Recipe: Turkish Wedding Soup with Spiced Butter

Turkish Wedding Soup with Spiced Butter
Source: New York Times Bread & Soup Cookbook by Yvonne Young
Serves 8

2 onions
7 carrots
4 pounds lamb neck bones
10 cups Beef Broth
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound butter
1 cup flour
6 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 1/2 teaspoons paprika
Croutons

Peel the onions and carrots, cut into quarters, and put into a soup kettle with the lamb bones, broth, and salt. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour, or until the meat is soft. Strain the broth into a bowl. Remove the meat from the bones and cut into thin strips. Add the meat to the broth.

Melt 12 tablespoons butter and work in the flour. Add 1 cup of the warm broth, a little at a time, and mix well. Gradually stir this butter-flour mixture into the rest of the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes. Keep the soup warm.

Beat the egg yolks with a fork and mix in the lemon juice. Add 4 tablespoons of hot soup. Stir this mixture briskly into the rest of the soup. Reheat over a very low flame. Do not boil. Adjust the seasonings.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter, and add cayenne pepper and paprika. Pour the soup into individual soup bowls. Float spoonfuls of this spiced butter over the top of each. Serve hot, with croutons.