Split-pea Soup, Hold the Ham

I'm not a huge fan of split-pea soup. Even when I ate meat, it wasn't really my thing. But, my wife really enjoys it, so I decided to make it for her. The only rub being we can't use ham.

I started out by browning a whole onion down to nothing, then adding in the split-peas and the water necessary to cook them. After this had laboriously cooked down, I added some Field Roast (a true gift to vegetarians). Cubing the "meat" added just the right amount of taste and texture to the mix. To replace the smokiness that bacon or ham would have added, we used the incredibly useful "Liquid Smoke" that you can pick up at places like Williams Sonoma.

Hard to make look pretty in a picture, but it was a nice hearty soup on a cold night.

The First Rule of Soup Club

At work we started a new weekly tradition, affectionately known as Soup Club.  Each week, one member from the club cooks and brings in soup for everyone to enjoy.  The next week, a new member cooks and the cycle continues I suppose until we get bored.

For the first week, I cooked the mushroom soup recipe from this blog.  We were missing bread to round things out, and I think salads will be added to the list of things people can bring.  I think ultimately it'll look like a free-form pot-luck lunch every Monday, which is a pretty fun idea really.  It was a good time to sit around with the people you work with and talk food, or whatever else comes up.  And there's no discussions of where to go out to eat, how to split the bill, etc.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Another recipe from Julia Child. I used half common crimini and half "fried chicken" mushrooms that we picked up from the farmers' market on the weekend. I don't know why they call them "fried chicken" mushrooms (and neither did the vendor)!

This produces a really rich and warm soup with good meaty bits of mushroom for bite. Make sure to skim the soup to remove any film that collects at the surface. You'll end up with a much prettier end result if you take the few moments to do it.

Serves 6-8

• 5 tbspn butter
• 3 tbspn flour
• 1/4 cup minced onions
• 6 cups white, chicken, or vegetable stock (boiling)
• 2 parsley sprigs
• 1/3 bay leaf
• 1/8 tspn thyme
• Stems from 1 lb. fresh mushrooms (roughly cut)
• Heads from 1 lb. fresh mushrooms (thinly sliced)
• 1 tpsn lemon juice
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Slowly cook the onions in 3 tbpsn of butter until they are tender and translucent. Add the flour and cook for another few minutes, being careful not to let it brown. Take the onions off heat and add boiling stock, blending it with the flour. Add the mushroom stems and season to taste.

Simmer this, partially covered, for at least 20 minutes. Skim off cruft that floats to the surface. Strain the liquid through a sieve and press the juices out of the stems. Discard the stems, then return the liquid to the pan.

In a separate saucepan, melt 2 tbspn of butter. Once foaming, add mushroom caps, a pinch of salt, and lemon juice. Cover this and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Pour the mushrooms and all juices into the main soup liquid. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Beat together the egg yolks and cream. Very slowly, add a spoonful of the yolk/cream mixture to the soup. Doing this too quickly can curdle the yolks, so you'll need to let it integrate with time. Let the completed soup heat for a few minutes, but do not let it come to a simmer.

If desired, add a little butter as a final step before serving.

From: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck

French Onion Soup

There's a whole post stewing in my brain about Julia Child.  After reading her book about her time in France while traveling through Germany and Paris, I have a new-found appreciation for the woman who was hitherto just a funny voice on an old show before my time.

I've been pouring through the tome that is "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and decided to take a crack at the old classic, French Onion Soup.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite have the right bread or cheese to properly cap-off and melt over the ramekin, but that'll be saved for next time.  If I can find the classic little dishes they serve this in, I'll have to secure a couple which will sit unused 364 days of the year in our cupboard.

Julia's recipe calls for both dry white wine and cognac.  Not having either, I ended up using a Muscat wine and brandy (which I was assured is a close enough match to cognac).  Unfortunately, I ended up with a wine-heavy taste that overpowered all the work I did to get the onions into a nice, rich brown state.  Using vegetable broth instead of beef probably also worked against me a little.  

Still, it was a cold day and the meal was well appreciated.

French Onion Soup

• 1.5 lbs or about 5 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions
• 3 tbspn. butter
• 1 tbspn. oil
• 3 tbspn. flour
• 2 quarts brown stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine

Cook the onions slowly in the oil and butter in a covered 4 quart saucepan for 15 minutes.

Raise to a medium heat and stir in 1 tspn. salt and 1/4 tspn. sugar.  Cook for about 40 minutes or until the onions have turned a deep brown.  You don't need to stir too often until the onions have released most of their moisture and will begin to burn if not watched.  You can hear the sizzle change from a moist to dry.

Sprinkle in the flour and cook for 3 minutes.

Take the onions off heat and add the stock (boiling).  Add the wine and season to taste.  Make sure you use a wooden spoon to deglazed the onion bits burnt to the bottom of the pan.  Simmer partially covered for about 40 minutes.  Skim off fat and debris.

Just before serving, add the cognac.