[Sca-cooks] Re: [Sca-cooks) onion soup...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach BeckysQuilt at aol.com:
>hi,
>I would like to use bread bowls for service. I was thinking of your standard
>French onion but I am open for suggestions. Period would be nice but my
>priorities are presentation and something people will really eat. Us 
>Ansteorrians
>are hungry people. Oh, and I will have an industrial kitchen to work in.
>I have done smaller feasts before and helped in many larger ones but this is
>my first bid for a big event. Last weekend, my team and I placed 2nd in
>Elfseas' Iron Siege cook-off, done Iron chef style. It was such a 
>hoot and so much
>fun that we decided to shoot for the stars. Bids are due at business 
>meeting so
>I have a lot of paper work to do before then. Thank you for answering my plea
>for help.

Okay, let's start with the (or rather, a, as in, one of many) period recipes.

PORREY CHAPELEYN [MS D, ff. 86r-96v, ~c. 1381 C.E.]
"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 almond mylk 
& boyle it & do (th)ereto. Tak & make a (th)ynne paast of dow, & make 
(th)ereof as it were ryngis. Tak & frye hem in oyle de olyue or in 
wyte grees & boil al togedere."

"For to make a porrey chapeleyn, take a hundred onions or a half, and 
take olive oil and boyle together in a pot, and take almond milk and 
boil it and add thereto [to the onions]. Take and make a thin paste 
of dough, and make rings out of it. Take them and fry them in olive 
oil or lard, [add to the soup], and boil all together."

For eight servings (in the East we usually do tables of eight, and 
the number is pretty easy to multiply out to whatever number you 
need), you'd need:

Three large onions, sliced
1 ounce olive oil
1.5 quarts thick, blended almond milk (made from 1.5 cups blanched 
almonds and about 7 cups water)
salt to taste (it'll be bland without it)
pepper (optional)

Oil for frying

1 cup flour and enough water, eggs, a combination, or almond milk to 
make a stiff pasta-type dough
OR ~1/4 package wonton wrappers, cut into rings with concentric biscuit cutters

Slice the onions and wilt them in the olive oil, without browning too 
much, over a low heat. At the same time, heat the almond milk to a 
boil and simmer until slightly thickened, stirring regularly. Pour 
over the onions and simmer until the onion slices are extremely soft 
and the soup is slightly thickened.

While the soup simmers (or you can do this part in advance), make, 
roll, and cut out your dough (or wonton wrappers, or other stiff, 
thinly-rolled, premade dough), and fry them in hot oil at about 
325-350 degrees. Drain and reserve; add them to the simmering soup 
before serving. An additional garnish of sliced chives or scallions 
looks nice...


You can then take the same basic quantities for this soup and make a 
similar, modern, Irish white onion soup.

IRISH ONION SOUP (adapted from a recipe in one of Malachi McCormick's books)

3 large white onions, sliced
2 oz butter
2 Tbs flour
3/4 pint milk
2 pints white chicken stock
salt and pepper
2 egg yolks (optional)

Melt the butter over low heat and sweat the onion slices until they 
wilt and begin to soften (again, you don't want them to brown). Stir 
in the flour and cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently, 
then stir in the stock and the milk. Whisk or stir until the flour is 
incorporated into the liquid, and simmer until the soup is slightly 
thickened, and the onions are very soft. Season with salt and pepper 
(fanatics can use white pepper) and finish, if you want, by putting 
the two egg yolks in a bowl, beating them, adding some of the soup to 
the yolks and mixing completely, then returning them to the pot, off 
the heat. Heat gently until the soup thickens slightly further. Do 
not boil after the yolks have been added.

For French onion soup, you'd take those same three large onions, 
slice them, and saute them to caramelize. I find it helps to deglaze 
the pan with a little splash of water, wine, or stock every so often 
to keep the juices from browning too fast. The stock would normally 
be brown beef or veal stock, or a mixture. The soup usually isn't 
thickened, except with onion juices. Ideally, you'd make round 
croutons, such as a round of French bread, fried or toasted, then top 
with grated Parmigiano or Gruyere cheese, which you then melt in a 
hot oven or under a broiler. Float the toasts over the soup before 
serving. Cheaters just float a piece of toast, add the cheese, and 
broil the whole thing in an oven-proof crock. (NB: chopped fresh 
thyme is a terrific addition to this soup.)

HTH,

Adamantius









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