The great soup debate part 2

The Great Broth - Cream Soup Debates part 2

We left off yesterday with Dr. Such's challenge at Cleveland's famous "Château des Huit Chats Fous"

Chef LaVache was tasked to create a stock based soup while Chef Besciamella was to make a cream soup.  The chef that made the best soup would be made head chef of the restaurant.

Chef LaVache decided that he would make a French Onion Soup.  Quickly he sent his sous chefs out to gather his ingredients as he prepped his kitchen.

From the butcher, he purchased 4 pounds of ox tails, 4 pounds of English cut short ribs,  and 4 pounds of various soup bones

From the cheese shop, he purchased Gruyère cheese.
From the dairy, he purchased several pounds of butter.
From the wine shop, he purchased a bottle of champagne and a bottle of sherry

From the baker, he purchased several loaves of bread
Finally from the produce man, he purchased onions, celery, parsnips, and herbs.

"Gentlemen, tonight we will prepare the finest soup the city of Cleveland has ever seen!  Pierre!  Take the large dutch oven and coat the inside with oil.  Chop two of the onions, some celery, carrots, and parsnips. place them in the dutch oven with the ox tails and short ribs and let them roast for two hours.  Do not let them burn Pierre, or it will be back to the bayou for you.  Guy, Rene, come with me."

While Pierre was busy tending to the beef, Chef LaVache set Rene to work.  "Rene!  Your job will be to make the caramelized onions.  Take trick is to cook the onions very slowly.  Once they begin to get soft and translucent, add a little sherry.  Lower the heat if needed and do not let the onions burn.  If we fail at this soup, you will be back to peddling sauerkraut in the Catskills."

"Guy!  You will be responsible for final assembly of the tureens.  You will make the Croutons and float them on the soup.  No creativity this time and no screw ups!  I have already bought your passage back to France... the question is do you go back in steerage or in a steamer trunk!"

With those final words, Chef LaVache headed back to his office.

Pierre, Rene, and Guy went to the back of the kitchen and sat down to talk.

"What are we going to do?  If we fail, we're all done for."

"I don't think it's going to matter, so let's do this right.  Let's do this the way that tastes best."

"Absolutely,  first, lose the parsnip.  Next, Since we're using champagne already, let's lose the sherry."

"But use some of the beef fat in the onions"

"Yes"

"Together, we will make a wonderful soup!"


Beef Stock

Ingredients

• 4 pounds ox tails
• 4 pounds English short ribs
• 4 pounds beef soup bones
• 2 large onions
• 2 large carrots
• 2 stalks celery, including some leaves
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 spring fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic
• 12 cups water
• 1 cup champagne

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice onion. Chop scrubbed celery, carrots, and parsnip into 1-inch chunks. In a large dutch oven, place soup bones, short ribs, ox tails, onion, celery, carrots, parsnips, and salt. Bake, uncovered, about 2 hours or until the bones are well browned, turning occasionally.
2. Remove dutch oven from oven to stove.  Place the browned bones and vegetable from dutch oven to heat proof container.  Over medium heat, deglaze pan with one cup of champagne.  Return all items back to dutch oven.  Add peppercors, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and garlic to dutch oven.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 hours.
3. If liquid reduces to below 8 cups, add additional water.
4. Strain stock. Discard meat, vegetables, and seasonings.  Drain off fat and reserve
5. To clarify stock for clear soup: In order to remove solid flecks that are too small to be strained out with cheesecloth, combine 1/4 cup cold water, 1 egg white, and 1 crushed eggshell. Add to strained stock. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Strain again through a sieve lined with cheesecloth.

Caramelized Onions

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• Reserved Beef fat
• 5 pounds large sweet onions (Vidalia onions are ideal for sweetness)
• 1 teaspoon Sea salt
• 2 cups champagne
• 1 cup beef stock

Instructions

1. Warm a large skillet on stove over medium-low heat.  Melt butter and add a teaspoon of beef fat.
2. Halved and cut onions pole to pole into 1/4 inch thick slices
3. Add onions to skillet.  Stir frequently until onions become soft and translucent.
4. Add a little champagne.  Allow the liquid to cook off while continuing to saute onions.
5. When all liquid has evaporated, add a little beef stock and repeat the process.
6. Alternate between the two liquids for about an hour or until the onions have achieved a rich brown color.  Lower the heat if needed and do not let the onions burn.

Cheese Croutons

Ingredients 

• 1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 clove of garlic

Instructions

1. Slice baguette into 3/4 inch slices
2. Arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and rub garlic over top.  Sprinkle cheese over bread and return to oven for additional 5 minutes.

The Final Assembly

Ingredients

• Beef Stock
• Caramelized Onions
• Cheese Croutons
• 3 Bay Leaves
• Provolone Cheese, sliced

Instructions

1. Return dutch oven to stove over medium heat.
2. Add onions, bay leaf, and beef stock to oven and bring to a simmer.
3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes
4. Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. 
5. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. 
6. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 cheese croutons (do not overlap slices) and cover with provolone cheese.
7. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Tomorrow, Chef Besciamella, strikes back with his cream soup. SO STAY TUNED!!!

Until tomorrow, I wish you all Peace, Love, and Hollandaise Sauce.

Pizza night!

Tonight was pizza night! Every once and a while we'll go mess up someone else's kitchen. Last night we were at our friend's house for a Christmas party and she put out one hell of a spread. As we were getting ready to leave, we got to talking about leftovers and I mentioned pizza. Pizza is a very versatile flavor delivery device. In this case she had lots of different things, but not huge amounts of one particular item. With such a large array of ingredients, it was easy to convert them into pizza toppings.

With toppings available we need a crust. Here's my favorite quick crust:

Beer Pizza Dough

4 cups Self-Rising Flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 12 ounce bottle of beer

Take 3 1/2 cups of flour (reserve the remaining 1/2 cup) and combine with salt and sugar. Add olive oil and beer. Mix thoroughly, use a dough hook if available. Remove dough ball from bowl and work remaining 1/2 cup of flour into dough until ball is smooth with a slight shine (sticky is okay). Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, covered with a warm, moist towel or heading pad.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Divide ball in two. Roll out ball on floured surface to desired consistency and depth (I prefer about 1/4 inch thick). Cover pizza stone or pizza pan with light coating of corn meal. Place toppings on pizza and place in oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

One note, if you are going to be placing A LOT of moist ingredients on the pizza or you plan on grilling the pizza, I highly recommend you par bake the pizza for 5 minutes before you place the toppings on the crust.

These are very basic instructions and there are definitely lots of things you could do with this recipe.

Here are some ideas:

1) Deep Dish Pizza
Substitute 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening for olive oil. Use a cast iron skillet instead of pizza pan. Layer Italian sausage (removed from casing, on bottom, cover with slices of mozzarella cheese and sauce. Cook ad 350 degrees for between 45 minutes to 1 hour.

2) Honey Porter Caramelized Onions
Substitute 2 tablespoons of honey for the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Use 12 ounces of Porter. To enhance the flavor of the onions, cook slowly over medium heat stirring constantly. Add another 6 to 12 ounces of porter to the pan to help deglaze the pan and add in color and caramelization. cover pizza dough with onions and shredded Swiss cheese.

3) Continental Pizza
In a medium saucepan pour 1 cup port wine and 1/2 cup of sugar bring to a simmer. Quarter and core 3 small pears. Place pears, cut side down into pan and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Place pears on dough. Cover with Gorgonzola, Fontina, Mozzarella, caramelized onions, and chopped hazelnuts.

4) Moroccan Pizza
Take left over lamb and shred. cover dough with layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle cinnamon over sauce. Add lamb, mozzarella, and crumbled feta cheese

5) Pizza Verde
Use Pesto sauce, sliced chicken breast, and Italian sausage. Cover in fontina and mozzarella cheese.

Remember, the beer will flavor the dough, which may overpower the toppings. I use a lighter beer like Corona for most dough, but a stout or a porter can provide wonderfully rich flavor as well.