cup, and fill with hot water. Set aside.


2. In a medium saucepan, combine potatoes, 1 3/4 cups wine, bay leaf and salt. Place over high heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place a large soup pot over medium heat, and add oil. When hot, add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and stir for about 30 seconds. Drain porcini, reserving liquid.

4. Chop porcini and add to onion mixture. Add portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, button mushrooms, butter and thyme. Stir until mushrooms begin to give off liquid and look less dry, about 10 minutes. When potatoes are tender, add them and their cooking liquid to pan of mushrooms. Add porcini soaking liquid and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 20 minutes.

5. Allow soup to cool slightly. Working in batches, use a blender to purée soup. Return soup to a pan on medium-low heat, and add remaining 1/4 cup wine and the milk. Reheat just until soup is steaming; do not boil. To serve, place portions in bowls and garnish each with a squiggle of heavy cream and a sprinkling of parsley.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

CREPES BELLE-HÉLÈNE

Time: 30 minutes

For the pears:

1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 strips lemon zest, each about 2 1/2 inches by 1/2 inch

3 large Bartlett pears or other pears suitable for poaching, peeled, cut in two lengthwise and cored

For the crepes:

1 cup flour

1 1/3 cups milk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the chocolate sauce:

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup strong black coffee or 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon Poire William liqueur, optional

6 scoops high-quality vanilla ice cream

Crystallized violets, optional.

1. Prepare the pears: In a wide saucepan, mix together 1 cup sugar, vanilla bean, lemon zest and 3 cups water. Place over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Add pear halves and simmer until pears are tender but still keep their shape, about 30 minutes. Transfer pears to a bowl, and set aside. (Vanilla bean may be rinsed, dried and placed in a jar of sugar to make vanilla-scented sugar.)

2. While pears poach, prepare crepes: heat oven to 200 degrees. Mix together the flour, milk and egg until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in melted butter. Place a nonstick or well-seasoned crepe pan or 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat.

3. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into center of pan; lift pan and swirl it so batter covers bottom thinly and evenly. Return pan to heat, and allow it to sit until bottom of crepe is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Flip crepe, and cook other side for 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, and place in oven to keep warm. (Alternatively, crepes may be allowed to cool for reheating later.) Continue with remaining batter, to make a total of at least 6 crepes.

4. Prepare the chocolate sauce: In a small saucepan, combine chocolate, coffee and 1/2 cup sugar. Place over low heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts. Add cream, return to a bare simmer, and stir until smooth. Stir in liqueur, if using. Pour into a pitcher, and keep warm.

5. To serve: Cut pear halves into thin slices. Arrange crepes on a clean work surface, and cover half of each crepe with pear slices. Fold crepes over to make six semicircles. Use a spatula to transfer crepes to individual serving plates or one large platter. At one side of each semicircle place a scoop of ice cream. Fold other side over to make a fat quarter. Top each quarter with hot chocolate sauce, and garnish with crystallized violets.

Yield: 6 servings.