Recipe: Roasted walnut and goat's milk soup

This is a dessert soup with some real character and elegance.  The goat's milk is remeniscient of a nice chevre, which goes perfectly with roasted walnuts.  The soup itself adds a good moisture to a dessert dish without going the heavier route of an anglais or a coulis.  Drop a little warm cake in the middle or send a poached pear for a swim.  If you want to take a twist on a classic, use it with isles flotants (floating islands) - a dessert so light you might need seconds.

You will need:

142g / 5oz                       walnuts

207ml / 7fl oz                  whole goat's milk

45ml / 3Tbs                     sugar

pinch                               grated nutmeg

to taste                             walnut liqueur

Method:

 - roast the walnuts in a low oven until a deep golden brown

 - place the nuts in a blender with the goat's milk and nutmeg and sugar

 - blend well

 - put the mixture in a pot and gently bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat

 - cover with plastic wrap and cool

 - transfer to the fridge and let steep overnight

 - strain through a chinois

 - add liqueur to taste and serve warm or cold

Recipe: Pho broth

the aromatics

Right now in Vancouver, Pho is rampantly popular.  Meat, noodles, and a rich broth - you can't ask for much more from a meal in a bowl.  Pho is such a homestyle dish, once you get the general hang of it, play around with it and work out your own style.  Then you'll have people knocking your door down when they hear you are making some because they know that the only place to get your pho is from your kitchen.  

For now we'll stick to the standard flavours - ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.  To make it easy, we're going to assume you already have a decent beef stock made, and this process is just tweaking the flavour of the broth.  Once you have the finished broth, the rest is garnish - rice noodles, beef, bean sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil, green onion and a squeeze of lime.  As for the beef, the easiest way to do it is to get shaved raw beef (shabu-shabu) and drop it briefly into the hot broth to give it a little cook and add a bit of flavour to the soup.

let it brew

You will need:

4L / 4qt                          quality beef stock or broth

1                                     onion

1 medium piece             ginger

2 pieces                          nutmeg

1 stick                            cinnamon

5 pieces                          star anise

1tsp                                cloves

to taste                           fish sauce

to taste                           sriracha sauce

to taste                           hoisin sauce

to taste                           kosher salt

Method:

 - in one piece of tin foil, put the spices

 - smash the ginger into a few pieces, cut the onion into 6, and put in another piece of tin foil

 - roast both bundles in the oven

 - put the stock or broth into a pot

 - when you can smell the spices, take them from the oven and add them to the stock

 - roast the onion and ginger until the edges of the onion have coloured, then add to the stock

 - turn the stove on and bring the stock to a simmer

 - allow the broth to brew and reduce by about a litre

 - put the shaved beef in a strainer and drop into the broth just to cook slightly

 - season the broth with the fish sauce, hoisin, sriracha, and salt

 - strain the broth

 - garnish and serve, or chill and store until needed

Recipe: Pozole

Pozole is the classic Mexican full meal in a soup, but it is also one of the great social dishes because aside from eating the soup, you doctor your own bowl up, then you are preparing your tostadas throughout the meal.  You can rest assured you will get a good portion of vegetables in the process as well.  If you want to go all out and make it especially healthy, you can go the extra step, chill and remove the fat cap from the broth after cooking the meat, but it's not generally done unless the  pork produces an excessive amount of fat - even then, some will be left in the soup for flavour.  This recipe is a full party size - we made this for New Year's Eve and fed nine with leftovers for lunch.

You will need:

For the soup:

1/2                head of a pig (get the butcher to cut into at least 3)

2.7kg            hominy corn 

1                   onion

1                   bulb garlic

to taste          kosher salt

For the salsa:

as needed      chiles de arbol ( they aren't too spicy, so you can use a lot)

to taste          kosher salt

to taste          oregano

For the rest:

1 head           iceberg lettuce (shredded)

1                   onion (small dice)

1 bunch         radishes (small dice)

as needed      oregano

as needed      tostadas (nine of us needed 2 commercial sized bags)

500ml            crema (sour cream will work)

500ml            crumbled queso fresco (a mild and soft feta will work)

Method:

 - put the pork in a pot and rinse with cold water

 - cover with cold water,add a pinch of salt, and start on low heat

 - peel and cut the onion in half and add it in

 - peel the outer layer off the bulb of garlic and add it in

 - wash the hominy corn and add it in

 - bring the whole mixture up to a simmer and cook until the meat is cooked and the corn is tender

 - turn off the heat and let cool a bit

 - fish out the onion and garlic and set aside

 - fish out the meat and set on a plate

 - pull the meat apart while warm - any thin cartilage can be chopped up
 - for the salsa, trim up the chiles de arbol and simmer in some salted water
 - transfer to a blender, add in a bit of your porky onion and garlic, blend and season with salt and oregano
 - to serve, put a portion of the meat in a bowl and ladle the broth with hominy over top
 - at the table, dress the soup with the shredded lettuce, oregano, salsa, chopped onion and radishes
 - spread some crema over the tostada and top with the queso fresco
 - provecho!

Product review: Cona vacuum coffee percolator

Some products are definitely filed under "luxury items", but if there is quality going along with it, sometimes you are allowed to spoil yourself.  The Cona coffee maker is one such item.  Vacuum percolation as a method to brew coffee has been accepted by many aficionados for decades as the ideal way to get the most out of those premium coffee beans tucked in your freezer.  The system brews the coffee at the perfect temperature, then separates the beans from the coffee at the right time, all the while giving you a show.  The glass unit itself, while adding to the spectacle, is chosen as the optimal brewing medium as it will impart no foreign taste to the brew - no plastic or paper filters, no metal pot - just pure perfectly brewed coffee.

Ok, that's great, I love a good cup of coffee, but as a cook that likes to see things with added culinary value, there's another intriguing aspect to this coffee maker - soup!  Coffee aside, flavours in general infuse best within a tight range of temperature.  A good chef will always tell you that almost never should you see something boiling on the stove - things like pasta water, and blanching water are acceptable instances.  Listen to someone who is a master of Tea, temperature and time are huge factors in the execution of a quality product.  

Now imagine sitting down to a dinner, and the soup course comes out in a strange contraption with broth in the bottom chamber and some fresh herbs and aromatics arranged around some delicate cuts of seafood in the top.  You then watch as the broth heats up and enters the top chamber, cooks the fish and absorbs the aromatic flavours, then makes its way back to the bottom.  Your server then pours the soup into your bowl and garnishes it with the seafood from the top.  Hell of a show no?  Vue de Monde in Melbourne Australia made headlines with a bouillabase this way.  They've since moved on to other soup infusions, but the system remains.  I love seeing creative thinking like this.  The soup is wonderfully executed and you manage to add a whole different level of experience to the meal.  Well done!

Interesting no?  Whether in pursuit of a perfect cup of coffee, or brewing a beautiful soup, if your luxury budget allows, consider adding a Cona system to your arsenal.  CHECK IT OUT HERE.

Recipe: Beef stock clarification for consomme - traditional technique

This recipe is the clarification I used with the smoked beef stock (check the earlier post) to make the consomme element of a modern style French onion soup.  It will work with any good beef stock because it has the elements necessary for creating a good consomme - it has the protein necessary to clarify the stock, and it has the additional meat and vegetables and aromatics to take flavour of a good starting stock to a full flavoured specialty broth.  As for the caramelized onion, it's easiest to just caramelize a bunch, measure out what you need and use the rest for something else.

This recipe is designed to clarify 1.5L (1.5qt) of stock and should yield a good 1L (1qt) of finished soup.  To clarify more, simply multiply accordingly and follow the same process.  The loss of volume is partly due to reduction in the cooking process and the fact that you can't force the straining of a consomme without sacrificing the clarity you worked hard for - it's the cost of doing business, but I think you'll find it's worth it when you want to serve the best.

You will need:

1.5L / 1.5qt             beef stock

200g / 7oz               extra lean ground beef (shank, neck, or shoulder)
3                              egg whites
60g / 2oz                 caramelized onion
30g / 1oz                 leek (white part only)
30g / 1oz                 mushrooms
20g / .7oz                celery
20g / .7oz                carrot
2 cloves                   garlic
1                              bay leaf
2 sprigs                    thyme
10                            whole peppercorns
pinch                       kosher salt

Method:

 - caramelize a bunch of onion in minimal fat and measure out 60g (2oz) then let cool
 - wash the leek and mushrooms well and peel the carrot
 - rough chop all the vegetables, then put in a food chopper and mince together
 - add the egg white to the vegetables and mix well
 - add the vegetable mix and the herbs, peppercorns and pinch of salt to the lean ground meat
 - mix with your hands until well incorporated
 - place in a suitable stockpot (you want more vertical height than width)
 - add the stock to the clarification a little at a time to loosen it up evenly
 - when all the stock is added, turn the heat on low - medium
 - as the stock heats up, gently stir to make sure no meat is sticking to the bottom of the pot
 - when the "raft" starts to form and rise to the top, stop stirring
 - poke a "vent" hole in the middle of the raft to allow the stock to bubble through once it starts to simmer
 - gently simmer and monitor the clarity by looking at the stock coming through the vent
 - when the stock seems absolutely clear, line a vine mesh sieve with cheesecloth and place over another pot
 - carefully ladle the stock through the vent and strain through the cheesecloth
 - when you can't ladle any more, move the sieve to another pot and carefully pour the remainder of the contents in and let drain completely
 - if the contents of the second pot are as clear as the first, feel free put them together, otherwise keep the clear stock clear and use the other elsewhere
 - adjust the seasoning with kosher salt if necessary
 - cool the finished consomme
 - store in the fridge until use

Recipe: Spiced carrot orange soup

This is a good soup to serve as the season starts to cool off.  A bit of spice to warm you up and a beautiful colour to let you know fall is coming.  I always like how the orange flavour plays off the carrot.  I resisted the urge to put ginger in it, but of course you can - the best way is to peel and smash a chunk and let it simmer with the soup, then when if at some point you are happy with the flavour, just take it out rather than puree it in with the rest.  If you are vegan, you don't need to add any cream, I just find that it really helps the flavours to come together nicely.  I like to garnish with fresh black pepper, but save it to the end to keep the colour of the soup clean.  This recipe will make between 3 and 4 litres (quarts) depending how thick you like your puree soups.

You will need:

1500g / 53oz                  carrots (about 12 good sized ones)
2                                     white onions

get some colour on the onions and garlic

4 cloves                          garlic
500ml / 2C                     vegetable stock or water
500ml / 2C                     fresh squeezed orange juice
125ml / 1/2C                  cream
30ml / 2Tbs                    honey
5ml / 1tsp                       coriander
5ml / 1tsp                       cumin
2.5ml / 1/2tsp                 cayenne
2.5ml / 1/2tsp                 hot smoked paprika
2.5ml / 1/2tsp                 ground cardamom
to taste                            kosher salt
as needed                        vegetable oil

barely colour the carrots

as needed                        water (for the puree)

Method:

 - peel and chop the carrots
 - dice the onion and sweat really well in some oil about medium heat
 - chop the garlic and add to the onion
 - turn up the heat give the onion and garlic some colour, then bring the heat back down to medium
 - add a bit more oil if needed and add the spices to toast in the oil

ready to puree

 - add the carrots and sweat really well
 - turn the heat up again just until the carrots want to take on some colour
 - deglaze with the orange juice
 - add the vegetable stock (or water) and cook
 - when the carrots are very soft, add the cream and honey
 - add any more water you may need to help puree the soup
 - season with salt
 - puree really well in a bar blender and pass through a fine mesh sieve
 - double check the seasoning  - make any small adjustments
 - serve, or cool and store in the fridge

Yum!

Recipe: Passionfruit, chocolate and icewine consomme

This consomme makes a wonderful, delicious and refreshing addition to a dessert.  As with everything, sourcing out quality ingredients makes a big difference.  Cocoa powder can be a bit tricky, but if you can get your hands on a premium brand, do it as they are very chocolatey and less bitter (Valrhona or Cafe Tasse are very nice).  When I used this one, I wanted to play off the classic savory consomme (which often had a substantial gelatin content), so I added some gelatin to the clarified soup and spooned the soft jelly randomly around the plate.  It's a nice effect, but you can also just leave it as a liquid consomme - it makes an amazing dessert cocktail that way.

For those who have read the strawberry consomme recipe, yes you can use the gelatin clarification technique here, but I thought we'd tackle the traditional technique with this one.  You will still need to apply heat to help the cocoa powder to disperse into the juice.  Also, don't count on any of the gelatin from the clarification to stay in the consomme - you will still need to use more to set the consomme for serving.

You will need:

500ml / 2C          passion fruit juice

60g / 2.1oz          cocoa powder

2                          egg whites

89ml / 3fl oz        icewine

2 - 3 sheets          gelatin (optional)

Method:

 - dissolve the cocoa powder into the juice over low heat, then cool

 - whisk up the egg whites, then whisk into the mixture

 - slowly bring up to a gentle simmer as a "raft" forms

 - when the liquid showing through the raft is clear, turn off the heat

 - carefully ladle from the pot and strain through a coffee filter

 - mix in the icewine

 - if adding gelatin, calculate 3 sheets to set 500ml (2C), and soak it

 - warm up the soup

 - drain and melt in the gelatin

 - allow to set

 - serve

Recipe: Roasted hoshi-shitake dashi / miso soup

Following along the dashi theme a moment, some vegetarians might not be so keen on the bonito in the more common dashi - have no fear, shitake mushrooms to the rescue.  The common way to do this one is to buy dried shitakes and rehydrate them.   The rehydrating process flavours the water, and there's your stock - easy - too easy.  Why not take the wheel in the whole process and dry the shitakes yourself?  If traditionalists will forgive me, I started doing this at work when someone forgot to order the dried shitakes and I was forced to dry them myself and found I liked my way better.  First off, the dried shitakes usually come whole - I sliced mine, and once they were rehydrated, they still looked nice enough to remain in the soup as a garnish.  Second, since I was drying them, I made the executive decision to not just dehydrate them, but turn up the heat and give them a tan.  I found the resulting flavour was delicious and it gave the broth a nice colour as well.  From there, a little miso is all the seasoning it needs - garnish with some firm tofu and scallions and you've got a brilliant vegan soup.

You will need:

15                   shitake mushrooms

1L / 1qt           cold water

to taste            miso paste (1 or 2 Tbs)

1/4 brick         firm tofu

2                     scallions

Method:

 - set the oven to 300F / 149C

 - remove the stems of the mushrooms and slice thin

 - spread the mushrooms on a sheet pan and put in the oven

 - stir occasionally to dry evenly

 - keep drying until mushrooms turn a nice golden brown colour

 - cool

 - combine the mushrooms with the water and rehydrate

 - bring the mushrooms and water up to a simmer

 - turn off the heat and mix in the miso paste

 - drain the tofu and cut into cubes - add in

 - garnish with sliced scallion

Recipe: Corn soup with bacon and rajas (poblanos)

We came across some nice corn the other day and thought it was a nice day for a soup.  As nice as it is on its own, we also thought it would be perfect to get some poblanos involved, and a bit of bacon to round it out.  One nice thing about corn soup is the fact that you have natural cornstarch in play, so if you want to lighten it up, you can substitute milk for some or all of the cream and it won't turn out watery.  It definitely makes a difference to use butter in the cooking to get that corn on the cob satisfaction in the flavour.  We also left a portion of the soup un-pureed as we like a few kernels floating around, but puree it all if you like.  Removing the skins from the poblanos is best done over the open flame of a gas stove, but oven roasting will also work - this is an extra step in refinement, and if you choose to keep the skins and pan roast, the flavour is the same as long as you get the colour.

For the soup you will need:

Pan roast the corn

4 - 5              fresh corn cobs

1                   small onion

3                   garlic

500ml / 2C   cream

500ml / 2C   milk

as needed     butter

to taste         salt

To garnish:

3 - 4             strips bacon 

For the rajas:

Add cream and puree

3                  poblano peppers

1                  small onion

as needed    fat from the bacon

to taste        salt

to taste        black pepper

Method:

 - dice the onion for the soup

 - chop the garlic

 - strip the kernels of corn from the cobs

 - in a pan on medium heat, sweat the onion, garlic and corn in the butter

 - gradually turn up the heat to slightly pan roast the corn

Saute poblanos in bacon fat

 - add the milk and cream and bring up to a simmer

 - transfer to a blender and puree smooth (keep some corn aside if you like the kernels)

 - strain through a mesh sieve back into the pan and bring back to a simmer

 - adjust the seasoning and it's ready to go - keep warm while making the garnish

For the rajas:

 - cut the bacon into lardons (short crosswise strips)

 - cook the lardons in a heavy pan (cast iron is best)

 - drain the fat and keep the bacon aside

 - char the poblanos and remove the skins (if you choose)

Get some colour

 - remove the seeds and veins from the poblanos and slice a thick julienne

 - julienne the onion

 - with the cast iron pan on medium heat, add back some bacon fat and saute the onion and poblanos

 - keep cooking until the poblanos soften and get a good dark green colour

 - season to taste with salt and pepper

 - use to top off the soup along with some of the cooked lardons

 

Recipe: Strawberry consomme - gelatin clarification

The real topic here is actually the gelatin clarification process, but it in itself is not very appetizing.  Strawberries however, are very much so, and are a perfect example of a situation you would want to use this technique.  Sure you could clarify a strawberry soup using egg whites, but your consomme would taste more cooked as it simmered away on the stove, and it's a pain straining a consomme anyway.  Using the gelatin clarification process uses minimal heat, and therefore lends itself splendidly to fruit soups - and it's really easy.  Conversely, if you have a nice savory broth, there's no reason not to use this technique with it as well since it is probably already right where you want it flavour-wise already. 

If it's not quite strawberry season, you may want to cheat a bit, put it on the stove and work a little sugar and love into the flavour before pureeing, but if the berries are prime, you can start from fresh, either as a puree or run through a juicer.  The clarification process will take out the solid matter, so remember that and don't be surprised when the resulting consomme is significantly reduced in volume from what you started with - if you use a puree, you may want to add some water to give you volume without watering it down (your soup should be delicious before clarification).  I'm going to pick up the process with the ready to work puree / juice / stock as it's the following steps which are more important.

As an additional note, strawberry consomme is a great starting point for a dessert cocktail.

You will need:

strawberry puree / juice / stock

gelatin - sheet or powder

cheesecloth

a scale 

room in the freezer

Method:

 - weigh your puree / juice / stock

 - calculate 0.5% as your measure for gelatin - eg.  1kg stock will need 5g

 - bloom your gelatin

 - heat the stock just enough to melt the gelatin

 - dissolve the gelatin in the stock

 - set in a container you can either:   a)  invert onto a straining apparatus lined with cheesecloth

                                                          b)  turn a frozen block out to cut up (carefully) on the counter

 - once the gelatin is set, place in the freezer and freeze solid

 - line your straining apparatus with cheesecloth, and place the frozen consomme inside

 - transfer to the fridge and let the stock slowly thaw through the cloth into the catch basin

 - the resulting liquid should be beautifully clear and ready to use

Recipe: French onion soup

French onion soup is a great way to warm up when it's chilly outside.  Plus I love filling the home with the sweet smell of onions slowly caramelizing.  This recipe should do about 4 servings thick with onions.  An important fact that a lot of people don't know is the difference between cutting onions with or across the grain.  If you want an onion to break down, say for a puree, cut across the grain.  When caramelizing onions for soup, burgers or otherwise, you want the onions to stay in strands throughout cooking, so cut along the grain.  For the toast part beneath the cheese, I usually deviate from the traditional baguette and make a batch of salad style croutons just so it's a bit easier to dig into the cheese without trying to cut through the crust of the baguette.  You get more bites with the complete soup, bread and cheese experience that way - the square croutons also give it a little more of a rustic look when all toasted up.  Try using a quality local artisan bread like a dark rye or sourdough.  Play around with the cheese too - swiss is great, but an aged and smoked cheddar or gouda can do wonders.  The last time we made this soup at home, we used a nice friulano cheese.

You will need:

3                large onions
6                cloves garlic minced fine
3C/750ml  beef stock
1C/250ml  red wine
pinch         cumin
pinch         paprika
1                bay leaf
2 sprigs     thyme
splash        Worchestershire sauce
to taste       kosher salt
to taste       black pepper
to cover     croutons
to cover     cheese (swiss traditionally)

Method:

 - julienne the onions (along the grain) and slowly caramelize in a pan with a bit of oil
 - when the onions are a light brown colour, add the garlic and caramelize further

 - once the colour is fairly dark, add your cumin, paprika, and some black pepper
 - deglaze the pan with the red wine and let it reduce almost dry
 - add the beef stock, bay leaf and thyme and let simmer 20-30 minutes
 - season with Worchestershire and salt, then pick out the bay leaf and thyme
 - cut and toast your croutons if you haven't already
 - fill your cups with soup, cover with croutons and cheese and toast under a broiler til bubbling and brown
 - garnish with cracked pepper and dig in

Recipe: White zucchini soup

Zucchini is such a nice vegetable, so soup - worthy, except for one fatal flaw - green.  Green is a colour that just doesn't do heat well.  Sure there are some tricks - make a spinach chlorophyll to add at the end, but it's a lot of effort and I never feel the resulting colour looks natural - thus this zucchini soup is white.  As a suggested garnish, I've included a recipe for a "sunomono" zucchini pickle, which keeps the skin, so if you do it, prep the garnish first before making the soup.  An additional garnish that goes great here is the cornmeal chicharron recipe from my previous entry.  By the way, this soup is vegetarian, vegan even if you omit the cream - you can use chicken stock if you wish, but I simply use water or vegetable stock if I have one on hand.   A great chef I worked for once commented on the extensive use of chicken stock in the industry, "why does everything need to taste like chicken?"

You will need:

        1             onion
        1             large leek (white part only)
        4             zucchini
        4             garlic cloves
1/2 C/125 ml  cream (more if you prefer)
   2 sprigs        tarragon
   2 sprigs        thyme
    to taste        salt

For the "sunomono" pickle:

parisienne scooped (melon baller) zucchini - smaller the better
equal parts:  mirin
                     rice wine vinegar
to taste:        salt and sugar
1 small sprig tarragon
1 small sprig thyme

Method:

 - scoop as many balls from the outsides of the zucchini as you need for a garnish
 - mix the mirin, rice wine vinegar, tarragon and thyme season with salt and sugar until you like it
 - submerge the zucchini balls in the pickle and keep in the fridge
 - return to the zucchini and peel completely, then chop into small pieces
 - chop and wash the leek, chop the onion and garlic
 - in a pot on medium heat, sweat the onions leek and garlic in oil till translucent (clear with no colour)
 - add the zucchini and sweat well
 - add water (or stock) to cover and cook till vegetables are very soft
 - season with salt and add tarragon and thyme to infuse
 - the soup should be tasty by now, add the cream, allow it to return to a simmer, then turn off the heat
 - pick out the herbs
 - puree in a bar blender, VITAMIX if you have one
 - strain through a fine mesh seive
 - check and adjust the seasoning, cool down and store in fridge
 - when reheating, you can add a little more cream to whiten it up, then serve with the sunomono zucchini