Yield: 4 Servings
| Measure | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 1 pounds | Boston lettuce |
| 1 large | Onion, finely sliced |
| 2 ounces | Butter |
| 2 ounces | All-purpose flour |
| 6 tablespoons | Clarified butter |
| 4 \N | Slices white bread, crusts removed, sliced into cubes |
| 2 \N | Cloves garlic, crushed and chopped to a pulp |
| 16 ounces | Milk |
| 16 ounces | Chicken stock |
| \N \N | Freshly ground salt |
| \N \N | Freshly ground white pepper |
Thoroughly rinse lettuce and remove cores. Heat a soup tureen. Place lettuce leaves in a large, dry saucepan and cook over medium heat for 6 minutes. Into another pan on low heat, place butter, stir in onion, and let cook until soft. Stir in flour, making a roux. Cook 3 minutes while stirring. Stir milk into roux and half of the chicken stock.
Remove cooked lettuce from pot, puree in a blender and add to soup.
Add rest of chicken stock and cook while stirring for 7 minutes or until thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour 4 tb clarified butter into a small frypan and when heated, add cubes of bread, occassionally shaking pan to prevent them from getting too brown. Add another 2 tb clarified butter and garlic cloves. Drain garlic bread "croutons" on a paper towel. Place on heated serving dish. Strain lettuce soup through a sieve into soup tureen and serve at once with croutons.