French Onion Soup

From Veg Out, MQ Publications, 2003.

Sometimes I ponder over what prompts a person to choose a particular dish. Frequently it’s done just by wandering along past the shelves in stores; other times it may be chosen by browsing through the pages of cookery books. This particular time it was decided from looking at the end of a stale baguette and wondering what to do with it.

French Onion Soup is an easy dish to make. About 500g onions were finely sliced. I used half red onions and half brown. A little olive oil and about a tablespoon butter were heated up in a large frying pan and the onions went in. The heat was turned down to low and the onions let gently fry until they had caramelised. It took roughly an hour.

The onions were transferred to a saucepan and a litre of stock added. A little of the stock was swirled around in the bottom of the frying pan to ensure that the brownings from the bottom were included. The soup was now simmered for another 30 minutes. It was checked for seasonings and 2 tablespoons dry sherry added. The soup was ready for serving.

The baguette end now played its part. The bread was sliced and placed under a grill until one side was toasted. It was turned over and grated Gruyere cheese sprinkled over the untoasted side. When the cheese had melted the soup was placed in serving bowls and the toasted bread slices put on top.

This is such an enjoyable and cheap dish it’s no wonder that it will always be one of the standard soups.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Green Soup

From Veg Out, MQ Publications, 2003.

In Veg Out this was called ‘Glorious Green Soup’. I thought I’d just settle for ‘Green Soup’. I was not sure whether the name meant the colour or the taste. Actually, on reading a little further I found that it meant the full-of-goodness flavour. I still settled for plain green.

A chopped onion was added to the pot with a little olive oil and sautéed for a few minutes to soften it. Then a large potato, peeled and cut into pieces, went in for a few more minutes. I then added 600ml water and a stock cube, brought the mixture to the boil, then simmered it until the potato was cooked.

While the potatoes cooked I finely sliced about a quarter of an iceberg lettuce, and sliced up the head of a bunch of watercress. This went into the pan when the potatoes were cooked, was brought to the boil again and then simmered for about 5 minutes. I let it cool a little and then used the stick blender to puree the soup.

A little milk was added and the soup was seasoned. A few leaves of basil were chopped and added. The soup was heated up but not boiled before serving.

Well, I think it was appropriate to leave out ‘glorious’. It was a pleasant soup. Peppery watercress is always a favourite and this one came with an underlay of the mild iceberg lettuce. The recipe called for Romaine or Cos lettuce and I think this may have been better having a little stronger flavour. Nevertheless it all went down well.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Red Pesto and Ricotta Stacks with Eggplant and Tomato

From Veg Out, MQP Publications, 2003.

After making Pumpkin and Polenta Chips I had an amount of the polenta flat left. The recipe stated that it would make 20 chips; I made 20 and had plenty of the polenta flat left. So I decided to make a vegetable stack and use some of the polenta left over as a small base.

The stack needed a pesto to be made of red capsicum so I placed it under the grill until it blackened and then put it in a plastic bag until it had cooled sufficiently to peel it. It was then placed in a blender with a garlic clove, a small handful of pine nuts, a few leaves of basil, a tablespoon of ricotta and a tablespoon of olive oil. It was blended to make the pesto and then seasoned.

I cut four slices from an eggplant and fried them until tender. I placed a tomato in boiling water for a few seconds and then peeled it. I cut rounds from the polenta and fried them.

The stack was easily made: a round of polenta, a slice of eggplant, a helping of pesto, a tomato slice, then the eggplant, pesto and finally another tomato slice. It all went into a hot oven for 15 minutes.

The stack was served with a salad on the side of rocket, cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese.

While the stacks were heating in the oven we had a small antipasto plate with olives, chargrilled vegetables and a chilli dip (all purchased). The ‘crackers’ for the dip were made by taking some slices of bread, cutting off the crusts and then flattening them under a cutting board. They were then brushed with olive oil and fried until crisp.

Again this little book has proved its worth. This was a tasty meal, satisfying yet not one to make you feel you’ve over-indulged.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

From Veg Out, MQP Publications, 2003.

Recovering from a case of jetlag I needed something mild but tasty to ease me back into eating normally again. Soup seemed to be just right—and something that had a bit of flavour to it.

I cut up an onion and a garlic clove and cooked them for about 10 minutes in a little butter in a large saucepan. Then I added about 400g of chopped mixed mushrooms to cook for another 10 minutes.

While this was proceeding I prepared the next lot of ingredients. I soaked a slice of white bread, crusts removed, for a few seconds and then squeezed out the water. I dropped in into a bowl with 3 tablespoons of dry sherry, a tablespoon of chopped thyme and a cup of milk. Into this I poured a litre of stock. By this time the mushrooms were ready so I added this lot to them and brought them to the boil. I turned them down to a simmer for 20 minutes while I went off and had a cup of green tea.

When the mushrooms were finished I blitzed them to a puree, added a little cream to the mixture and seasoned it.

At serving time chopped parsley was added and it was topped with croutons.

This was just what I needed. Tasty, creamy, easy to eat and something you could eat in front of the tele. A rocket, cherry tomato and parmesan salad with a lemony dressing accompanied it.

I haven’t used this little cookery book much before but it has a nice collection of reasonably easy but tasty vegetarian recipes: ’60 knockout recipes for the laid-back cook’. I don’t think they’re all ‘knockout’ but they are pretty good and well worth trying.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔