Christmas Dinner '14 : Quick and Easy: Green Pea Soup

Off to a Great Start

I've been wanting to make this delicious soup for a while now. The idea popped in my head after watching yet another documentary from the BBC in which was mentioned 'mushy peas', a British staple in a lot of houses. I know that a green pea soup exists but I've never come across a recipe for it, so I made my own. 

One thing that I am trying to stress with this blog, aside from my governing statement, is to show/educate people on how easy it actually is to cook. Once you begin to make soups from scratch, you can make any soup from scratch. 

All it takes to make a healthy and great tasting soup is to master three basic steps. The first and most important step is the stock. It is always, always preferable to use homemade stock and I don't believe that is an exaggeration. A hearty and flavourful stock is like the foundation of a building - very necessary to have a strong start to your construction in order to build beautiful things from it. Without it you have a shoddy construction that inevitably ends in disappointment, flames, bloodcurdling screams, explosions, ruin…okay, maybe I go too far but you get my point. Make a good stock. 

If needs must, a good quality, unsalted boxed broth will suffice. Please avoid using powdered or cubed bouillon as they are too high in salt and chemicals. Just keep in mind that boxed stocks/broths do not have much flavour so adding more in the way of herbs or spices may be in order, so taste often as cooking progresses.

The second step is the flavour base. In most cases this will be onion, garlic and carrots or onion, celery and carrots as in this recipe. This step is crucial so the freshest and healthiest specimens are best. Large carrots tend to taste woody but once done up in a soup they impart flavour subtly but add a strong body to the soup. Ideally you want to use small carrots but really, if you're buying them at the supermarket, they're probably all going to taste the same.

The third step isn't really a step but more a moment of balance. Once you begin cooking often, you begin 'thinking' cooking often as well. Ideas are always churning away whether you're at the grocery store or staring blankly into your fridge 1/2 hour before supper. You begin to develop an almost instinct on food combinations, seasoning complements, and how to balance flavours as well as nutritional benefits. Each soup you make should contain a complete balance of nutrients even if one ingredient stands out above the others, as in this soup. Vegetarians and vegans of course have a more difficult time maintaining this balance so requires a bit more thinking and planning.

Some soups do just fine as a starter or an appetizer even though they have a slight imbalance of nutrients but if you are preparing one to be a meal, then make a greater effort to include all the food groups. This Green Pea soup is high in fibre and has both beta carotene and vitamin C. Using evaporated milk instead of cream is a lower fat and less expensive option. In 1 tbsp of evaporated milk there are 20 calories while cream has 30; 1 gram of fat while cream has 2.5; 1 gram of protein while cream has 0.3 and vitamin C and calcium are higher by 2% in both.

Here in London a carton of 18% cream, which is the only cream I use, is about $5 while a can of evaporated milk is $1.89. I always have a carton on hand for my coffee but for cooking I use the canned milk most often.

What you need to know

If you don't have a mortar & pestle I recommend you get one. I have a small marble set that has seen great use but is still going strong. A lot of people have been talked into purchasing or even using their existing coffee grinder for their spices but I don't think it's a good way of spending your money or treating your food. In order to justify the expense and the cupboard space of purchasing one (as a uni-tasker), you'd have to grind up large quantities of spice. Many large quantities of spice. Unless you're cooking for 100 people or more, quite often, you couldn't use that much ground spice before the flavourful granules degrade into a tasteless powder. If you plan to use your grinder for coffee and spices, then either clean, clean, clean or get used to the taste of spiced coffee. That may be okay if you ground up cardamon or cinnamon but cumin or fenugreek? Umm, pass. 

A small mortar and pestle set is more than sufficient for the little amount of spices used in most recipes.

Green Pea Soup

1 leek, cut into rings and washed
or 1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 large carrot, diced
6 allspice berries, crushed
salt
12 peppercorns, cracked
5 cups chicken stock
1 can evaporated milk
approx 1.5 kg or 3 lbs frozen green peas
mint and two thin slices of red pepper for garnish

In a medium sized soup pot sauté leeks, celery, peppers, onions and carrots in a splash of olive oil until softened. Add spices, chicken stock, milk and peas. Bring to boil; reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Whiz up using hand blender.

Serve with mint and red pepper garnish.



Now what could be simpler?

Try it out and let me know what you think !



all text and photographs ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

Read More

Quick and Easy: Cider, Onion and Parsnip Soup

Ahem… well now. It's Valentine's Day and I, as a blogger and a female, am supposed to be swamped with romantic notions and the mad desire to blog about chocolate, strawberries and more chocolate. I did give it some thought actually but as I am a 44 year old woman who is daily tallying the marks of time on her skin and is trying to teach others how to eat healthy on the cheap, Valentine's indulgences should be avoided. As well, I just don't do Valentine's Day. Never have and more than likely never will. I look around at all the oozing romantic cuteness spreading like a bad rumour and wonder why we do this? I can understand wanting to recognize the importance of a romantic side to our lives, really I can. But I would much rather have a mad, grand passion and be made to feel sexy and interesting 365 days a year than be told rather clumsily that golly, gosh and gee what a swell gal I am, once a year. I'm just sayin'.

I know both genders are conditioned to believe that all women are standing there with their hands out for some goodie today but you would be surprised how many don't actually care about this day at all. The giggling young ones and the unsatisfied middle aged married ones may be the easiest to convince that a gift on a day in February guarantees true love and appreciation, forever. The rest of us however, realize that it is a commercial day designed solely to play on the ever-present feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty we all feel at some point in our relationships and on the guilt we feel that we may have spent the previous year taking our partner for granted or worse, on the premise that you are buying the continued love and support for another year with a trinket. Since these feelings are part of the human condition, we are all going to fall victim to purchasing proof of our feelings, or fall victim to expecting to be gifted as proof of others feelings towards ourselves. There is nothing wrong with being extravagant on Valentine's Day, if you can afford it figuratively and literally, just look to your motivations for giving or receiving. If what you are considering buying/doing or what you are about to get has a price tag that makes your heart skip a beat, maybe reconsidering the relationship you are in is in order. Again, I'm just sayin'.

Now that I have said it, I will offer up a few tips for this day. I do believe that a simple demonstration of appreciation is all that is required, if you wish to be a part of this day. A simple meal, a single flower, a REAL connecting gaze that shows that you are really seeing your partner in all their facets and you love what you see, time spent doing what they like to do, or if what they would really love and cherish from you on this day is your absence, well, then, bugger off for a while. 

It's a little late for breakfast in bed - and a healthy, non-indulgent one is the way to go - but if you are the type to leave mid-week celebrations for the weekend, keep it in mind. One important detail to remember when gifting your loved one with a meal, whether cooked by you or catered in some way, is to try to avoid foods that are strong smelling like garlic and onions or heaven forbid, are gas producing! That is hardly the atmosphere you wish to create. The cliché is candles and roses, not candles and explosions…

Another important point about cooking for someone on this day, is to have everything prepared ahead of time. Choose a meal that is quick, easy, non-messy and able to sit without spoiling in case plans get derailed for a bit (wink wink, nudge nudge).

If you are going out, choose an activity you both will enjoy that is relaxed and stress-free. Surprising her with a night out is a lovely idea but to be practical, a woman has to know how to dress for the evening. It is very stressful to get ready for an evening out without knowing the destination. A few hints about formality or the meal being served can help her decide without giving it all away. I was once surprised with a charity dinner with Chef Michael Smith and knowing it was semi-formal with a sit-down meal was very helpful.

However you choose to celebrate this day, if you do at all, remember the principle of KISS… Keep It Simple Sunshine…

Well, for those of us not into this day, we still have to eat. The soup I have for you today is light-tasting, filling and definitely has a flavour not discovered everyday. The onion flavour is a wee bit strong so I wouldn't recommend serving it on Valentine's Day unless you've been together for a while. Certain smells seem to dissipate and not have the same impact after a few years together.

The soup is meat-free, gluten-free, and vegan so it is a soup to pull out on those occasions that you have a number of guests who dispositions you are unfamiliar with.

Putting it all together

butter

olive oil

4 large sweet onions, thinly sliced or chopped small

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 medium parsnips, washed, peeled and chopped

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

4 cups chicken broth or flavourful vegetable broth

2 1/4 cups apple cider - not mulled!

salt and pepper

1 tbsp fresh thyme

2 rounded tsp curry powder

Sauté the onions in the butter and oil until browned and aromatic. You are not caramelizing but frying the onions for this recipe so a higher heat and no sugar is used. When they are almost done, add the parsnips, garlic and celery. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the apple and seasoning and cook for 3 minutes more. Add the broth and cider. Cook for fifteen minutes at simmer until parsnips are soft. Process with an immersion blender. Adjust seasonings. Serve with pumpernickel bread.

To fancy this up to serve for a special occasion, make croutons out of the pumpernickel and very finely slice some apple and finely chop some more fresh thyme for garnish. Choose a white dish to serve in as the colour of the soup can look garish and unappetizing if you choose the wrong coloured dish. A simple arugula salad tossed in some balsamic vinegar is all that is necessary to accompany this soup.

all text and photos ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

Read More

Quick and Easy: Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Soup

Soup. You may well wonder, as you look through my recipes, why I focus so much on soups and stews. It's really rather simple. It is inexpensive, easy, can be made to feed many people and next to pizza, is the perfect meal. Pizza? you ask. Yes, but let's be clear here. I am talking about pizza done right; in perfect balance. Where we go wrong is in our choice of pizza, how much of it we eat and how often. Otherwise, pizza in and of itself is a balanced meal choice.

When we indulge in pizza we tend to go for items such as pepperoni, bacon, sausage and extra cheese which translates into nitrates, nitrates, nitrites and fat, not to mention all the extra fillers found in dry sausage-style cold cuts and in sausages themselves. We also seem to drop the word 'vegetable' from our vocabulary when ordering our pizzas. If we choose vegetables that are as fresh as possible, meats such as chicken and ground beef and lighten up on the cheese, we can have a slice or two and greatly diminish the possibilities of another lecture on how bad pizza is for us. 

This soup packs all the flavour of a great pizza, costs less to make than it does to order a pizza and is so very good for you and not to mention but I'm gonna anyway, it is incredibly easy to make. Consider whipping up this smooth, velvety, flavour seduction for your lovely one after a romantic day of ice skating this Valentine's Day - it's one way to warm up.

If you read my previous article with the Red Pepper Chipotle Soup, you'll know a bit about lycopene in red vegetables. Sweet potatoes also have some lycopene as well as beta-carotene which is found in orange coloured vegetables. It is extremely high in vitamin C making this soup a powerhouse for boosting your immune system and the overall health of your skin and body. I attribute only suffering from a bad cold for three days to the week I've spent developing and making these soups. Not a testimonial, more of an opinion :)

What you need to know

This easy-to-make soup requires no special know-how at all especially if you've followed along so far and are clear on caramelized onions. I encourage the non-cooks who want to make something special to give this a try. Not only will you impress people with an elegant presentation of this golden yumminess, you will be able to add to your repertoire of go-to dishes and put this in a place of honour right beside PB&J's and Kraft Dinner. Of course, if making toast makes you sweat, you may want to consider going out to eat.

Putting it all together

Caramelized Onions

1/4 cup butter

1 tbsp olive oil

4 large sweet onions, chopped or sliced

1 tbsp packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp allspice about 3 berries if using whole, crushed in mortar and pestle

pinch salt

This will have to been done in batches so make sure to divide the sugar and spices between the batches. Increase your butter/oil as needed. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes until golden brown and soft.

Soup

While your onions are caramelizing, prepare the soup pot with the following:

5 medium sweet potatoes, chopped

2 boxes of beef broth 900mL each (approx 4 cups each)

1 tsp dried thyme

3/4 tsp allspice about 5 or 6 berries, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

scallions or green onions for garnish, greens only

As the onions are cooked, add to pot. When the last batch goes in, bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Process with immersion blender. It is not necessary to add cream to this very thick soup. If you find the consistency is too thick (?!) add some hot beef broth until you're happy.

This will make enough soup for a large family to be full and satisfied so there will be leftovers if you're a couple or a single. The soup freezes, thaws and reheats well so I suggest making the recipe as is and freezing the rest but you can divide the recipe evenly in half for a smaller meal.

Coming up next is, yes, another soup that will not only tempt your tasty buds but make them want to sin again and again (naughty tasty buds), but then we step it up a bit in time for Valentine's Day with a meal that is nicely presented and manly enough to please everyone. I don't post 'gourmet' recipes often as my goal is to provide meal ideas for the everyday, but I do love to experiment on special occasions. The recipe in question was the result of a need to challenge myself to present an elegant dish with seasonal and local ingredients only. As I've only made it once before, I will be retesting this dish this weekend to ensure my memory is as good as I believe it is :)

all text and photographs ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

Read More

Quick and Easy: Red Pepper Chipotle Soup

Free those radicals baby!

Aging. Aging has been on my mind lately or rather aging skin and appearance has dominated my thoughts especially as I have the best seat in the house to watch my own farcical attempts to retain youth. I have become a great fan of Oil of Olay, scarves and low light and they do their best to make me believe this old gal is aging gracefully. In my quest for extended youth I have turned my thoughts to how to achieve this through food. Everyone knows or should know that a balanced diet, plenty of sleep (unaided if possible) and consistent exercise will help you to feel better, look better and live healthier. What I am interested in is which foods will help you to achieve this perfect balance. The short answer? Anti-oxidants to destroy free radicals and essential fatty acids to feed your skin and hair the good stuff. But what does that mean?

Taking it to the limit

I have always had an intense and keen interest in food nutrition and an intense and keen dislike for diets. I don't care who is flogging the diet - doctor, fitness guru or celebrity - these quick-fix, short-term Bandaid* solutions doom you and your health to failure. In great confidence they attempt to sell you a 'cure-all' for whatever ails you from losing weight to managing an illness to avoiding a particular food group to narrowing down your food choices to a particular food group for personal morality reasons. Vegan, Gluten-free (non-medicinal), Vegetarian, Paleo, Raw, Juicing - all proponents claim that their way is the right way to feed your body and improve your health. How can they all be right? Well, they're not, not really. 

Eating right for weight loss purposes requires a balance of need and want. We want tasty, rich, satisfying meals but we need vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates in appropriate numbers or our child-like glee at meal times will mean tears at the doctors and wails at the bathroom scale. We want to have fun but exercise needs discipline. We want to live in the here and now but we need to think of our future selves' welfare more often and take our aged selves more seriously. We live like we hate the person we will become and are doing our best to get a jab in now.

Following an eating plan tailored to those who suffer from Celiac's disease, irritable bowl disease or irritable bowl syndrome, Crohn's disease when you don't actually suffer from them puts your body into an imbalance.  We fall for these miracle food cures because the human body is a remarkable machine that will carry on until it can't. What that means is we are like clockworks with tiny parts, large parts - all working together to keep us going. It will work with minimal maintenance but eventually the gears will grind, teeth will snap off, metal will squeal and finally the clockworks will come to an abrupt stop.

For optimal health of the machine, we require this balance. For functioning and staying at work for about eight hours a day, doing minimal physical activity you can get by with an imbalanced diet… for a while anyway. Think of all the times you have had to forgo meals or eat inferior take-out because of scheduling. What happened before you next ate or ate properly? Feel lightheaded? Tired? Grumpy? Did you kill a small antelope with your bare hands on the way to the restaurant, as an appetizer? Multiply that by months, even years of eating without all the necessary nutrients in the necessary numbers per day and you get the picture. A healthy body, whether by design or luck, needs food from all the necessary groups containing all the necessary nutrients. An ill body needs a diet that will ease suffering and provide relief from the symptoms and/or flare-ups. It is by no means a perfect solution but it is an important one for the sufferers.

Eliminating a food group from your menu plans for moral reasons is purely a personal decision that is based upon a misguided perception of the human condition and an overestimation on our place in the food chain. In an effort not to be dismissive of Vegans and Vegetarians I will say that no one can gainsay their emotions and sensitivity to the natural world. Their hearts are in the right place. That said, I believe they are in error with their judgement. The common argument for one half seems to be for a belief in the sanctity of all life (in this case it seems to be the cute and cuddly mammals) so they refuse to eat anything with a face or benefit from their natural processes such as cheese and milk even though the bovines are still chewing the cud while this goes on. We are animals with our place in the food chain and quite frankly we aren't better than the other animals. We are exactly like the other animals and to me, refusing to take your place in the food chain causes a disassociation with what we are and where we stand on this planet. We are animals that now raise food instead of hunt it. The other half seems to veer between saving the planet from the flatulence emanating from over-produced livestock and a belief that we were not supposed to eat meat in the first place. Apparently red meat has the distinction of being a serial killer from which there is no escape. Yes, a bit of facetiousness but hey, wouldn't be me if I didn't indulge now and then.

As for the Paleo, Juicers and Raw dieters… can we say crystals, shamans and running naked in the forest chanting to the stars? Harsh yes, it would be if I was 100% serious (only sitting at 85%)  but what they are doing is harsher still. They are informing a vulnerable public of half truths and misconceptions and, dare I say it, phoney science. 

Simple truth is we are not Paleo-man, we have evolved to adapt to our surroundings like every other animal that has survived thus far. 

We cannot extract all beneficial nutrients from raw vegetables and fruits. Sometimes like in the case of today's recipe, certain foods require heat to extract all valuable nutrients. 

Juicing is a fantastic way to boost your morning breakfast routine or to have as a go-to snack but it isn't the best way to eat all the time. Fibre from eating the skins of the fruits and vegetables in their unprocessed form is important for our digestive systems - the Raw fooders have that right at least. Yes, you can make smoothies using the whole fruit but again, the breaking down of the insoluble fibre has already begun before it even hits your digestive system. By all means juice, just don't juice alone. In fact, these diets can be an interesting way to break up your routine once in a while, just like going meatless a few days a week can be a good thing. 

When it comes to the next best thing in the bookstores, keep in mind that common sense is the best editor/publisher of your own cookbook.  Do your research and get out the red editing pen! 

Seeing Red

This extremely simple and inexpensive soup is loaded with the good stuff. What you see above is essentially all the ingredients needed - add some broth and 10% cream and we're done.

So what's the good stuff Michelle? 

Well pipe down and I'll tell you.

The star of the show is the red peppers. While all the ingredients will do something lovely to your body, the red peppers are a powerhouse of nutrients that will blow your tasty buds and your mind. The rainbow of colours found in vegetables can give you a good idea of what good stuff resides within. Starting with green and ending in red, peppers at every stage offer a plethora of nutrients we need. Red peppers contain the highest amounts of Vitamin C as well as A,E and almost all of the B vitamin complex. Red vegetables also contain lycopene, the nutrient I referred to that multiplies when the foods such as tomatoes and red peppers are heated. This is due to the breaking down of the cell walls which allow more of the lycopene to be extracted. 

A can of crushed tomatoes will have more lycopene than a can of whole tomatoes which will have more than the equal amount of tomatoes just picked from the garden. 

This is directly attributed to the sterilization process of the industrial canning. After the cans are sealed, they are heated to a certain temperature. In the case of crushed tomatoes, they are heated twice - once in the crushing and again after the can is sealed.

Why is lycopene important? It is an anti-oxidant that has been linked with a decreased risk of many cancers including colon, stomach and cervical cancers and it can help lower the risk of heart disease.  For my immediate purposes, it also helps to prevent UV damage caused by the sun and is actually used in anti-aging creams.

The other but by no means lessor actors in the show are the allium family, the leeks and the garlic followed on stage by the benefits of orange oil and thyme. The allium family also offers a lot from the vitamin B complex as well as varying amounts of minerals, most notably manganese and a whopping amount of vitamin K in the leeks and an even greater whopping amount of vitamin B6 in the garlic. The thyme and the orange both contain vitamin C with a mega amount- 266% of our daily requirements - found in the thyme!

What you need to know

Knowing how to clean leeks efficiently is the only necessary technique you need to know. The best way is to cut of the dark green end about half an inch into the dark green. Then with the sharpest knife you feel comfortable with, insert the tip about 1/4 inch down from the root end all the way through to the other side and draw the knife through the leek as evenly as possible all the way down the length to the end. Under running water, gently separate the layers of the leek just enough to get the water in and wash well. Leeks grow in sand so they do tend to drag in some dirt as they grow and are trenched. Shake out well and then proceed to prep your leeks for your recipe.

Putting it all together

1 leek, washed, chopped                                                                                                       serves 4
2 garlic cloves, minced fine
1 jar 500ml (2 cups) roasted red peppers
4 chipotle in adobo, chopped
1.3L chicken broth (two tetra packs 3.75 cups each)
1 cup 10% cream
1 tsp orange zest
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, sauté the leek and garlic. Cook until the leek softens; add peppers. Cook for 8 minutes. Add broth/stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Process using a hand blender. Add the cream, salt and pepper to the pot as you reheat and add the zest to the bowls just before serving.

You can add fresh pasta, or dried that has been cooked already, to the soup. The first time I made this I added poached chicken and farfalle (butterfly/bowtie) noodles. This last time I made one half plain, pictured above, and one with leftover fresh linguine noodles, cut into one inch pieces.

Stay tuned to the next recipe where I "visit" Mexico for a tasty burger and get a recipe for the simplest mushroom soup anyone can make…like say a man with no kitchen experience could make it for his loved one on Valentine's day…just a thought :) 

Be safe. Be happy. Be well.



all photos and text ©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

Read More

Quick and Easy: French Onion Soup

This lovely bit of gooey, chewy tactile bliss could also be a part of the upcoming Leftover Wednesday posts as it makes use of what is left in your cheese drawer, your bread box and any boxed stock/broth you may have on hand in the pantry or homemade stock from the freezer. With only three main ingredients it is a quick and easy soup, in terms of difficulty although caramelizing the onions will take a small investment of time. However, it isn't 'hover over the pot' kind of time so other aspects of the meal making can take place while the onions are transforming into their golden goodness. This also isn't an overly expensive meal to incorporate into your weekly budget, especially if you are using leftovers rather than cheese purchased just for this dish. All I purchased was the bread and the onions while the rest I had on hand, including the wine I used to deglaze.

Why name this recipe "Peasant-style"? 

In the history of many people of European descent, where a large percentage of Canadians originate from, farmers and such had to make do with what was in season and available to eat. Many times before landlords in the feudal system realized how treating their tenants well resulted in higher gains for them, peasants scrounged for whatever they could after giving the landlords their due. Hunting or rather poaching whatever meat they could was a hit or miss proposition so they improvised with filling, yet cheap to produce/procure foods like bread and cheese. Once landlords were made to see that a farmers full belly usually resulted in more children, which meant more farm labour, they ensured that farmers could drink all the milk they wished and allowed them to make unlimited amounts of cheese for themselves and families. Grain was available at either low costs or as a allowed portion of the whole that was due to the landlord. Meat animals were kept by the farmers, for their own use as well. In the in-between times of feast and famine, a soup such as this one would have been welcomed as a filling and fun meal. A good beef stock either store bought or homemade gives the soup just enough of a meaty flavour that you don't miss the absence of any meat in the soup. 

The bread you use is of equal importance as it should be dense, hearty or chewy and filling. I haven't tried it with a dark rye or pumpernickel as I would be concerned about adding an unwanted flavour but give it a go, if you like. A multi-grain bread would add a crunch dimension that I personally would not mind but I could probably do without. Again, experiment to see which you like best. In this version I used a hearty french bread that was a few days old and I put quite a bit into the individual pots. The bread and the onions were placed in the pots first, then the broth was ladled over to the appropriate level for the cheese topping. The bread will soak up a lot of the broth and begin to break down. Add a few cubes to the top just before sprinkling on the grated cheese and placing the pots under the broiler to brown.


An onion by any other name… would make breath stink just the same

The best onions for French Onion Soup, in my opinion, are Vidalias from Georgia. A good second choice is a local sweet onion - I know, I know what happened to 'shop local'? Let me 'splain :) As a cook, I believe that the most important element of cooking is ingredients and Vidalias are simply the best sweet onion there is and it is available for only a limited time. As it does come from our neighbour to the south shipping costs, while high, are not as high as imported fruits nor are the retail prices higher than the off season summer vegetables from the greenhouses in our own country. Stocking up in late summer and early fall on local sweet onions and storing them in your cold room is ideal to cut costs but the most budget friendly version of this soup made at any time of the year utilizes inexpensive cooking onions. They can be strong flavoured but the addition of demarrara sugar when caramelizing cuts the pungency of these onions down to a more palatable level. The version below uses local sweet onions and my previous posted recipe here uses Vidalias, yellow and pearl onions.

Hey, was that you?

In my previous articles on cheese I make a big deal over delicious local cheeses of which we have plenty. This time I purchased these cheeses knowing I would be making this soup between Christmas and New Years, in addition to being a part of a cheese plate, and a strong cheese is wonderful with French Onion soup. I wanted a mixture of melting styles and a range of sharpness and pungency so I went with the mainly imported cheeses you see above. They were first used on a cheese plate that was served with wine and the leftovers were used in the soup making it an affordable option for special occasions. However, if you are a cheese lover like I am, excuses and special occasions are not necessary!

The Lancashire Crumbly and the Camembert offer a smooth and creamy flavour to the mix while the others add sharpness and pronounced taste, especially the 26 month old Beemster. This hard grating cheese is similar to Parmesano Reggiano or Asiago but with a sweeter note and a less grainy texture. It has a melt-in-the-mouth consistency and a pungency that woos your nose and sweet-talks your taste buds into falling in love. 

One of my favourite cheeses is the BellaVitano Gold so I was eager to try the Merlot type. It is still the same lovely cheese but with a very subtle wine note that hits the nose more than the palate. The Extra-old Cheddar is the only 'commercial' cheese I used - it is one I use on a daily basis so I wanted to include it to lower costs as well as to have a good melting cheese.

What you need to know

Like in the Cornish Hen recipe I recently posted, you will need to caramelize the onions, this time in two to three batches as there are a lot of onions. The only other skill that I find important is how to make a good stock. This recipe is best if made from stock from your freezer but of course that is not always possible. If you are making this as a Quick and Easy dish, boxed stock/broth will do. My choice is the No Salt Added Beef Broth from Campbell's but you can use whichever you like, just watch the sodium levels. I am not a fan of bouillon cubes, canned broths or the bottom of the barrel - powdered stock from the bulk food stores. 

When a great stock can be so easy and inexpensive to make, it seems rather foolish to me not to do it and to instead ingest chemicals and imitation food.

I used my Cuisinart to process the onions as I had my son helping me and well, boys and power equipment - what can I say? There is a tricky bit to the operation and that is to not over process. Stop when the onion pieces are still a good size and only place one layer in the chopper at a time to ensure consistent size in the pieces. If you over process you will get onion puree which contains too much moisture to be able to brown.

A note on the pots to use:

You'll notice that I used saucepans for the individual servings and there is a reason for it. I don't own French Onion soup bowls. I should but I haven't gotten around to it as I don't make this often. I used corning ware style bowls before but they proved to be too small for a decent man-sized serving. This time I decided to hit the second hand stores to see if I could lay my hands on some of the Onion pots. I didn't have any luck but I noticed these small saucepans all about the same size and thought they would work. I was a bit concerned about the handles so I wrapped them in tinfoil to protect them, even though they would not have been in the oven long. They worked wonderfully. Although I plan to invest in some good earthenware soup bowls (which will also help with getting a better photo of this messy goodness), I am glad to have another option until that time. A little bit of ingenuity and flexibility go a long way so don't be afraid to improvise in the kitchen!

Putting it all together

4 very large sweet onions, chopped bite-sized
3 garlic cloves, minced or 
        1/2 tsp granulated garlic
butter
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme, twice
1 tsp dried Herbes de Provence, twice
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 tsps demerrara sugar - I insist on this type as the molasses adds great depth of flavour :)
a couple of splashes of red wine, about 2 tbsps 
  
           *No wine? use some balsamic vinegar, just a splash or some of the beef stock/broth

3 boxes of beef stock/broth, 900mL each or
        11 cups homemade stock
large loaf of bread, large cubes
grated cheese, about two large handfuls + a bit per serving

Heat oil and butter; add one layer of onions to pan with a sprinkling of sugar. Once the onions soften and shrink, push them to one side of the pan. Add more butter if necessary, place raw onions onto the cleared side. Doing it this way ensures a constant rotation, making things go faster. Once the onions have been caramelized, add to soup pot. With the last batch of onions, add the garlic and herbs. Once they are done, add red wine to pan and scrape the bottom of all lovely stuck bits. Empty into soup pot. Add stock ; bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and add second dose of herbs & pepper; cook for 20-30 minutes.

Prepare your pots by placing them on a baking tray (with sides). If you plan to really load the cheese on top of your soup, line the tray with tinfoil to catch the spills, otherwise don't bother. 
Drop a good handful of bread cubes into each pot and separate a ladle or two of onions from the broth and place in pot. Top with the broth. You will need quite a bit so don't be alarmed at the bowl of bread you seem to have. Just keep adding the soup to just below the rim of the bowl/pot. Add a few more bread cubes and sprinkle on the cheese. Place under broiler until bubbling and browned. Serve immediately. 

This will make anywhere from 5 man-sized servings to 7-8 more modest-sized servings, depending on the size of your bowl/pot. With the ones I used I ended up with leftovers for three of the modest-sized servings.




all photographs and text©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014

Read More

Say Cheese...one more time!

The festivities are over, the guests are gone and you are left with the task of wrapping up the cheese from your cheese board. What to do with it all?

You could constantly snack upon it until you and everyone else in the house are cheesed out. You could dig out and dust off the fondue set you inherited from your parents or if it was long enough ago, that you received at your wedding. You could have a blue cheese omelette for every meal for a week. You could try freezing some but soft and fresh cheeses suffer for it. Cheddar can be shredded and frozen but it is only suitable in cooked foods, like the fast and delicious soup recipe below. I'd go for the soup.

Quick and Easy: Cheese and Vegetable Soup


This soup is a great way to use up left over cheeses, like the ones I was left with after New Years Eve. While cheese soup isn't the most ideal food if you are needing to watch your fat intake, it is nutritious, easy-to-make, and kid friendly.

I used a Thornloe Blue, Monforte Tuscano hard sheep cheese, PC triple cream Brie, Camembert and some old Cheddar. Some cheeses melt better than others but, as is the case in the one I made, the ones that don't melt nicely can be scooped out with the spoon or a cracker; an extra bit of fun out of your food! So don't worry if it turns out funny--it's food not a fashion show, just eat it!

For the uber-fat conscious, (shouldn't be eating this anyway!) you can let it cool and remove the disc of fat off the top. Save the disc to use in cooking or to put a pat or two onto some vegetables. You can also skim the fat off while it's still hot if you are wanting to eat the soup straight away. Just be sure to save the hot fat in a mason jar for future use, when a cheese flavour would be compatible with what you are cooking.


4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into lardons
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 tbsp minced banana pepper
2 c thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced  optional  (I didn't use any but of course it would go well. )
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
butter as needed
1 tbsp flour
1/4 c white wine
1 cup milk
6 - 8 c chicken stock, depending on your cheese amounts
800g - 1 kg cheese, shredded or diced
salt and pepper to taste
fresh herbs to finish

Heat up a large soup pot and drop the bacon into it. Cook until browned then add the onions. Lower the heat, cover and let cook for ten minutes. Add the pepper and the mushrooms and seasonings; cook 5 minutes longer.

Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes to remove the 'flour' taste. It may be necessary to add more fat to the pot before adding the flour.

Deglaze the pot with the white wine, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the stock and milk; bring up to heated. Add the cheese to the hot broth a little at a time, stirring to blend. Serve immediately upon all the cheese being melted. Top with some fresh basil or thyme or finely chopped flat leaf parsley.

Serve this rich and delicious soup with some whole grain bread or crackers and a fresh green salad (or one out of the bag, just try to avoid ones that have iceberg lettuce or add-ins. Iceberg lettuce is notorious for chemical use, poor handling conditions due to a low personnel: high product demand ratio and it is the most nutritiously defunct lettuce of them all. I stick with a blend of radicchio and romaine or even plain baby spinach and arugula mixed at home).

I reheated this the next day in the microwave and although it was separated, the oozy-gooey dollop of melted cheese at the bottom of the bowl was a simply wonderful treat after slurping up the very flavourful broth.

Quick and Easy: Artichoke Cream Cheese Pie

This is another recipe utilizing leftovers, my favourite kind of cooking--resourceful and creative! Here I used up the leftover artichoke hearts from the olive/pickle platter. Once you become experienced at leftover creations, you'll be able to purchase any ingredients you'll need for them beforehand. I knew there would be some food still so as I was shopping for those items I served at New Years, I had this idea in mind and picked up the phyllo dough, cream cheese and cream at the same time. Everything else I already had on hand which makes it not only an easy dish to make but inexpensive as well. This flan is very portable in spite of the fragility of phyllo dough and it is equally good cold as well as hot.

2/3 pkg of phyllo dough

10 thick cut slices of bacon, chopped

8 oz canned or deli-serve artichoke hearts, drained

8 oz block cream cheese

1/3 c Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise)

1/3 c 4% cottage cheese

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 onion, chopped small

1/4 c 18% cream

salt and pepper

1 tbsp dillweed

hot sauce (optional)

bacon drippings for phyllo sheets
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Sauté bacon until well browned. Drain and set aside.

In processor, pinch off chunks from the block of cream cheese. Whiz. Add artichokes, miracle whip, cottage cheese, parmesan, salt and pepper. Whiz. Turn out into a bowl. Add bacon and mix.

In a bowl, beat eggs and cream with the dill weed.

With a pastry brush and bacon drippings grease a springform pan. Lay a sheet of phyllo in the pan and brush with drippings. Keep layering and brushing, turning sheets 45 degrees each time until about 2/3 of the package is used. As you layer gently push dough into the pan to fit.

Add the egg mixture to the cream cheese mix and incorporate loosely. There should still be large chunks of cream cheese.

Pour out into the pan. Fold over the phyllo ends and brush with more drippings. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for about 35-45 minutes or until puffed and cooked through like a fritatta. 

Read More

Quick and Easy: Weekday Suppers

Pork 'n' Bean Slow-cooker Chili Casserole

1 lb ground pork, broken up gently by hand, browned and drained
1 large sweet onion, chopped small
1 pepper red, green or yellow, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 jalapeños, minced (with or without seeds and membranes)
liquid smoke optional
2 cans or 32 oz frozen crushed tomatoes
1 can each of romano, black and garbanzo beans(chickpeas)
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed cumin seeds 
Your favourite chili seasoning -- watch for chemical additives, better to make your own.
1 tbsp dried chipotle peppers or 3 whole peppers in adobo, chopped
Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard

Add everything into a medium or large crockpot. Give it a stir, cover and set to low for eight hours ideally or high for 4-6 hours if necessary.

Optional: sometimes I like to add elbow macaroni to this dish, especially when you have to make a little go a long way. I add extra liquid to the crockpot in the form of 2/3 of a good ale, like Smithwicks. I cook the macaroni half way through in a pot, drain and add to the slow-cooker at the last bit of cooking time, about twenty minutes. The macaroni should soak up the extra liquid as it finishes cooking.

Pantry Chicken and Rice Casserole

This is a dish that can be made with leftover chicken, vegetables and rice or adapted to be made from scratch--I've done both but sometimes the quick way is needed. 

To make this dish for the article (and our supper) I picked up a rotisserie chicken, which is a great buy as it is the same price as a raw chicken and I don't have to cook it! I also prepared all the veg and the rice fresh as I did not have these among my leftovers. The point of this recipe is it's quickness and it's practicality not so much it's homemade qualities. Sometimes raiding the pantry is necessary so having a recipe like this already in your repertoire is a handy thing.

2 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped small
1 large yellow potato, chopped small
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 cup frozen corn or canned corn, lightly rinsed to lower sodium
1 can ready to serve chicken corn chowder
1 can cream of chicken soup, condensed
pepper to taste


If using leftovers, gather them and make any big pieces smaller. Remove meat from the bones or carcass and cut up. If not using leftover rice, cook it now, then set aside. 

In a large saucepan melt some chicken or bacon fat or some butter; add onions and potatoes. When onions are wilted and soft, add the celery and mushrooms. Add the herbs and a bit of pepper. Stir and cook until potatoes are halfway done.

Add both soups along with water measuring half of the can of cream of chicken soup and the frozen corn. Stir thoroughly. Add chicken and rice. Mix well.

Heat through to bubbling, lower heat. Cook until potatoes are done.

Serve with some bread (not really necessary but a good excuse to indulge in some good quality bread) and a green salad for a lovely balanced and easy to prepare meal.

Read More

Feeding Body and Soul: Soups and Stews

Quick and Easy:
Spicy Veggie Crockpot stew

Well, alright maybe only quick in the preparing but this is a slow cooker recipe so it's easy!

2 orange sweet potatoes, cut           into 1/2" cubes
2 medium parsnips, halved and thinly sliced (1/4")
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped

1,2 or 3 jalapeños depending on your love of heat. I used three with seeds and membrane. Hot!!!!

1 can each, rinsed
        black beans
        chick peas
        Romano beans
        Fava beans
2 tsp curry paste, rounded
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
450 ml stock

Throw it all in a large crock pot and set to low for eight hours.

Quick and Easy:
Tomato Curry Soup

I do have another recipe that is similar and uses canned tomatoes or stewed from your freezer. It is different enough that it's simply a matter of what is better for your taste buds. I like them both but this version is "meatier" for lack of a better word. But word of warning--this is a creamy soup with the accompanying fat content. If you are watching your fat intake please don't substitute the real ingredients for chemicals. Use skim milk if you like but stay away from butter substitutes. That's death in a plastic tub.

To eat this relatively guilt-free is to eat it on a day you haven't gone overboard on the fats or for lunch on a physically demanding day. Don't eat this three times a week along with the trips to McDonalds. 

Common sense= fat fighting the healthy way.

3 cans condensed tomato soup--use the can for the next three measurements
2 cans of milk
1 can of broth (I use beef)
1/2 can of cream
1 tbsp curry paste, rounded +1 tsp
2 sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced
butter
olive oil
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp your favourite garam masala blend
8 hard-boiled eggs, quartered lengthwise

Sauté onions until soft and translucent. Add ginger and cook another 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan combine cream, milk, broth and the first instalment of curry paste. Whisk and heat on medium low.

Add tomato soup, salt, pepper, garam masala and the last tsp curry paste to the onions.

When both the cream mixture and the soup are hot, mix them together. Add more broth if a thinner consistency is desired.

To serve:
Ladle soup into a shallow bowl, being careful to snag some onions. Drop 8 egg-quarters into the bowl. Serve with naan bread or simple homemade crackers.


Quick and Easy:
Caramelized Onion and Sweet Potato Soup

This light-tasting, warming and satisfying soup I developed one winter when I grew tired of heavy stews and casseroles. You can serve this with a chunk of pumpernickel bread or a thick buttered slice of country bread.

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cups chopped sweet onion
1 tbsp packed brown sugar--use any 'though I prefer Demararra 
1/2 tsp freshly ground allspice (two to three berries)
pinch salt--use kosher or sea salt for better health and flavour
3 cups chopped sweet potato--strive for the deep orange type rather than the yellowish.
3 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried thyme or 11/2 tsp of fresh
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 leek, split and rinsed, chopped, optional

Cook onions in lidded pan with the butter, oil, brown sugar and the first instalment of the allspice and salt. Cook until caramelized. 
In soup pot place potatoes, broth and the second instalment of allspice, salt and the thyme and pepper. Add onions and leek if using. Bring to a boil; lower temperature and simmer for 20 minutes until potato is tender. Process smooth with an immersion blender.


Quick and Easy:
Onion Stew with Dry Mead (or Smithwicks style Irish beer)

I wanted to develop a soup/stew that was hearty and utilized some mead I had come across. I had used the Blueberry Mead for the mustard I canned but needed to use up the dry mead as well. This is what I came up with.

3 large sweet onions, Vidalia preferred, chopped
3 yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups pearl onions, skins removed and stemmed
2 medium carrots, halved and sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 tsp each thyme, savoury, herbes du provence
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
8 cups meat broth*
1 cup dry mead or 3/4 can Smithwicks
2 tbsp brown sugar
good dollop light honey
butter
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
2 bay leaves

Saute and caramelize the onions, garlic and pearl onions in butter, brown sugar and honey for 45 minutes. Add dried herbs halfway through cooking. After 45 minutes, add more butter if necessary then add the flour. Cook for at least two minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Add stock, worchestershire, and mead or beer, scraping up any brown bits. Add in the carrots and celery. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 1/2 hour or until vegetables are tender.

To serve:
Rip an artisanal bread into large chunks. Serve a chunk along with a piece of sharp, old cheese and a green salad.

Read More