Archives for posts with tag: lacto vegetarian

French Onion Soup – vegetarian

2010/11/24 //
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french onion soup imageI fell in love with french onion soup when I was very young, maybe six or seven. My father had a good job. The job allowed my mother to stay at home and raise me until the age of seven or so, which means, perhaps, that I fell in love with it at four or five. I fell in love with many other things that young including enchiladas, seafood fettucini, prawns, flan and hated many things including pizza. I feared pizza. I still like all those foods, but I still love french onion soup.

I remember eating it once in a restaurant at a large, round table in what I can only imagine I would have described as opulence if the word had been a part of my lexicon, but it wasn’t. Everything had a warm shine, the ceiling was high above, my parents were young and happy, others were present with kind smiles, perhaps friends or family, and we were eating well. There were cloth napkins and table cloths, soft music, multiple glasses and plates, waiters, and soft pleasant discourse. I, for some reason, had been given a copy of the menu and had selected my meal, french onion soup. I suspect the cheese sounded especially appealing. Among the adults, there was some concern that a person of my age wouldn’t appreciate it, but, eventually, they deferred to me. I loved it. Cheese melted atop crusty bread floating over a rich brown soup with the deep flavors of something remote and wonderful was heaven, joy.

As a child, I only ate it once or twice thereafter, and, now as an adult, rarely pass up the opportunity to eat it, which is rare in and of itself. I’ve learned since then that the taste I love and long for was given a name, umami. It is that savory flavor that comes from the long, low heat baking of meat or vegetable leaving glassy, liquid drippings in the bottom of pans to be deglazed by wine or stocks, in miso soup. I have always loved gravies and glaces made from the drippings of meat and often sample the drippings when no one is looking. It has a quality and depth that I can’t quite describe, but I favor it even over sweetness.

In traditional french onion soup a brown stock is used. The stock begins by roasting meat and bones in an oven either for 30-40 minutes at a higher temperature or all day at a much lower temperature. The roasting pan is deglazed and the bones and meat go into a big pot with the water and vegetables for stock. This recipe, however, is lacto-vegetarian or vegetarian or even vegan, if olive oil substitutes for butter, and uses a mushroom stock base.

The deep brown color and umami flavor does not just come from the stock but also from the caramelized onions, which only take on a deep color after 30-50 minutes or so of cooking over low heat with butter. While this isn’t exactly the same as the traditional recipe, I do think it holds its own and enjoy it greatly on a cold winter day such as today when the snow drifts down in soft flurries muting the world and softening the city’s harsher lines.

Ingredients

32 oz. mushroom broth

4-8 oz red wine

1 1/2 lbs onions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1/4 c butter

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp flour

2-3 3/4-1 in. slices of a sturdy baguette per person

olive oil

swiss cheese and parmigiano reggiano, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425° and brush both sides of baguette slices with olive oil. When oven is preheated, place baguettes in oven on rack for 5 minutes. Remove and dress with alternating layers of cheese until there is a satisfactory amount of cheese.

Over medium heat, melt butter and stir in sugar in a 4 quart pot. Add onions and cook until dark brown, which should take 30-40 minutes. When onions are cooked about half way, add garlic. After the onions reach a dark, reddish brown, add flour until thoroughly mixed in. Then, add mushroom stock a half cup at a time. Deglaze as you add the broth by gently rubbing your spoon or spatula over the bottom to lift and dissolve the drippings from the pan. When all the drippings have been removed, add remainder of stock and red wine. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place baguette slices with cheese in the oven and bake until cheese begins to melt and bubble. Ladle soup into individual bowls and float the cheesy baguette slices on top of the soup and serve. Serves 4-6 depending on serving size.

Enjoy!

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Categories cooking, food, french, recipe, soup

Philly Mushroom Sandwich Au Jus

2010/11/14 //
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It’s cold, wet, and gray with a side of cold, wet and gray here in Tacoma. The wet settled in, and I’d bemoan it if I hadn’t lived here all my life and if I wanted to depress myself with thoughts of nine more months of this incessant bleakness and wetness and grayness and coldness and etc. Anyway, as in my previous post all this weather does is bolster me to prepare warm, savory foods (and hibernate), so today I made Philly Mushroom Sandwiches Au Jus.

image of mushroom philly sandwich with au jus

I absolutely adore mushrooms. They grow all year round and the various types yield an insurmountable amount of flavors and textures. Cooked right they are an excellent addition to any dish or just by themselves. They also make an excellent substitute for meat as they are full of protein and other good stuff. This recipe not only includes mushrooms as the main filler for the  sandwich but utilizes mushroom stock for the au jus, which you can buy or make yourself. You can find the mushroom stock recipe here.

Ingredients

1 baguette, french bread, cut into quarters

1 lb mushrooms (crimini, white button, shiitake), remove stems and slice

1 medium onion thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green pepper cleaned, drawn (kidding!) and quartered and thinly sliced

1/2 tsp thyme, fresh, chopped

2 cups mushroom broth

1 tsp soy sauce

1/6-1/4 lb cheese (mildly sharp and melts easily), cut into slivers, see notes below as to types

pinch of salt

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp butter

The first order of business should be to prepare the baguette by cutting and brushing the inside with the olive oil. Next prepare the vegetables, separating the mushrooms from the onion and green pepper. Set aside the garlic in a separate dish. Begin the au jus by very gently simmering the mushroom stock and soy sauce together. Over medium heat, sauté the onions until they begin to caramelize. Add the garlic and green peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Remove the onions, green peppers, and garlic to a separate dish. Turn the ovens broiler on. Add one and a half tablespoons butter into pan, melt, and add the mushrooms. Mushrooms absorb oils like no ones business, so if in the process of browning the mushrooms the pan seems dry, add a half tablespoon here and there until they begin to satisfactorily cook again. Add the thyme and pinch of salt when mushrooms begin to brown. When mushrooms are brown, remove to the dish containing the onions, green peppers and garlic. Turn the heat down and ladle 1/2 to 3/4 cup simmering stock into the pan and deglaze. When deglazed to your satisfaction, return the mushrooms, onions, green peppers and garlic to the pan. Stir into the thickened juices and turn off the burner.

Place the bread, cut side up under the broiler for half a minute or so. Watch it carefully to ensure that it doesn’t begin to burn. When it turns lightly golden, remove from the oven and pile on a healthy spoonful or two or three of the mushrooms and onions on one side of bread. Over the mushrooms, arrange the cheese slivers. (I used parrano, an Italian cheese aged for three months. It has the bite of parmigiano and the softness of gouda. It melted well, too.) Return to oven until the cheese begins to melt and bubble. This should take all of a minute, if that. Remove from oven and smash the other half of the bread on top. Cut each sandwich in half. Remove au jus from heat and serve next to the sandwich in a small ramekin or glass thingamajig. Eat alone or serve with a salad or soup. It’s wonderful for a cold day at home.

What I used specifically might be important. I had hoped for shiitakes, but, alas, the ones being sold in the grocery store were “old and wizened,” so my lovely E returned with crimini and a portabella. Those worked, but I would have preferred the crimini with shiitake. Shiitake mushrooms take on a wonderful nutty flavor when cooked in butter until golden. The french bread was good and E liked it. It does have it’s appeal with a delicately crunchy crust and soft lofty interior, but I wanted something with a little more tooth and a little less delicacy, say the wonderful bread loaves used in making Vietnamese sandwiches? As for cheese, the parrano was excellent. It had a nice bite that carried over the mushrooms and melted beautifully. Good substitutes include Gruyere Swiss cheese, maybe stilton, perhaps a mild bleu, or the milder fontina with some romano grated on top. Let your mood guide you. You could change this completely and use jalapeño paired with cotija cheese.

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Categories cooking, food, recipe

Potato Leek Soup or Potage Parmentier

2010/11/09 //
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photo of potato leek soup
Potato Leek Soup garnished with parsley and accompanied by homemade naan.

The last day at Tacoma’s Broadway Farmers Market left me with two large bouquets, four impressive and lovely leeks, and a formidable celery, deep green and fragrant. Knowing there were potatoes at home, leeks in my bag, and having just discovered Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking on a bookshelf (how long has it been there…years?), I thought of Potato Leek Soup. Autumn’s sun warmed days rife with oranges, reds, and yellows and the nights cloaked in a deep cool inspire warm foods such as soup, roasted vegetables, and roasted meats as well as wonderful meals with friends, family, loved ones.

Suffice to say, I looked at many potato leek soup recipes both online and in cookbooks. Some wanted the vegetables sautéed and some required other vegetables or meat. Others had eight or nine ingredients. It all seemed too much. Then, there was my first attempt, years ago at making potato leek soup. A tasteless, unremarkable mess that made it unlikely I would make it again. Yet, the Mastering recipe was so simple with only five ingredients: potatoes, leeks, water, salt, and cream, butter, or crème fraiche (thank you, b). Or, four if you leave out the fatty, creamy wonderfulness, but who would do that?

I chose Child’s Mastering recipe for a variety of reasons. One being my challenge to myself to create a solid foundation in my cooking skills. I’ve cooked for years, really most of my life, but only recently decided to assert more discipline, follow recipes, take notes, taste wine, and try new, more complicated food and more simple food. Following the recipes, though, was the most important item. Earlier this year, I made brioche and subsequent dishes, and in the last month, croissants. Both amounting to day long adventures with flour and butter. This time, simplicity won. This recipe can be used as a base for a variety of other soups, both cold and hot, and requires few ingredients and little time.

Ingredients

3-4 cups leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced up to the light green

3-4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced (red or yukon gold or fingerlings)

2 quarts water

2-3 tsp salt (start with two – the original recipe calls for a Tbs, but that was a wee too salty)

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, not violent, and simmer partially covered for 40-50 minutes. After said time, remove from heat and let cool. When it’s cooled sufficiently, blend. Your blending options are: blend 2-3 cups at a time in a blender or food processor to create an even and smooth texture, mash in the pot with a potato masher, or mash with a fork in the pot. (I chose the potato masher and really liked the varied texture.) Return to heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Taste and add any salt, if necessary, and, possibly, a half teaspoon of white peppercorns, crushed to a powder. Now, add 4-6 tablespoons of whipping cream or crème fraiche, stirring in one spoonful at a time.  To serve, dish into bowls or a tureen and dress with finely chopped parsley or dill.

photo of potato leek soup close-up
Here you can see the soup’s warm, golden color contrasted with the bright green parsley.

It was delicious reheated with grated cheddar cheese on top, and would freeze well. It, also, keeps in the refrigerator for several days. When reheating from frozen, let thaw, reheat on stove top or in the microwave, and, depending on the amount of soup, add a teaspoon or tablespoon of butter or cream. After mastering the recipe, this can be whipped together by combining equal amounts potatoes and leeks covered with an inch or so of water, salt added to taste, and simmered for 40-50 minutes.

Strict vegetarians and vegans can simply leave out the butter or cream and possibly substitute with a pseudo sour cream. It is absolutely delicious without cream and butter, which only serves to make the soup richer. I wouldn’t recommend a margarine or milk alternative as the flavors tend to be artificial or too sweet and thus remove the savory aspect of this soup.

Enjoy!

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Categories cooking, food, french, recipe, soup