Crab-Boil Soup, Or Recipe for a Misplaced Cajun

This recipe is a variation of traditional vegetable soup. I discovered this soup one night when I was feeling under the weather and wanted nothing but soup in my system (in addition to a little o.j. of course). As it first starts cooking the soup smells almost exactly like crab-boil--without the crabs!!


Olive oil
1 Russet potato, cubed
2 Slices onion, medium dice
1 Stalk celery, small dice
1 Stalk Swiss chard, chopped
3 Cloves garlic
A lot of cayenne pepper
2 Bay leaves
4 Tbs. Parsley
Salt & Pepper
2 Fistfuls each of pink and yellow lentils

Put all of the ingredients except the lentils into a pot over medium heat. Mix to coat with oil then add enough water to thoroughly cover (you may need to add more as the soup cooks). Add lentils. Boil for 15 minutes and then reduce heat & simmer until ready to eat. Drizzle with a nice, flavorful olive oil once spooned into a bowl. This soup is quite tasty!

*Next time I'm thinking of making a roux first! Yum--It'd be like lentil etouffe! (That's a joke, dear Cajuns)

(Easy) Onion Parsley Tart

The easy is an aside because the tart is so good regardless of its ease to make. I cooked this tart as an appetizer for the first time last night and it turned out quite well. The trick is getting the crust down, but once you do you can use it for anything (split it in two and you can have a pizza appetizer and an apple tart dessert, or you can use it to make crawfish pies!). The flavors all come together nicely and make it an irresistible, mouth-watering meal opener.

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
7 tbs. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 tbs. olive oil
5-9 tbs. ice water

Cut the butter into small squares. In a medium size bowl, using your hands, mix the butter in with the flour until the butter is flattened into small pieces about the size of dimes. Add the olive oil and mix. Make a well in the middle and add the ice water. Mix until the dough forms a ball. You should use just enough water for the mixture to hold together (at high altitude I am using almost 9 tbs. of water). Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Topping
Olive oil
2 large yellow onions, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
5 tbs. parsley
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

In a skillet put a couple of table spoons of olive oil and add the onions, salt and cayenne pepper, saute over medium heat until onions are soft and translucent, add pepper and parsley and saute for one or two additional minutes.

Putting It Together
Creole Mustard (or Dijon Mustard)
Olive Oil
Crust
Topping
Parmigiano Reggiano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll out the crust on a lightly floured surface. Fold in half and roll out again. Repeat two or three additional times (the more times you fold it and roll it out the flakier your crust will be, so adjust according to desired flakiness!). Put finished crust onto a flat, very lightly floured baking sheet. Put a dollop of mustard onto the center of the crust and drizzle olive oil over the mustard. Mix the oil and mustard with a brush and brush over the surface of the crust, covering the entire surface (add more mustard if necessary). Distribute the onion mixture evenly over the crust (there should be enough onion mixture to cover the entire crust without leaving much open crust; cut off excess crust if you have too much and use for something else (like that apple tart!)). Grate enough Parmigiano over the onion so that you can barely make out the onions.

Cook for thirty-five minutes or until the smell is too tempting to resist.

Wine Suggestion
Equally versatile with a light, fruity red such as a beaujolais or a more peppery Cotes-du-Rhone.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bourbon Ice Cream

Yum!
2 cups cream
2 cups whole milk
14 tablespoons sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
splash of vanilla
10 egg yolks
5 tablespoons bourbon

Mix cream, milk, half of sugar, vanilla and bean (split and seeds and all) in sauce pan and heat to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

Mix yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl. Reheat cream sauce. Add 1 1/2 cups of cream sauce slowly to yolk and sugar mixture to temper it. Pour this egg mixture slowly back into cream mixture and heat on low-medium heat to 170 degrees or until a wooden spoon comes up with a thicker custard on its back and a finger drawn through the custard leaves a clean line. Pour through a strainer into a metal bowl which has been sitting over ice bath and stir occasionally until cooled. Add bourbon and mix. Place vanilla bean back into the custard and cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove vanilla bean and pour into frozen ice cream machine and process according to machine instructions (about 20-30 minutes). Eat or freeze to harden.

Serving suggestions: With Pecan Pie. Or in a Profiterole. Or straight up!

Have a glass of A.H. Hirsch Reserve 16 year Bourbon with it, the perfect after dinner Bourbon (regardless of what the New York Times may say).

Click here for a New York Times article on Bourbon