Taking It Slow

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

I've always been a fan of french onion soup and its gooey cheese crust and toasts soaked in that rich, savoury broth.  I can't remember my first time tasting it but know that I used plenty of packaged versions whipped into sour cream to make the best chip dip ever.  Maybe I used one of those packages to actually make into soup and enjoyed it, because I do recall trying to make it from scratch with a friend when I was probably about ten years old.  I doubt a recipe was used and the beef stock was some powdered kind that my mother had in a jar.  I remember standing on a chair to have a better vantage point over the top of the soup pot and pouring a lot of that brown stuff in. Although we enjoyed it, it was a super decadent concoction, and we knew it as it was going down.  Neither of us felt very good after, and the next day, my friend gave me a rather candid report of exactly what it did to her guts.  It's taken me about thirty years to try making it again.  I'm happy to report that no gut wrenching pain came out of this one, but only tummy loving pleasure.  What inspired me to make it again was a slow cooker version from Chatelaine magazine.  Being on spring break, it's been all about taking things slow, and getting back into home cooking.  This recipe fit into that perfectly.  And, taking it slow never tasted so good. 

Recipe for Slow Cooker French Onion Soup (Makes 4 servings):

• 1.75 kg cooking onions, thinly sliced (about 14 cups)
• 3 tbsp butter, cubed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp vermouth or dry white wine
• 900 ml beef broth*
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 demi-baguette
• 1 tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups grated gruyere or emmental

Place the onions, cubed butter and salt into your slow cooker and season with freshly ground pepper.  Cover and cook on high until onions are soft and dark brown.  This takes about 4 to 5 hours.  Then, stir the flour in until well combined and add the vermouth or wine.  Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the pot.  Add the broth and water, then cover and cook on high for another 1 and 1/2 hours.  

Position an oven rack in the top third of your oven.  Preheat the broiler.  Cut the bread into 8 slices of a 1/2 inch thick.  Butter both sides and place on a baking sheet.  Broil each side for about 1 minute or until golden. 

Place 4 oven safe bowls onto a baking sheet.  Ladle the soup into the bowls and top each with two toasts.  Sprinkle them generously with cheese.  Broil for about 2 to 4 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.  

*I used bottled organic Better Than Bouillon beef base this time around - none of that powdered brown stuff ;o)

Congee Comfort

Congee has been a staple of my diet since I was a wee tot. Because it can be made as complex or as simple as you like, it is the perfect food for children, the aged, and everyone in between. It is the comfort food of the Asian family. The uniqueness of congee is in the perfect blooms of rice which flower only after an extended cooking period. From this, comes that melt in your mouth consistency and creaminess that warms the tummy and the spirit.

Growing up, congee was always made with white rice, and when eating congee at a Hong Kong diner, this is the way it is made. At home I have always made it this way, but these days, with trying to incorporate more whole grains into my diet, I am making congee with brown rice. (It's also because I don't often have white rice on hand at home, and when the congee craving comes, whatever is in the fridge and cupboard is what is used.) I am getting comfortable with this new congee paradigm. It is just like the usual congee, only slightly grittier and darker in colour. And if you like your congee plain to add garnishes to later, the porridge really serves as a conduit for the added flavours, and the grittiness is hardly noticed. A way to complement the texture is to add pearl barley. It's not considered a whole grain but is super nutritious, and has triple the amount of dietary fiber compared to long-grain white rice. Below is my recipe for brown rice and pearl barley congee. Really, you could put most anything in with the rice, cook it with care, and get a meal that is delightfully comforting.

Brown Rice and Barley Congee (makes 4 hearty servings)

• 1/3 cup pearl barley
• 1/3 cup brown rice (short or long grain)
• *10 cups water
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 Tbsp finely sliced ginger
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup diced celery
• *1/4 cup finely sliced shiitake mushroom or mushroom stem
• 1/2 lb. of (extra) lean ground chicken, turkey (milder flavour) or pork (richer flavour)
• soy sauce, salt, and white pepper to taste
• splash of cider, red or balsamic vinegar (optional)

*You can use vegetable or meat stock in partial quantity with the water. I used 8 cups water and 2 cups mushroom stock. If you use dried shiitake mushrooms, you need to soak the caps overnight to get them nice and soft. Mushroom stems need longer. Once the mushrooms are fully bloated they are ready to use. The soaking water makes great stock.

Instructions:
Bring all ingredients to a rolling boil, then turn the heat to low. Simmer on low for approximately an hour and a half. If you like your carrots and onions a little crisp, add them during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Once done, add any of the following garnishes: sliced green onion, cilantro, fried shallots, salted duck egg, or century egg (my absolute favourite). Enjoy!

Feeling Ballsy

Pork Ball Noodle Soup

It's October, and pretty rare and wonderful in these parts to still have sun-filled days. But Autumn has definitely arrived with its telltale markings of air gone crisp and evenings more brisk. This is my favourite time of the year because the air just smells better in the Fall, and I love cozying up in sweaters and scarves. But I mostly love this season because cold weather food is so hearty and comforting. At this time of year, the body needs to brace itself against the cold. It needs more insulation. Yes, sweaters and scarves work, but what better way to insulate than to add a little more bulk to your diet and a little more fat to your waistline. I have always craved heartier food in colder climes. I shocked myself once during a particularly frigid Quebec winter, by gobbling up 5 pork chops in one sitting. I don't go to such extremes now, but I still like to warm up with a good helping of meat. Add some hot soup to that and you've got the basis for a perfect autumn meal. This dish of pork ball noodle soup isn't quite as filling as five pork chops, but it's hearty, tasty, a little spicy (if you like), and guaranteed to warm you. And if you envelop these balls in wonton wrappers, you can have Wonton Noodle Soup! Just like that.

For the pork balls, you will need:

• 1/2 pound lean ground pork
• 1/4 pound de-veined and minced prawn (optional)
  
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tsp finely chopped chives or green onion
• 2 tsp finely chopped garlic
  
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 and a 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 small egg for moistness and binding (optional)
  

You can cook the balls right away but it's best to marinate them in the fridge for an hour or so. The soup can be made with whatever you like so you can choose your stock, noodles and soup fillers, and measure according to taste. Boil the stock first, add the pork balls, then the other ingredients depending on cooking time needed. The pork balls should rise to the top when they're done but cut one open to ensure doneness.

I used: organic chicken stock, brown rice vermicelli, crimini mushrooms, bean sprouts, carrots, the whites of green onions, and jalepenos for some warmth. It is Autumn after all :o)

Oh My Gourd

Gingery Butternut Tater Soup

Many times over the years, I'd heard my colleagues share the virtues of their latest blended soups during lunch break. I was inspired, and they were always very encouraging about how easy they were to make, but I wasn't a creamy soup maker. With the sole exception of congee, my soups were of the thin sort: thin soup with noodles or rice, meat and vegetables. That was my thing. But those lunchtime soups looked good and smelled good, real good, and I decided it was my time to make one. Well, it's been several years since I decided that, but I finally made it happen last week; I created my first creamy blended soups with winter squash as my inspiration. And I must say that it was worth the wait: very tasty and truly super easy just like they said it would be. Now my thing is soup thick or thin.

Gingery Butternut Tater Soup: Cut up, core and peel a butternut squash, and peel and cut up some potatoes. (I used a 2:1, squash to potato ratio.) Cover in chicken stock and boil until soft. Add about 2 tablespoons of finely ground fresh ginger. (Add it in after boiling to keep the fresh zing of the ginger, but you can put it in to boil as well for a milder zing.) Blend it all together with a tabletop or hand-held blender. Add fresh ground pepper, spoon it in and feel your tummy warm.

Leeky Nutty Buttercup Soup

For this recipe: Cut up, core and peel a small buttercup squash, and roughly cut up the whites of one leek. Cover with chicken stock and boil until soft. Add in about 1/2 to 1 cup of smooth peanut butter. Add a dash of cayenne for a small kick, and a splash of apple cider vinegar for brightness, if desired. Blend it together. Fresh ground pepper on top is a must. For some reason it tastes a little of split pea soup! Yummy autumn goodness.

(The thing I love most about these soups is that the flavour combinations are endless. Next time I will try variations with carrots, corn, celery, onions, sweet potatoes, tomato..., and then there are the herbs and spices...!)