Isis versus PhysioProf ...Recipe War Entry #5

First, Dr. Isis would like to congratulate her formidable opponent PhysioProf on another stellar offering from last week. You really keep Dr. Isis on her toes. In honor of our recently resolidified friendship, I began my recipe preparation with a cocktail I created in our honor:

I call it the "domestic truce." It's a shot of Jameson in a glass of champagne (because, would a diva like Dr. Isis choose anything but champagne?).


Figure 1: The domestic truce. Left panel -- Dr. Isis's Jameson. She went to the store and asked for "motherfucking Jameson" but all they had was the regular kind. Right panel -- The drink in all its glory. Dr. Isis was a bit drunk by the end of the preparation.

But now on to the recipes!


Two things inspired Dr. Isis this week. First, Dr. Isis heard your yearning for things that can be frozen and was reminded of one of the few regular events she participated in while in college that did not involve beer and pillow fights -- The Sunday Night Soup Swap. One Sunday a month, during fall and winter, Dr. Isis and her friends would prepare a large quantity of their favorite soups. Then we would each bring our soup plus 10 empty Tupperware containers to the host's home (which rotated) and fill each Tupperware with a different kind of soup. Then you had 10 different soups for the month and you only had to cook one. Dr. Isis hopes that some of you will consider your own lab soup swaps. Second, my heart was warmed by the letters of support and gratitude from my vegetarian readers for offering a vegetarian alternative in last week's entry. I wanted to offer something for my vegan readers this week.

So, this week, my pets, you get two soups. Both entirely freezeble and swappable and one entirely vegan.

Classic French Onion Soup and Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro Mint Pesto

Here's everything you'll need:


Figure 2: The Soupalicious Spread

The French Onion Soup

About 9 onions. Dr. Isis used 2 small yellow, 4 sweet vidalia, and 3 white onions
6 cups of beef broth
6 cloves of garlic
2 cups of brandy. The key to good french onion soup is to use an amount of brandy equal to 1/3 the amount of beef broth
5-6 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of butter
1 loaf french bread
Swiss cheese slices long enough to span your bowls
1 pound of caramel corn that you'll buy from a boy scout who knocks on the door while you're cooking and then eat, leaving you less hungry. Then you'll eat more of it while you lie in bed in your Tony Stewart pajamas, sipping champagne, and writing your recipe post
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

First thing's first, let me show you the setting on Dr. Isis's stove for the making of french onion soup.


Figure 3: This is the frequently unused setting on the stove called "medium low."

For the first part of the soup do not (I said DO NOT) turn your stove up past medium low. You do not want to cook your onions. You want to make them sweat as though they were PhysioProf realizing they were down 3 to 1 in the Recipe War until they are completely soft and pliable.

Begin by melting the 2 tablespoons of butter in your soup pot and adding the 5 cloves of crushed garlic. When the garlic hits the pan it should not sizzle but merely sigh in thanksgiving. Slice the onions once in half and then in thin slices (I would grab a pair of gloves on your way out of the lab or your hands will smell like onions for days afterwards). Pop them in with the garlic and butter. Cover them with a lid, and let them steam for about 25 minutes. Below is a picture of the onions before and a picture of a sampling of onions after steaming:


Figure 4: Onions before and after cooking over medium low heat. Note the presence of delicious onion juice. You'll lose this if you cook over higher heat.

The next part is simple. Add the beef broth, the brandy, the bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste, and increase the heat to medium. Dr. Isis typically cooks her soup another 30 minutes beyond this point. However, the longer you cook the soup, the darker and richer it will become.


Figure 5: Onion soup boiling in the pot and ladled into the bowl

Slice the french bread, brush with olive oil, and place under the broiler for 8 minutes.


Figure 6: Little toasts hot out of the oven

Dr. Isis placed 4 little toasts in each oven safe bowl with the soup, covered the bowl in swiss cheese, and placed it under the broiler for 10 minutes. The finished product is at the end, after the pumpkin soup.


The Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro Mint Pesto

This is a vegan-ized version of one of Dr. Isis's favorite soups from her childhood -- crema de calabaza. Here's what you need:

About 1 1/2 kilograms of pumpkin (the calabaza). I won't lie to you. Mama's got a grant due and she used canned pumpkin (but NOT pie mix). If you'd like to use fresh pumpkin, there are great instructions here.
1 can (about 3/4 cup) of cream of coconut. This is a thick sweet paste made from coconut, similar to dulce de leche, but containing no milk. You'll find it in the Hispanic food aisle of your supermarket
3/4 cup coconut milk
About 3 cups vegetable broth
1 leek
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground ginger, divided
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 bunch cilantro
1 handful mint
1/4 cup water
Flaked coconut
Roasted red pepper sauce from last week (optional)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

You are going to wee yourselves at how easy this soup is.

Dice the leek and saute them with 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft.


Figure 7: Dr. Isis's happy little leeks

Toss in the pumpkin.


Figure 8: Tossing in the pumpkin

Add the broth, coconut cream and milk, half the ginger, the coriander, and the turmeric. Simmer for 15 minutes. In the meantime, you make the cilantro mint pesto using exactly the same method as you used to make Dr. Isis's basil pesto. Just like before, add some oil, the water, and the remaining ginger and then feed the cilantro and mint in through the top of the blender/food processor. Dr. Isis alternated herbs and oil until she had used up all of her herbs.


Figure 9: Pre-blended pesto. The best thing about this pesto is that it can be frozen in ice cube trays. Dr. Isis then uses it again later as an additive when she cooks rice.

Dr, Isis plates her soup but ladling in the pumpkin soup, topping with a large dollop of the pesto, and sprinkling with flaked coconut. As an alternative, one could also top this soup with a dollop of the red pepper sauce we made last week.

Here is everything plated:


Figure 10: Classic french onion soup, pumpkin soup with cilantro mint pesto, and pumpkin soup with red pepper sauce

Dr. Isis enjoyed her meal with this:


Figure 11: Mommy's Time Out Rosso Primitivo

Finally, to assure you that these soups are completely freezable, here are the french onion and pumpkin soups and the pesto, packaged in Tupperware on Dr. Isis's counter, ready to get chillified.


Figure 12: Tonight's Recipe War shall be tomorrow's lunch

Finally, be sure to vote here and check out PhysioProf's post here.