Food 52 Cookbook + VB6 = #awesomedeliciousness

Food 52 Cookbook + VB6 =  #awesomedeliciousness

French onion soup - something that sounds so appealing on a menu, but no, how could you possibly eat that plus an entree if you've had all that cheesy goodness to start?  Way better to make it at home.  And I have the perfect recipe for you - from the Food 52 Cookbook  Then have a salad after and you can still feel virtuous.

What's even better is that this French onion soup is dead easy to make with a store bought stock, but it becomes totally transformed into the best restaurant quality when you make your own.  Don't be scared off - if you can turn on your oven and roast some veg, you've got it in the bag.  And the stock is totally vegan, if you care, or even if you just want to eat more vegetables.

When I was in my twenties, I served French onion soup to two vegetarians, not realizing that the beef stock I used was not ok!  They loved the soup, and then confessed that they were sick later.  Oops!  I wouldn't make that mistake today...Here's how to make a great all veggie stock according to Mark Bittman's cookbook VB6:

Fast and Flavorful Vegetable Stock , Slower Variation
adapted from Mark Bittman's The VB6 Cookbook

2 medium or 1 large onion, quartered
4 carrots, cut into large pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
1 pound button mushrooms, washed but left whole
4 - 8 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled but crushed
1 bunch fresh parley, including stems
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp. dried thyme
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
4 bay leaves
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Roast the veggies - onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms and garlic on a half sheet pan or roasting pan lined with foil (no clean up!), for 30 - 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

Put the roasted veggies and everything except for the final salt and pepper in a stockpot with 3 quarts of water.  Boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.  (The longer it simmers, the deeper the flavor.)

Remove from heat and strain out the vegetables.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Keeps for a week in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer.  (Use for everything and anything  calling for stock!)



Now on to the French Onion soup of your culinary dreams:

French Onion Soup
adapted from the Food 52 Cookbook by Amanda Hesser and Marrill Stubbs

3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 - 6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
3 lbs. onions, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
6 cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade (or beef stock)
2 cups red wine, or beer
To serve:  2 slices crusty bread for each person
Cheese - can be sliced deli provolone, or better:  1/2 cup each gouda, gruyere, and parmesan mixed together OR see vegan variation below.

In a large stockpot, melt the butter and olive oil.  Add the garlic and cook slowly for 5 - 10 minutes until caramelized.  Add the onions, large pinch of salt, a few grindings of pepper, the thyme and bay leaf and stir. 
Cook over medium/low heat until the onions are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Pour in the stock and wine or beer, bring to a boil, and simmer, uncovered for 1 - 3 hours.  Taste and add more stock and/or salt and pepper as needed along the way.

To serve, put one slice of bread in the bottom of a deep bowl.  Add a ladleful of soup.  Then take one additional slice of bread for each person, and top with cheese.  Toast that bread in a toaster oven until melted.  Place the cheesy bread on top of the soup.

Be transported to a happy place.

(For a vegan variation with no apologies, sprinkle the second piece of bread with panko, salt, LOTS of freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Toast as above, and drop into the soup.)

Find these cookbooks and more in our own Library, or our member libraries.  Did you know you can use your South Brunswick card at any of our member libraries, which are almost all the libraries in Middlesex County? What's more, you can have books brought directly to our library from those libraries instead.  You can do this online, or call us at the Reference Desk at732-329-4000 extension 7286.

Diane Whitman
@whitlibrarian
Homemade stock convert
Reference Librarian
South Brunswick Public Library

VB6 - Mark Bittman's Eat Vegan Before 6:00

I love vegetables, although I can't say I've never met a vegetable I didn't like - I cooked collard greens once and that was a disaster - too bitter for me - dumped the whole bowlful right in the garbage after everyone at the table had one bite and gagged - but I like almost every other veggie.

Eating vegetarian and having a meatless meal is no hardship in my book, especially now that spring is here and we're getting better produce in the markets.  But eating vegan is beyond the pale - what, no milk on my cereal?  no cream cheese on my bagel?  no parm on my eggplant parmesan? - that would be really tough. So Mark Bittman, cookbook writer, New York Times food columnist and wholesome food advocate, had his work cut out for him to convince me not only to go vegetarian, but vegan for breakfast and lunch.  On the plus side, there is a reprieve for dinner.

Chickpea Ratatouille: vegan, easy, delicious, make this tonight!

That's the conceit of Bittman's latest cookbook VB6, Eat Vegan Before 6:00. His reasons for it are health and long-term weight loss.  As the aforementioned vegetable lover, I thought, OK, sign me up. (Heaven knows I'm not losing any weight cooking from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook! Sadly.)

At dinner, you don't go wild, but are eating entrees which are vegetable laden, and with much smaller quantities of meat, fish and dairy, which I prefer anyway.  I took the leap and tried a number of recipes, and I must say, I was duly impressed.

Big winners, mostly from the dinner category:

Fish Stew:  taste of Provence in a bowl

Fisherman's Stew,  a classic Mediterranean vegetable and seafood stew, made even more awesome if you have the time and inclination (yes to both on my part - I live to eat and cook!), by using Bittman's recipe for Fast and Flavorful Vegetable Stock, which in itself is worth making and adding to anything that calls for vegetable, chicken or beef stock.  (French Onion Soup  from The Food 52 Cookbook by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs made with Bittman's stock was to die for - but that's a different post.)

Vegetable stock to be

D.I.Y. Flatbread, a whole wheat bread that you can form into sandwich bread, crusty bread, breadsticks or pizza.  Easy with a food processor and the hands on time is minimal.  Made pizza with ricotta, balsamic caramelized onions, and butternut squash, and another with ricotta, pesto, asparagus and scallions.  Great, easy, from scratch whole wheat recipe where the bread was worth eating. Click here to see Mark Bittman's video and the recipe.

Ricotta Pizza: butternut squash, balsamic caramelized onions - great combo.

Shrimp Tabbouleh, your classic bulgur and veggie salad, but way heavier on the veggies.  Keeps well in the fridge, too, especially if, like me, you hide the leftovers in the back of the refrigerator for yourself. (Guilty as charged, sorry.)

Eggplant Un-Parmesan, eggplant parm and, amazingly, you don't miss the cheese.  First, the sauce is very flavorful and then Bittman cleverly tops it all with a salty, peppery breadcrumb mix drizzled with good olive oil so that you don't miss that hit of parmesan at all.

No parm, no  problem.

Chickpea Ratatouille, a ratatouille recipe that is not only great tasting, but takes virtually no time because you roast all the veggies together in the oven.  Well, you do have to cut them up, but I love that - you're using all those beautiful veggies and then concentrate on the zen-ness of cutting them up evenly (ok, maybe that's only zen for me?). If you put them on a low rimmed half sheet pan lined with heavy duty aluminum foil amd then a sheet of non-stick foil, there's no scrubbing up afterwards either.

Near misses:

Made the Carrot Candy which was fun and ludicrous at the same time:  a pound of carrots cooked down to a tiny bowlful of little bits, which tasted more like vegetable leather than any candy I've ever had.

An entire pound of carrots reduced to tiny bits!

The Chocolatey Pineapple Kebabs were ok, pineapple dusted with cocoa powder and baked in the oven. These were okay, a little bitter, and people weren't thrilled with them.

Frozen Banana Bonbons - good, but this preparation is nothing new.

Creamed Mushrooms on Toast - cream replaced by white beans buzzed in a food processor or blender made a nice substitution.  Served over toasted whole wheat bread for dieters and slices of toasted baguette drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with garlic for the indulgent. Can defeat the vegan-ism by topping with a little grated Parmesan.  Oops.

Following is the recipe I don't want you to miss because it's easy and perfect for an early spring dinner now that the eggplants and zucchinis are coming in the markets.  I know, I know, they're not local, but they're a nice break from root vegetables after a long, snowy, winter here in New Jersey.  And I think we deserve that, don't you?

Chickpea Ratatouille
adapted from Mark Bittman's VB6

1 lb. plum tomatoes OR 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, halved and drained, reserving the liquid (I like Muir Glen brand - and BTW whole tomatoes are generally better quality than diced in any brand)
1 lb. eggplant, cut into large chunks, 1 1/2 inches
3/4 lb. zucchini, cut into large chunks, 1 1/2 inches
1 onion, sliced
2 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
__________________
3 cups cooked chickpeas, or 2 cans, rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or rosemary OR
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley (don't skimp here - with a dish this simple, you need fresh herbs)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a large roasting pan or sheet pan with heavy duty foil and then a layer of non-stick foil.  Combine first 5 ingredients in the pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix.

Roast until veggies are lightly browned and tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Scrape into a pot, add the chickpeas, reserved tomato liquid and fresh herbs and cook over medium heat until heated through, 5 - 10 minutes.



Wasn't that easier than any ratatouille recipe you've ever made?  Just as tasty too. Also totally satisfying with the addition of the chickpeas, and still vegan!

Find many more of Mark Bittman's cookbooks and great recipes here at the Library, and have fun this spring cooking with lots of fresh vegetables!

Diane Whitman
@whitlibrarian
Veg Advocate
Reference Librarian