Dipping a big spoon into a warm bowl of that soup from the five lilies (1,2) is plenty satisfying.  But I got to wondering how it would go to dip other edibles into the stuff, like bread, vegetables and such.  Made for kind of a drippy experience when I tried it, even though the soup is kinda thick (see below).  Facing tonight’s planned dinner of lamb and feta cheese burgers, I thought bits of those would be yummy dipped into a five lily concoction.  Could you thicken a soup into a sauce for this purpose?  Dr. Google sent me straight to Taylor Munsell who said not only yes, but spelled out 7 ways to do so (3).  I picked the first one on the list, making a flour-and-water roux, plopping a specific portion into a volume of the soup, heating and stirring.  But before Ms Munsell’s encyclopedic guide, Dr. Google had an article from BBC’s Lulu Grimes about using a beurre manié  for the task (4).  If it’s French, it’s got to be bon, n’est-çe pas?  The term translates as “mania butter”.  Sacre bleu!  Is that what happens to the diners who taste stuff made with it?  Don’t you love how French lends elegance to simple things?  A beurre manié is 2 teaspoons each butter and flour mixed together – another kind of roux – then blended into the simmering soup.  Ms Grimes wasn’t specific on proportions, but Ms Mansell was.  For her, it was 2 ounces of the mix into each cup of soup.  4 teaspoons is 20 cc, with 30 cc equaling 2 ounces.  So it was 1 tablespoon each butter and flour.  Butter and flour aren’t natural mixers, so it takes some effort to get them together.  My pastry cutter was worthless, and a plain old fork not much better.  Then I remembered Julia Child said beurre manié is best mixed with the fingers (5).  Of course, she was right.  Read what she said right here.

So, the beurre went into a simmering cup of soup, stirred for 10’.  The thickening was encouraging.  So how did it turn out?

C’est meilleur, n’est-çe pas?  Hardly a spread, but a much better dip!  And it thickens more as it stands.  So now you know what you can do with some at that 5-lily soup you’ve stocked up.  It can live on as a very tasty dip.  Just remember to lavez votre mains, s’ils vous plait, après making the beurre manié!

References

1.         Ike B.  elephant lily.  WordPress 7/24/23.  https://theviewfromharbal.com/2023/07/24/elephant-lily/

2.         Ike B.  lily oops!  WordPress 7/25/23.  https://theviewfromharbal.com/2023/07/25/lily-oops/

3.         Mansell L.  7 Ways to Thicken Every Kind of Soup, Sauce, Stew, & Gravy.  somethingswanky. https://www.somethingswanky.com/ways-to-thicken-sauce/

4. Grimes L. How To Thicken Soup. BBC goodfood. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-thicken-soup

5.         Child J.  The Way to Cook.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989.  p143.  https://www.amazon.com/Way-Cook-Julia-Child/dp/0394532643/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OU12ZS2OW5QQ&keywords=julia+child+the+way+to+cook+cookbook&qid=1691021251&sprefix=Julia+Child%2Caps%2C263&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc