Caesar Salad Soup with Bacon Foam from NORIYUKI SUGIE

-- Hotels, 12/1/2007

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients
Soup:

• 2 heads romaine lettuce
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• ½ bulb fennel, sliced
• 1 stick celery, sliced
• ½ onion, sliced
• 2 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese, grated

Bacon foam:

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 5 slices bacon
• 3 teaspoons cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

For soup:
Cook romaine lettuce in boiling water until soft, approximately 2 – 3 minutes, shock in ice water and drain. In a medium saucepot, heat vegetable oil and cook thyme, garlic, fennel, celery, and onion until soft. Add chicken stock, salt and pepper to taste, and the blanched romaine lettuce. Pass mixture through a chinoise (fine sieve) and stir in Parmesan cheese at the end.

For bacon foam:
In a sauté pan, render fat from bacon. Remove the bacon and reserve the fat in the pan. In the same pan, add the chicken stock, cream and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and whisk into foam.
To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls, top with bacon foam and serve immediately.