A Broad Reference

One of my most favorite soups in all the world combines the tasty goodness of onion and the universally wonderful cheese on toast (bubbling crispy cheese atop crusty baguette).
I use the standard recipe provided by Cooks Illustrated (the online recipe oracle) combined with my attempts to make beef stew (details are listed in the extended entry). I use a deep heavy (all metal) frying pan so that I can transition between oven and stove top. You can also use a dutch oven if the handles are oven safe.

Ingredients for the onion soup
1 Tbs rendered beef fat (see extended entry)
2 Tbs butter
4 large yellow onions cut into slices across the grain
2 cups water
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (see previous entry)
2 cups beef broth (see extended entry)
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Roast the onions with the beef fat/butter in the oven at 400oF until caramelized a deep golden brown and soft (stir every 15 minutes to avoid burning). De-glaze pan- add 1/4 cup water and stir till any fond is lifted. On the stove over a medium heat, heat the onions until a fond again starts to form. De-glaze etc. Repeat 3x in total. Finish with sherry- stir till it evaporates off but do not allow a fond to build.

Stir in broths, any remaining water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, for 30 minutes. Discard herbs, then season to taste.
Meanwhile, make crusty cheese on toast. I like to chop this into bite sized chunks before serving. Traditionally this is served on top of the soup, but you can serve separately depending on whether you want mushy bread or not....

Beef Stock & stew

3lbs beef bones & stew meat
8 cups of water (depends on size of your pot)
Onion coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic whole
bay leaves
2 Tbs qi of soup spices (I use tea holder to steep)
carrots
celery

1 lb mushrooms sliced
3 cups of dark porter beer or red wine
12 prunes
1 Tbs lemon zest

Roast the bones and meat for 30 minutes in the oven at 400oF till browned, with carrots, celery, onions and garlic along for the ride. De-glaze pan for the fond'y bits. Put everything into the crock pot and fill with water to just cover meat and bones. Simmer till meat is tender and falling off the bone. Filter off the liquid, reserving the meat and other bits for the stew, then cool liquid separating off congealed layer of fat.

Fry mushrooms in beef fat. Return meat and bones to crock pot, add mushrooms and prunes, cover with the beer/wine and 2 cups of beef broth. Cook until the alcohol has evaporated. Remove any bones not attached to meat and finish with lemon zest. Serve over noodles or potato.

Posted by Misty at 05:49 AM | Permalink

I'm just following the grip of the financial meltdown deal. $700 billion US is a pretty significant chunk of change. While I agree that total financial collapse is not good, people (especially my Dad and my friend Adam) have been predicting this for years. I just don't see where it's going to end anytime soon. I mean a little economic stimulus check isn't going to fix this problem. A lot depends on how the bailout is going to be structured. For a while there it looked like Paulson was going to get his way and make it no strings attached for bad assets, then everyone would walk away from the debt that they could and the people that can't walk away would be left holding the basket- which would suck. To say that we live in interesting financial times is prolly a curse at this point. I wonder if the electronic trading is allowing the rest of the world to snap up the US at bargain prices and then you have to ask yourself "would that be a good thing actually?" But when you look around everyone is also tanked!

I went to an investment seminar in San Francisco run by a large online trading company called E*****. It was actually pretty interesting. They talked about all kinds of theories and used lots of buzzwords that I didn't know. But their bottom line was of course "you can still make money trading right now". Then we'd look at graphs where all the stocks had tanked and the guy would say "yeah buy this one!" It was rather what I had expected but I came away with a new respect for their willingness to take advantage of peoples' hope (and dare I say greed?).

With all the finances in the doldrums, I'm busy satisfying my own greed (or should I say hunger?) making my own chicken stock from scratch. I'll include the recipe in the extended entry. It's actually cheaper and tastier to make your own than buy it. I take the time mostly coz of my allergies, I'm finding I can eat less and less processed stuff. But an important byproduct of making stock is the chicken bits.

I strip the cooked carcasses of meat and make up a chicken salad. I'll add what ever's in the fridge, so it never really tastes the same. Then I load it onto a piece of hi-fiber bread, another covered with cheese and mustard; stick both into the toaster until bread is crisped and cheese bubbling. Construct a sandwich and eat with a side of cabbage. And coz it's so totally frugal, you can call this one a "Financial melt"! HeHee Mmmm yum.

Chicken Stock

3lbs chicken bones & bits
6-8 cups of water (depends on size of your pot)
Onion coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic
bay leaves
2 Tbs qi of soup spices (I use tea holder to steep)

optional (if roasting)
carrots
celery

Roasting the bones is debatable and really depends on whether you want a blonde stock with clarity (sans roasting) or a brown stock which has more depth of flavor but can be a little muddy. Roasting is quick 10-20 minutes in the oven at 400oF till browned, with carrots, celery, onions and garlic along for the ride. Deglaze pan for the fond'y bits.

With or without roasting:
Put everything into the crock pot and fill to cover bones. Simmer till meat is tender and falling off the bone. Filter, reserving bits for salad, then cool liquid separating off congealed layer of fat. Keep or discard depending on your cholesterol and financial levels.

Posted by Misty at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At Berkeley Bowl today I spotted something that looked more like a flanged mace or morning star than produce. Intrigued, I decided to buy one for $2.69. Hmm, I avoided brussel sprouts formerly as a child- considering them to be inedible sulphuric hockey pucks. As an adult I've lost enough taste buds to enjoy their delicate texture/nutty taste and use them as a replacement for potato or rice. When I trimmed the brussel sprouts off the stalk, It turned out to have more than 50 of the suckers! Truly a great deal. Works out to about 5 cents per sprout. Not all of them are the same size, which you prolly know means different cooking times. Apparently if you over cook them, they release the dreaded sulphuric compounds; This is easy to do if the sizes are mismatched. So I've split them into different categories and will cook them accordingly.

My favorite is to steam them and then smother with cheese sauce, which as you know is now cheese sauce ala cauliflower in disguise. It wouldn't get through the discerning taste buds of a four year old, but I enjoy it in my attempt to eat nine fruits and vegetables a day. Nine is tough but I'm averaging 7, which has the added bonus of making me too full for other "bad" stuff.

Anyway if you think of any other good ways to cook brussel sprouts, let me know since I have a ton of them.

From my friend Aaron:
Trim & halve your sprouts. Take a large skillet, heat some fat
(olive oil, butter, bacon drippings)... Spread the sprouts cut side down,
leave on medium heat for 4-5min covered. Take off the lid, toss in a
handfull of pine nuts and shake the pan to distribute the nuts and turn
some of the sprouts (they should be browning on the bottom). Let it sit
for another minute or two and toss in a healthy bit of minced garlic,
stir well to take the edge off the garlic and then hit the pan with some
acid (juice of half a lemon or a teaspoon or two of cider vinegar). Salt &
Pepper to taste, serve.

They tasted great!

Posted by Misty at 12:46 AM | Permalink

Recently I've been trying to increase my fiber intake. Striving for that elusive 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables. Delicious summer fruit are easy, leafy greens a little difficult and 9 whole servings!- kind of a challenge. In the mornings I start with fruit- apples, pears, peaches, nectarines are all good options, plus a bowl of oatmeal (now seven grain) either sweet or savory and an egg. Or hi-fiber toast and coffee. Or an Almond croissant from Acme (c'mon we can't be good ALL the time)...

Lunch is soup and leafy green salad- including spinach + nuts + meat. OK maybe it's pizza but if you have 2 toppings it counts as a serving of veg.... Plus a snack of homemade granola with flax seed, oatmeal and nuts. But sometimes you get tired of the salads and crave something a little more substantial and warming. Enter the lowly cauliflower, as fairly taste neutral, kid acceptable veg.
Typically served in my childhood covered in lashings of a Bechamel cheese sauce, it's a comfortable dish, satisfying and score 1 for servings of vegetable. I found a great recipe for cauliflower soup which inspired me to create a cheese sauce with cauliflower as a base.

* 1 tsp coriander seeds
* 1 tsp fennel/cumin seeds
* 1-2 bay leaves
* 1 onion
* 2 cups water/stock
* 1 cauliflower (1 lb + 1.5 oz)
* 1 large shallot/onion, diced
* 2 garlic cloves, whole
* 1 celery branch (optional), diced
* 2 cups grated cheese
* Dash of mustard powder
* Dash of nutmeg
* Dash of sherry
* Dash of cream
* Salt and pepper to taste

Start with a cauliflower cut into large florets, a medium sized onion or large shallot, whole cloves of garlic and a spice packet. Cook in chicken stock until very soft. Remove the spice packet and then use an immersion blender to puree everything together. Simmer over low heat and mix in cheese, cream and sherry, salt to taste. Adjust thickness of sauce with stock or potato flakes as desired. Serve as a you would a regular cheesy sauce . Most people can't tell the difference!

The next question is what to serve it on? Luckily I can pretty much eat this sauce on anything. In macaroni and cheese, Croque Monsieur Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, lasagna, moussaka, baked with a chicken in it, as the sauce au gratin, rolled in crepes, crab cannelloni, poured on top of other vegetables...

Posted by Misty at 05:27 AM | Permalink