soup – Page 3 – Myfrenchkitchen

Winter has suddenly hit us with a bang and out came the soups of which onion soup is a favorite. The secret of a good onion soup rests on a good stock (preferably homemade) and of course the slow, deep caramelizing of the onions. If you want a quick soup for dinner, this is not it. But no doubt, for a cold day, an onion soup, topped with a melted cheese crouton, is pure heaven.

Pincée de fleur de sel:

The longer you can caramelize your onions, the more flavorful they will be. It is a myth that onions can be caramelized within 10 minutes.
I cut my onions in quarters and then slice the quarters finely, because I don’t like long strips dripping soup from my spoon.
To serve country style, serve the soup in a tureen with the croutons on top and serve each portion from the tureen.
It can also be served individually by placing a slice of bread on the soup, top with cheese and grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
Don’t be skimpy with the thyme as it adds to the flavor.
To really serve a soup and not soaked bread, don’t serve too much bread in the soup, for it soaks up a lot of the liquid and you will be left with only onions and soaked bread.
Serve the soup hot in warmed bowls.

..a variety of onions..

..onions cut into quarters and sliced thinly, cooked until translucent and caramelized until dark and soft…

…countrybread, called a tourte here inCorréze, sliced and torn into smaller portions..

..Vieux Cantal( aged Cantal cheese) broken into small chunks and sprinkled on the bread and soup for a country dinner..

To all my American friends and readers…have a Happy Thanksgiving!

..à la prochaine fois..

Ronelle

In midsummer, when the sun is blazing hot and the cigales are singing away, we don’t have much desire for eating, except for indulging in ice cream. A cold simmer peach soup is perfect for those days and brings a bit of welcome change to the ice cream menu.

La recette:

Bring to the boil 1 liter of water with 1 vanilla pod, 200 g sugar and the rind of 1 lemon. Remove from the heat, add a handful of fresh mint leaves and set aside to cool.
Peel and cut 6 peaches of your choice into slices.
Add to the warm syrup and leave to cool down completely before storing in the fridge for about 4 hours to infuse.
Serve cold in glasses or bowls and add a handful of fresh red berries of your choice to the soup(optional).
Decorate with fresh mint leaves and serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6 people.

Pincée de fleur de sel:

I used a mixture of white and yellow peaches.
Macerate the berries with some sugar before adding to the soup, since they may be too sour for the soup.
Add the berries on a little kebab/cocktail stick and stick into the soup, to eat separately.
Leave the berries if so desired.
Replace the mint with lemon verbena for something different.
Serve in frozen glasses for an icy effect.

The signature of Provence is its white limestone..in the countryside, the hills, in the built walls, the drywalls, the houses, the pavings , the flowerbeds, the villages… Some of them new and some weathered handsomely by the mistral and rains of centuries.