Monthly Archive for May, 2006

What’s French for onion soup?

Published on May 22, 2006 in Beef, Cooking techniques explained, Cooking videos, French traditional, Soup and Video recipes. 14 Comments


QuickTime video

In France, this ubiquitous soup is known simply as “gratinée” by virtue of the de rigueur melted Gruyère cheese on top.

Our travels through Quebec brought me into contact with the real thing (not a packet mix) for the first time, so of course we had to try and make it ourselves. Last episode we made beef stock as the base, and in this instalment we finish the process of creating French onion soup from scratch.

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It was a bit of a tearjerker for Lenny, who had to slice all the oignons because I was busy with bookkeeping. Continue reading ‘What’s French for onion soup?’

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Bones about it: Beef stock from scratch

Published on May 12, 2006 in Beef, Cooking techniques explained, Cooking videos, Favourites, French traditional, Soup and Video recipes. 12 Comments

We’ve set out to make authentic French onion soup, complete with crusty toasted bread and gruyere on top. And when you embark on such a mission, you simply must make the soup base – beef stock – from scratch.

This is one of those really rewarding kitchen marathons. The stock may take hours and hours to make, but most of that is simply the simmering process that seethes out the delicious juices from the beef bones and vegetables.

And the preparation is enjoyably crude: vegetables roughly chopped, roasted with the bones, then tossed into a pot with water and a few simple spices. Continue reading ‘Bones about it: Beef stock from scratch’

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Banoffi or Banoffee? Vol. 2

Published on May 5, 2006 in Cakes, breads and baking, Christmas recipes, Cooking techniques explained, Cooking videos, Desserts and puddings, English traditional and Video recipes. 10 Comments

If you’ve watched the last episode (this one includes a quick recap) you’ll know that we made banoffee (banoffi) pie after much pleading from our gastro-pal Chef Michelle and her hubby Phil.

Most of the work was done at our place, then we transported the components , including the fragile shortcrust base, across London to Michelle and Phil’s for completion and gustation.

Go to the recipe for banoffee pie

The crust made it intact and the results were pretty good all round, making allowances for a little over-zealous whipping of the cream by Lenny. Continue reading ‘Banoffi or Banoffee? Vol. 2′

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