It's almost the first of May and I still need my jacket. We had some decent weather on the weekend, but we started a job after almost four months and had to work. We were living on savings and running out. We had no choice but to start working again.
Even though we only three shifts for now, it's enough. For some reason my boss put us alone in our sections, after only two training shifts. I have the cold appetizer section of the vegan sushi restaurant. Marc is on the fryer.
Each item has so many ingredients and sauces and styling. On Friday and Saturday, I didn't even have a chance to get a drink of water. It was non stop for over 8 hours. If you don't make a reservation, you won't get a seat.
Now that I have a day off, I can do a post.
Because of the on going winter I am making soup. We can't afford to get too many groceries until we are back on our feet, so I'm purchasing inexpensive items along with mark down items.
Onions are a good price so I decided to make onion soup. Usually when someone thinks of onion soup, they would think of French onion soup with a clear beef broth and cheese on top.
For this creamy onion soup, I've added other items along with onions. Some of these items are also part of the Allium family.
You may think this soup would be strong like onions are when they are raw, but it's smooth and slightly sweet tasting.
Onions are good to practise juggling with. I need much more practise. They ended up on the floor.
Creamy onion soup
Onion 800g
Garlic 50g
Leek 245g
Potato 250g
Cream 250g (I used soy)
Vegetable broth 950g
Thyme 1 teaspoon
Onion powder 1 teaspoon
Garlic powder 1 teaspoon
Salt and pepper to taste
Wine 1/8 cup (optional) or 1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon agave or sweetener
I gave everything a rough chop, because I would end up blending it at the end.
I decided to use potato as a thickener, and vegan butter for flavor. I was going for a little French richness with added vegan cream as well.
Heat the olive oil and butter on medium. Don't let the butter get brown.
Add onion and cook until softened.
Add leeks, and garlic. Cook for around 20 minutes or longer to sweat them out in their own juices.
Add the potatoes and continue cooking for around 20 minutes or more on medium low, before adding liquid. When the moisture is mostly evaporated add wine and cook out for a few minutes.
Add the vegetable broth.
Simmer for around ten minutes then add cream.
Let the soup cool for a while then put in a blender until it's creamy and smooth. Adjust the seasonings.
I could have used a hand blender, but I wanted a very smooth and silky texture. This is a personal preference.
I had a bunch of dill and parsley that I wanted to used them in a way that it would last for a while.
I made an herb oil to use to flavor the soup and to have leftover to add to anything after that.
Herb oil
Parsley, dill 175g
Oil 300g
Lemon juice 2 tablespoons
Boil some salted water, then add herbs for 15 seconds or so. They will get bright green.
Put them quickly in an ice bath after taking them out of the hot water.
Blend the herbs with oil until it's very smooth.
I used an unbleached coffee filter to filter out the oil.
This took a long time to complete, but I managed to get enough to use for the soup. I left the rest to drip overnight.
This oil had a good taste blend of both dill and parsley. If you use just parsley it would be more versatile. I wanted to use up the dill. This oil would be good to add to potatoes and other root vegetables.
I happened to have some homemade bread in the freezer so I used it for croutons in the soup.
This is good cool weather comfort food. It also is a good light way to eat lunch.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.
Photos taken with a Nikon D7500 by me except for the ones of me, taken by my other half