SC - Long: Da whole onion soup deal, including porrey chapeleyn

[Philip & Susan Troy]

> Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 09:23:07 -0600
> From: "Mark.S Harris" <rsve60 at email.sps.mot.com>
> Subject: SC - Onion soup
> 
> Phlip asked:
> >French onion soup is another one I got burned out on at an early age, and I
> >flat haven't been tempted lately by any of the versions I've seen. If
> >anyone out there has what they feel is a really good recipe, send it and
> >I'll try it, but most that I've seen lately has been over-salted and filled
> >with garbage.

Understood. The problem is that Americans seem to think the dish is soup
of beef stock and cheese, both of which, in their commercially available
versions, are way too salty. Classically, French onion soup is made from
brown veal stock, made from roasted veal bones and dark mirepoix
(approximately 80% bones, roasted till caramel brown, with the
additional 20% to consist of two parts onion, one part celery, one part
carrots, and a handful of parsley stems and leek greens). Each pound of
this makes a quart of stock, but it really is a good idea to make it in
quantity. Bring your pot of bones and water to a boil, skim and add the
vegetables for the mirepoix, and simmer for from eight to ten hours. I
told you it was a good idea to make a large batch! Skim again, strain,
and cool or proceed directly with a regular onion soup recipe. You can,
of course, cheat and use canned beef stock (veal stock not being
commonly available commercially) or use home-made beef stock. Any
homemade stock will be less likely to have so much salt as the canned
stuff, unless you get the watery low-sodium kind. 

Another possibility is to dilute the canned beef stock with water, until
the salt element is correct, and add some plain, unflavored, gelatin.
Soak it in a bit of warm water to moisten and soften it, and then stir
it into your stock as it heats up. This will improve the texture
immeasurably, and generally make it more like real stock. If you're
worried about having diluted the stock, and a loss of neat flavor, bear
in mind that by the time you add the onions and other stuff, this will
be virtually unnoticeable.

The other thing that often makes the dish too salty is the use of huge
scads of salty cheese. Gruyere is the classic, and much less is (or was
originally) used before the dish became a symbol of the World Cheese
Council or whatever it is. The croutons (ideally slices of baguette,
sauteed or toasted in the oven) are topped with the cheese, and browned
under the broiler. No additional cheese or broiling is necessary for the
classic dish. You just lower the croutons onto the top of the soup and
serve.
> 
> Phlip,
> 
> Here is a message from my soup-msg file which was originally posted to
> this group a few months ago.

> ==================
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 13:06:16 -0600 (MDT)
> From: "Jamey R. Lathrop" <jlathrop at unm.edu>
> Subject: Re: SC - A.P.B. : Have You Seen This Recipe?
> 
> Good day to all, from Allegra Beati, who's WAY behind on this list.
> 
> On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> > Within the last two weeks or so I ran across what seemed like a
> > wonderful vegetarian vegetable recipe which seemed like a lovely pottage
> > for SCA use. Trouble is, I can't remember the source or even the name of
> > the dish.

Yeah, that was me, asking for the info.

> As it happens, I included this one in the recipes our local cookery group
> is going to do at a redaction party tomorrow.  It's from CURYE ON
> INGLYSCH, Part II:  DIUERSA SERVICIA.
> 
>         88.  For to make a porrey chapeleyn, tak an hundred onyons o[th]er
> an half, & tak oyle de olyf & boyle togedere in a pot; & tak almande mylk
> & boyle yt & do [th]ereto.  |  Tak & make a [th]ynne paast of dow, & make
> [th]erof as it were ryngis.  Tak & fry hem in oyle de olyue or in wyte
> grees & boil al togedere.
> 
> Allegra Beati                           Jamey Lathrop
> Barony of al-Barran                     jlathrop at unm.edu
> Outlands

A simple, small-scale redaction.

Porrey Chapeleyn (approx. 4 servings?)

3 cups blanched almonds
3 pounds large yellow onions
salt and pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbs. good olive oil, like the really green extra-virgin stuff,
otherwise you might as well 	
			use vegetable oil
deep-frying oil, maybe two or three cups
water

Start by making the pasta dough for the garnish. Add a pinch of salt,
and a Tbs. of your olive oil to the cup of flour. Add only as much cold
water to your flour as you need to make a stiff dough. Knead until it is
no longer sticky. It should be elastic, smooth, and have a bit of a
shine to it; this may take 15 minutes or so. Just hold tight and think
of England ;  ). When done, cover the dough and let it rest. (Cheaters
can use won-ton wrappers and a cookie cutter, I guess.)

Make some almond milk. Grind the almonds in a blender, food processor,
or mortar, until they are a slightly granular flour. Don't forget to add
a few drops of water to keep the pulp from de-emulsifying and leaking
almond oil all over the place. Add as much boiling water as your almonds
will drink up, plus another three cups. This may take six or eight cups,
but what you need is three cups of almond milk. Stir and let your
almonds steep 10-15 minutes. You may want to strain off your milk at
this point, and add more boiling water. Another strategy is to run the
almonds and their liquid through a blender, and then strain, which will
probably give you a stronger almond solution. The final product should
be pretty smooth, almost completely white (still slightly translucent)
and look a bit like skimmed milk. The goal is for it to be slightly
thick, but it can range anywhere from water to cream. Keep this on the
side.

Peel and slice your onions thinly, or chop finely. (I've had good
results with grating them coarsely, as you might do for curry paste).
Add your remaining olive oil to a deep cassserole pan or Dutch oven, and
heat it. When it is pretty hot, but not smoking, add your onions, stir
them, and reduce the heat until the onions begin to sort of melt in the
pan. They shouldn't brown, but will soften, and become concentrated in
flavor as well as volume. Stuir frequently, if not constantly. This may
take 15-20 minutes.

Add your almond milk to the pan, and stir. Raise the heat and heat,
stirring, until the liquid is simmering. Simmer for about an hour.

While the soup is simmering, form the pseudo-onion-ring garnish. Either
pull off chunks and roll them, with your hands, into 6-inch-long threads
no more then 1/4 inch thick, and form rings by sealing the ends with
water, or roll out like pasta dough, 1/8 inch thick, and cut with round
donut, biscuit, or cookie cutters, cutting out the center with a smaller
round cutter. A set of nested biscuit cutters is great for this, but a
standard donut cutter is good too. You get more if you have several
different size cutters, since you can cut smaller rings out of the
centers of other rings. As I said, cheaters can use wonton, egg roll, or
gyoza wrappers (which last are ideal because they are eggless: my guess
is that this is intended to be a fast-day or fish-day dish, since it
avoids meat, dairy, and eggs).

Dust these with an absolute minimum of cornstarch or flour, to keep them
from sticking to your board or each other, and cover with a towel. Heat
your oil in a wok, a medium-sized saucepan, or a heavy iron skillet. The
oil will need to be about an inch deep. When the surface shimmers just a
bit, but isn't smoking yet, and add two or three rings at a time. They
are done when they are golden brown. Remember they will continue to
brown after they come out of the oil, so if they are a shade lighter
than you want them, don't worry. Drain on paper towels.

By this time the onions should be nearly disintegrated, and the pottage
should have thickened a bit. When the soup is done, season to taste with
salt and pepper. Fanatics could use white pepper, but the more period
alternative would be ordinary black. The recipe doesn't call for any
pepper at all, but it does help.

Serve into bowls and top with a few "onion" rings.

If Lady Allegra Beati has a different redaction of this that her cooks'
group worked on, I'd love to see it. Mine is still in the experimental
stage, and is more intuitive than reasoned.

Good luck and enjoy!

Adamantius
troy at asan.com
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