Vegetarian French Onion Soup

This is what happens when you cook alone but still think it's a good idea to purchase 5 lb bags of onions (it's such a bargain!!). Traditional French onion soup has beef stock, but we all know I'm a cow hugger, so I don't do that. Instead, I jazz up some plain ol' veg stock with a whole bunch of herbs. It freezes well and looks pretty.

Heat 2t evoo in a large pot
Cook 4-6 cups thinly sliced onions with a pinch of salt until golden and reduced to ~1/3 vol
Stir frequently & leave pan mostly covered
add 6c veg stock
season with 1 bay leaf, 4 sprigs parley, 2 sprigs thyme, rosemary, coriander, and/or whatever other herbs you have around
cook 30 more mins
ladle into bowls
place enough bread to cover the surface of the bowl on top of the soup (1-2 sandwich slices)
sprinkle 1 clove minced garlic over each bowl
sprinkle significant cheesage (I used mostly Jarlsberg with some Parmesan, Gruyere would be amazing) over top
run under broiler for a couple of minutes (yes, these should be some sturdy bowls)
garnish with pepper, about half a bottle of hot sauce, or parsley, depending on your tastes
speak with French accent during dinner
enjoy!

The Waffle Walk

January 3: Suzanne and Michael set off across the field toward Colvin Mill.
[added by Suzanne: we walked 2 miles through the cold, barren winter woods to get to the mill. flour well earned! the ten dollars we brought to buy admission to the tour were instead frittered away at Ye Olde Country Store on flour, rock candy, sodas, and a designer wallet made in distant China. Yes, all that for $10!]

They returned hours later with a plump bag of whole wheat flour, ground at the mill. The bag bore the politically correct disclaimer: "Produced in a facility that also processes corn, soybeans and wheat." (Some economy there, mentioning the wheat as if the bag wasn't full of it.) The current-day savvy which must have generated the disclaimer is centuries away from the creaking old wood that ground the wheat. It made splendid waffles: Mix 1 cup Colvin Mill whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup cake flour, 2 t. baking powder and 1/2 t. salt. Separately mix 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup eggbeaters, and 1/4 cup roasted almond oil. Mix the two mixtures together and pour into the waffle iron. Serve with thin apple slices sauteed until lightly browned in roasted almond oil.

Christmas baking

I baked a sickening number of cookies over the holidays. This year, as always, I eagerly anticipated the Washington Post's Christmas cookie special and tried my hand at a few of the most promising. Here are the three I tried:
White Chocolate Apricot-Almond Balls (gluten and cholesterol free):
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2008/12/10/white-chocolate-apricot-almond-balls/
Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies (like thin mints):
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2008/12/10/chocolate-peppermint-cookies/
Savory Pecan, Parmesan and Thyme Shortbread:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2008/12/10/savory-pecan-parmesan-and-thyme-shortbread/

I also made the Joy of Cooking's rich roll cookies to decorate and some Peppermint bark. Mom made her oh-so-famous almond roca and biscotti. All in all, there was quite the spread! Oh, let us not forget the lovely buche de noel. Mother, perhaps you can post some pictures?

My personal favorite were the thin-mint-ish cookies, but everybody else LOVED the gluten free balls. I thought they were a little weird, but eh. They're very easy (though they require a food processor) and no bake, so basically they're winners all around.

Cheryl's Mac 'n' Cheese

Just gave it a test-drive today--delicious! The idea was to have a comfort food supper with the anatomy group while one member practiced her presentation for tomorrow. Unfortunately, comfort food supper generally leads to comfort food coma which leads to TV watching and lethargy. Ah well. This time, I used whole wheat pasta and topped it with fresh parsley. I think next time I make it I will use a variety of cheeses (maybe blue or gouda) or add in some nice fresh herbs:

Put a large pot of water (about 3 quarts) on the stove and bring to a boil
Add 1 lb. of elbow macaroni
While the macaroni is cooking ( about 5 min) beat 3 eggs and add to that about 4 cups of milk.
Add a teaspoon of yellow mustard, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, and 1 tsp Worcestershire (or red wine vinegar) to the egg / milk mixture
Take the macaroni off the stove and pour into a colander to drain
Using a large greased casserole (at least 2 qts.) alternate layers of macaroni and cheese (use 2 lbs grated cheddar total), ending with cheese on the top. don't make the layers too thick.
pour the egg mixture over the macaroni and cheese.
Bake the macaroni in a 350 degree oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out without any egg / milk mixture clinging to it. It usually takes about an hour. watch it to make sure the top doesn't get too brown

Tempting Tempeh

A while back I mentioned making tempeh and Suzanne asked for the recipe. Well I used a 101 cookbooks recipe, pretty much exactly. Here's the link:

Amazingly yummy tempeh from 101 cookbooks

I let the tempeh marinate for 2+ days, and flipped the pieces once, so they were totally saturated in the marinade. I also cooked the tempeh in a pan on medium high heat. I called it done once the marinade started to caramelize a little on the surface of the tempeh. It was sweet, it was salty, it was spicy, it was as close to heaven as you are going to get with fermented soy beans.

Inheriting health and cooking

There's an article in the New York times health section today about teaching very young children how to cook, healthily. The most robust short term result is that kids are less picky and more adventurous in their eating.

The article

It's sort of surprising result to me. I thought an attribute like being picky might stem from an innate hypersensitivity to the way certain things taste. I'm sure this could still be at work to some extent, but it seems like there is a lot of nuture involved as well.

This article also made me wonder is learned healthy eating behaviors are inherited matrilineally. Women tend to do most of the cooking, and women tend to cook like their mothers (well, at least when their mothers cook well and they see no need to change). So I wonder if the over nutritional profile of a family is more like the mother's family than the father's family. If my hypothesis holds up, then if Oliver and I were ever to have kids they'd be set - Oliver seems genetically incapable of gaining any weight and I'm culturally incapable of cooking with unsaturated fats or simple carbohydrates.                                                                   

 

Quelle Surprise!!

So you might remember we couldn't get the blog name "Cheztoby.blogspot.com" because it was already taken. Well, I finally got around to checking out the original chez Toby, and believe it or not, it is run by an adorable little French dog! Le petit Toby devotes his blog to documenting other cute animals doing cute stuff.

Check it out:

http://cheztoby.blogspot.com

Carry on, you cute French version of Toby.