Pork & Orange French Onion Soup

This is a variation of the classic French Onion Soup which, of course, is traditionally made with a deep, dark beef stock, and topped with Gruyere cheese.  In this delightful variation, I use pork stock and a touch of orange juice, plus Jarlsberg cheese, which has the same nutty, sweet flavor but is a bit more mild.

 

You’ll need:

• a soup pot
• oven worthy soup bowls
• 1 quart Pork broth (home made – fresh or previously frozen)
• 3 sweet yellow onions
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• bread slices for the crouton (It should be a hearty bread.)
• Jarlsberg cheese (This is a mild cows milk cheese from Norway. It has a sweet nutty flavor. You can find it at most grocery stores.)
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 tablespoons of butter (or equivalent)
• Salt & pepper
• a sprig of Rosemary and/or a little Herbs de Provence (optional)

Heat the pork broth to boiling, turn down to a simmer to keep warm.
Peel the onions. Cut into quarters, then slice to the thickness you like. I make the slices about 1/4 in. or smaller. Saute in a pan with the olive oil and butter (personally I use Heart Balance – no they don’t give me anything for the mention. I wish!) until the onions are caramelized. Make them good and dark, but not too burnt.   

Scrape the onions into the hot broth. Add the orange juice, salt and pepper.
Simmer for 25 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the flavors all married together.

Toast the bread – dark. Let cool. You can cut the bread to fit the soup bowl you’ll be using, or you can cut it into little squares (like 1 in. x 1 in). Lightly butter the bread (make sure its cold and dry), sprinkle the Herbs de Provence over the bread and set aside. You can use any herb you favor, or none at all.  Grate enough cheese to fill the top of each soup bowl.

When you‘re ready, spoon the soup into your bowls, place the croutons on top, and cover with the cheese. Place under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Watch this carefully! You want to make sure the cheese is bubbly and browning.  Add the Rosemary sprig to each bowl. People can stir the sprig around to flavor the soup with a hint of Rosemary (or you can skip it, too.) Serve with a nice, warm, crusty bread.

Pork Broth

Except in Asian and Mexican cuisine, pork stock or broth is just not as commonly used as the others, but its just as good. I make it a broth from the start, vs a stock, because I use pork broth to flavor stir fry, noodles, and other dishes. Making and freezing your own pork broth might be the only way you’ll have it. Knorr makes a pork bullion cube, but they aren’t easy to find. (I don’t receive anything from Knorr.)

You’ll need:

• A stock pot or slow cooker.
• Bones and scraps from a pork shoulder, butt, or pork ribs.
• 2 carrots
, 2 celery stalks
• 1 to 2 onions
• bay leaf (its ok if you don’t have this)
• pepper corns or ground pepper
• salt

Broth made with the bones and scraps from a pork shoulder or butt is dark, and rich. I use this broth to make a variation of Pork/Orange French Onion Soup, but its also great for pork stew, chili, using to cook rice, or as a cup of broth all by itself. After your done with a roast, place the scraps and bones in a roasting pan.

The same technique for making any meet or bone stock is used for pork. Brown the meet and bones well, about 25 to 45 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Or, you can broil the bones, a few minutes on all sides should do it. Keep an eye on it, so it doesn’t burn, and you don’t have a fire from grease splatter.

Transfer the roasted bones and scrapes to a stock pot or slow cooker. De glaze the roasting pan and pour into the pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery stalks. Add enough water to cover the bones and veggies, at least one quart. I use half water and half chicken stock. Throw in the pepper corns, bay leaf, and salt. Cook from one to 3 hours, make sure it boils at least five minutes, and keep it at a hard simmer the rest of the cook time. If using a slow cooker, cook the broth all day, or over night. Skim off foam as it develops.
Strain into a gravy fat separator, and place in the refrigerator to let the fat rise to the top. Check on it in 15 to 30 minutes. When the fat rises, you can pour the broth into ice cube trays to freeze, or into what ever container you’d like. If you don’t have the gravy fat separator, keep the broth in the refrigerator until the fat has hardened enough to be spooned off. If you don’t freeze it, place it in a tightly seal container in the refrigerator. Broth keeps about a week, always boil broth and stock for a minimum of 5 minutes before using.

  And now I turn this into a great “Pork broth and Orange French Onion Soup”.

Turkey Stock

You need a turkey carcass, a big stock pot or slow cooker, a carrot and celery (or not), and one or two onions (definitely onion), good water (if you drink your tap water, its good enough).

Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil, it helps with clean up. Break a turkey carcass into pieces, including the breast bone. (You can freeze the bones at this point, and use up to 3 to 6 months later.) This way the bones can brown on all over, and they’ll fit in the pot.

Place the pan under the broiler and brown the bones well on all sides. When they’re nice and dark, turn off the heat and let them sit in the oven a few minutes. This way the splatter is contained in the oven, not all over the kitchen, and you won’t get splattered with hot grease. Place the bones in the stock pot or slow cooker. Cover with water, just to the top of the contents. Add an onion or two, a carrot and celery, but that’s about it. This is the stock, vs broth, to be used in a recipe another day. If the stock is flavored it can interfere with the recipe you use later. The stock won’t be too yummy when done, but it will be dark and rich, and make future sauces, soups, chili, and stews wonderful.

In the slow cooker, turn on high and let the liquid come to a boil. This can take awhile. Once it’s been boiling for 15 minutes, or so, turn to medium heat and simmer all day, 8 hours minimum. Make sure it is simmers the entire time, and occasionally skim the foam off the top.

Or, place the bones in a 12 quart stock pot, and bring the water to a rapid boil for 15 to 30 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for many hours. Check the pot occasionally to make sure it still has a strong simmer, and the bones are covered in liquid. Skim off foam as is develops.

Strain the liquid through a fine mesh, and discard the solids. Cool quickly by setting the container in ice water. Or, stick it outside in the snow for 15 minutes, if you have any, and be careful not to attract critters (great suggestion, Vicky). Stock is a great medium for germs. Cooling it fast is an attempt keep the stock germ free. When it’s cooled down, cover tightly and place in the refrigerator over night. If you use the freezer to cool the stock be use to take it out before its frozen, and be aware it will warm the freezer a smidgen. However you cool it, just be sure to broil the stock 5 minutes before using.

And as always, you can freeze broth and stock in ice cube trays, then store in air tight container (like a zip lock bag).

Roasted Peppers, Garlic & Anchovies

This is a filling appetizer, antipasti, or side dish. Serve with crunchy  bread.

Roast sweet peppers (e.g., bell, red peppers) over the BBQ. You can also roast them under the broiler, though its a lot easier on the grill. Blacken all sides of the peppers over high heat. You don’t want to cook them, just roast the skins. Place blackened peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate and cool.

When cool enough to handle, hold a pepper over another bowl, slit the bottom and let the juice run out. Then with a small knife, or just your fingers, peal and seed the pepper. Repeat with all the peppers, be sure to capture all the juice. Slice peppers into 1/4 in x 1 in strips (or there about) and place into bowl with juice. Peal a lot of garlic and slice into thick pieces. Rinse a can of anchovies to wash off as much salt as you can. I also pull a lot of the bigger bones. You can eat anchovy bones of course, but its nice when the filets are cleaned up a little. Cut the anchovies in half on in thirds. Add to the pepper and garlic, add extra virgin olive oil just to cover, mix to all together. Add fresh ground pepper. Cover tightly and refrigerate for a couple hours to over night. Be sure its air tight or it might small up your refrigerator.

Before serving, let stand at room temperature for a few minutes, until the oil is liquid again. Serve with french bread or other heathy bread cut into pieces.

Basic Beef Broth

Good broth or stock is essential in making excellent soups, sauces, rice and pasta. Stock is the strained liquid from simmered meat, fish, veggies, and bones and typically does not have any herbs or spices. Broth is basically seasoned stock. For most people the terms are interchangeable. Stock is used for a base in cooking and generally not for drinking, but add some seasoning and you  have “Liquid Gold”. It is dark, very rich and filling, and the essence from which fabulous soups and luscious sauces are made. Broth is low in calories and full of vitamins and minerals. You can add whatever vegetables you have in the refrigerator. Any and all of the following can be used; carrots, celery, broccoli stems, the tops of green onions, onions, garlic, spinach, the ends of asparagus, sweet peppers. turnips, leeks, potatoes, and what ever else you have in the fridge. Onions are an important addition, be sure to use at least one.  You can influence the final flavor by using more of one thing or another. Fresh or frozen spinach is a nice addition as it adds a nice dark color. Too much, however,  makes the spinach overpower the flavor.

In this batch I used Beef Ribs – they tend to be the cheapest and I like the flavor.  You can use just about any beef bones or ribs. The important thing is getting them good and brown before adding to your pot. I broiled these, turning them so all sides get browned.
   
Add the vegetables and ribs to a stainless steel stock pot or slow cooker. Although it sounds unusual, adding chicken broth to your beef stock adds a depth of flavor. You could use beef broth, of course, but I use chicken broth because I don’t like canned beef broth. You can use water and a chicken or beef bouillon cube or two, instead of canned broth. Adding stock or broth instead of water makes this very rich. Add liquid to the pot, about 3/4 full. The items in the pot will cook down pretty quick and everything will be covered. In this batch I used a few dried mushrooms*, a handful of fresh spinach, a red bell pepper, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 stocks of celery, and fresh parsley and chives from the garden. Dried herbs work well, too.

The stock will cook faster on the stove top, but I like to keep the stock going for a day so the low cooker is best. I throw everything in the slow cooker, cover, turn in on high and go do other stuff. When its boiled for a couple hours I reduce the heat to medium and simmer for the day.   

When the stock is done, strain it through a tight mesh strainer into a large bowl so you get a clear liquid. (The meat and vegetables are done and should be discarded.)  Refrigerate the stock in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from absorbing odors. When the fat congeals on the surface, remove it . If you do not plan to use the stock right away, freeze it in ice cube trays. Cover the trays with plastic wrap  and, when frozen, pop them all into a sealed plastic bag. Refrigerated stock will keep for about a week but, because it is not acidic, it is a medium for yucky germs and should be re-boiled for five minutes every three days.

Making it “broth”: Bring the stock to a boil for a couple minutes (5 if its been 3 days).  Season the stock with salt, fresh ground pepper, a sprinkle of fresh chives and/or parsley, and a squeeze of lime. Serve with a side salad and hot, crusty French Bread and you have a filling meal. Enjoy!

* Dried mushrooms: Set fresh mushrooms in the open air, on a rack or paper towel, on the counter or in a dry cupboard. Make sure they are clean, dry, and not wet or they become slimy. Once thoroughly dry store in an air tight container.