French Onion Soup The Way Onions Intended It

Late last night as I was just about to close my cafe, that's the all vegetarian Mocking Bird Cafe where folks come together from all over to beat meat. I had my key in the lock and everyone had gone home when a famous chef from a local French restaurant showed with his drinking buddy. I let them in and served them drinks myself at the bar, in fact I joined them for a few. Naturally, the conversation turned quickly from politics to food. Chef Maurice claimed to make the best French Onion Soup this side of Paris. When he told me his recipe using beef stock and mozzarella cheese I cringed and made a face that he picked up on. "What?" he said, what's wrong with my recipe? I told him how the famous chef's chef Paul Bocuse who stemmed from Lyon France, would scold any chef who used a meat stock in this soup. Bocuse said " Chicken soup gets chicken stock, beef soup beef stock, vegetable soups get vegetable stock." Bocuse went on to say "you can enhance with a wine or spirt but never a meat stock in onion soup." "Nonsense," said Maurice "you are just saying that because this is a vegetarian restaurant." "No!' I exclaimed if the name of this place was Eat Cow I would still never serve onion soup with a meat base." I opened another bottle of cold Montrachet wine for them and went in to the kitchen to make it "My Way." I served it and as they sipped away before their glorious comments & wine toasts to the chef I was reassured by wide smiles on their faces. Here is my recipe.

FRENCH ONION SOUP MADE THE REAL WAY, ALA MOLINARI

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of yellow onions

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4-cup flour or Wondera

6 cups Porcini Mushroom Broth

{See below}

Toasted slices of good baguette bread

At least 3/4 pound Cave Aged Swiss Gruyere Cheese {if available or regular Swiss Gruyere}, shredded

Approximately 1/2-cup cognac

French Salt like Fleur del Sel, or comparable salt to taste

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Bouquet Garni- of 4 fresh twigs of Thyme, some parsley stems, and three bay leaves tied together with string.

Remember recipes are guidelines. This recipe makes two to four portions depending on the size of your ovenproof soup tureens. So adjust recipe accordingly. You can double it, nothing wrong with more to set up and serve the next day. Try to find Star Porcini Bouillon Cubes sometimes hard to find. They are often available in gourmet shops like Murray’s Cheese Shop here in NYC on Bleecker St in Greenwich Village. Use 5 cubes for 6 cups of hot water. Drizzle the broth with a few drops of good olive oil and set aside. Peel the onions and slice thinly. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Add the onions, a little salt, pepper and sauté, stirring frequently {you can also chop up the porcini’s and add if you wish, I do it that way}. When the onions are nicely browned sprinkle evenly with the flour. Let cook for a minute longer, and deglaze with half the cognac. Then pour in the broth add the bouquet garni, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer slowly for a half hour to 45 minutes. Lightly butter the bottom the butter of soup tureens and put a pinch of the cheese at the bottom. When soup is done, taste for seasoning adjustment, add a little more of the cognac, remove the garni and any parts of it that might have fallen into the soup. Pour soup into tureens leaving at least one inch of room or more for the toasts and cheese, top each with a few more drops of cognac. Add enough pieces of the baguette toast to cover the top, and then cover the toast with a generous amount of shredded cheese. Put them on a baking sheet, put them in the oven and broil, and remove when cheese is golden brown. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve. Bon Appetit!

ITALIAN STYLE CASSOULET

Two recent visitors to my conceptional cyber vegetarian restaurant The Mocking Bird Cafe were a lovely European couple. The gentleman was a vegetarian from Italy and his lovely companion was a meat eater from France. He made the reservation to prove to her that food could be deliciously authentic without meat. I served them a good bottle of wine to warm their romantic spirits and then created and served them the following recipe:


Italian Style Cassoulet
                                                                    

Ingredients

1 cup dried cannellini beans or one 15 oz can drained & rinsed

1 bunch fresh sage coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

9 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole

olive oil

2 cups Imported  Italian tomatoes crushed

1 cup white wine

1 1/2 red onions peeled and sliced 

1 small package  cremini mushrooms cut in half

2 bell peppers 1 red & 1 yellow

2 medium size yukon gold potatoes cooked & cut in quarters

4 Field Roast Vegan Italian Sausages or Lightlife vegetarian Italian sausages {available at your local health-food store, select supermarkets, & gourmet stores} 

Red pepper flakes to taste

salt & pepper to taste

 Soak the beans over night drain and cook according to package directions adding a tablespoon of olive oil, a few sage leaves, and a chopped tomato to the water, cook drain & set aside. You can substitute a can 15 oz can of drained & rinsed cannellini beans.

Fry the sausages in a non stick pan coated with olive oil until browned on all sides, then set aside. In a larger pan add some olive oil, garlic, bay leaf sauté until golden then add fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, onions, bell peppers. Cook till onions get some color and peppers soften but still have some bite. Add the rest of the sage, crushed tomatoes. & wine, prick the sausages with a tooth pick and add to pan. Stir sauce on top of sausages so they are somewhat covered so they can absorb the flavors of the other ingredients. Cook over med heat for about 10 more minutes. Put mushrooms in a small pyrex like a pie dish toss with a little olive oil & salt & pepper and broil until you can stick a fork through but don’t burn or over cook. Add mushrooms and beans cook for 5 minutes more then shut off stove and let cool for 5 minute,  then plate and serve with your favorite bottle of wine and crusty bread. Bon Appetit! 

Coming Soon: Mocking Bird Cafe

Mocking Bird Cafe is a conceptional cyber vegetarian restaurant, where folks from all over come together to beat meat. Featuring a variety of recipes specially chosen & created by John Molinari for guests of Mocking Bird Cafe