Cold spinach soup

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Wash spinach thoroughly to remove all sand. Cook about 10 minutes or until soft in six cups of water in a 2½- to-3-quart saucepan, not made of iron or aluminum.

2. Step 2

   Combine the milk, sour cream and flour, and beat well until the flour is smoothly blended in. Bring the spinach to a rapid boil, then add the cream mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or beating with a whisk. Add about one and one-half teaspoons salt, one-quarter teaspoon white pepper and enough lemon juice to give it a winey edge. Boil rapidly for about five minutes, or until the cream has blended with the soup stock and all traces of flour disappear.

3. Step 3

   Beat the egg yolks with a fork until thin. Remove the soup from the heat and, using a ladle, slowly trickle some hot soup into the yolks, beating constantly as you do so. Continue this until three cups of soup have been added to the yolks. Now, slowly trickle the egg-yolk mixture back into the soup, again beating steadily as you do so.

4. Step 4

   Using the pot in which the soup cooked, and another pot or bowl with a good long handle, pour the soup back and forth from one receptacle to the other; repeat about 12 times until soup is smooth and well blended.

5. Step 5

   Adjust seasonings, adding a pinch of sugar if necessary, and chill thoroughly.

6. Step 6

   Ladle the soup into chilled cream-soup bowls or cups. Serve whipped sour cream on the side, or add a dollop to each serving. Pass garnishes in individual relish dishes.