French Onion Soup

 

French Onion soup is one of those classic soups that I used to think were overrated, until now.

Of course caramelized onions are delicious and when you add a really good mushroom stock to them, they achieve greatness. Dunking a hunk of toast with melted Gruyere cheese on top of it, well that's almost cheating!

I have been making a vegetarian Pho broth inspired by this blog, and since dried shiitake mushrooms are what give the broth its depth, I knew it would be perfect for a vegetarian version of French Onion soup. Yes indeed!

Make sure you use a crusty, rustic bread for your toast since any other less substantial bread will disintegrate too quickly in the hot soup. A range of cheeses will work, anything from Gruyere to Emmentaler to Swiss. I recommend making cheese toast rather than fiddling with putting your bowl of soup under the broiler.

For those who are curious, the glass of wine is Pouilly-Fuisse, and it was a perfect pairing!

Cucumber, Snow Pea, and Lime Salad

How do you counter the winter blahs? When you can't go to a warmer climate, I bring it home with fresh chopped salads like this one: cucumber, snow peas, daikon radish, bell pepper and lime juice. Crisp and refreshing, it reminds you that warm weather will return!

It is a cruel trick of mother nature to make citrus season in the middle of winter, teasing us with the bright zippiness of citrus fruits and juices while we freeze are toes off. Living in California, we have access to great produce from south of the border, so making this salad isn't prohibitively expensive, but possible a bit of splurge. Hey, if it makes you forget the cold outside, I say it's worth it!

If you haven't cooked with daikon radish before, do not be concerned. It is a very mellow radish with lots of health benefits, and its crunchiness really adds to this dish. 

Mushroom Bacon

The options for fake meat have grown exponentially in the past ten years, but veggie-based bacon has not been a part of that growth. Ten years ago I was dehydrating eggplant to make vegan bacon, and it was great. But I really wish I had looked at mushrooms for my fake bacon, because it really is so much better. 

Pictured above are mandolined sliced King Oyster mushrooms, that were dipped in a soy sauce, maple syrup, olive oil and liquid smoke bath then baked at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Oh lordy, let me tell you, I nearly ate the whole sheet pan in one go!

The mushrooms soak up the marinade really fast and then it gets into the fungus so well, that even the burnt pieces are good, like real bacon. 

If you don't have liquid smoke, use some smoked paprika. But if there is any chance you will make this again - which I can almost 100% guarantee you will - get the bottle of liquid smoke, it contributes so much to the authenticity of flavor.

Lentil Walnut Pate

It is officially the holiday season, and as a self-proclaimed foodie, I think it’s the best time of the year! Making fun food to share with loved ones is one of my greatest pleasures and ensuring everyone can join in the deliciousness is a favorite challenge. Enter this veggie pate.

Pate originated as a means of using up the less desirable animal parts, which often are very tasty, but need additional ingredients to be properly eaten. If you have friends and family who are no longer eating animal products, offer this to them (and your carnivore eaters) and be pleasantly surprised. 

Delicate but flavorful, made with pantry ingredients itt tastes best several days after it's made, so perfect to just have in the refrigerator or part of your make ahead items. I won’t say it tastes like the meat version but I will say you will enjoy it!

Pomegranate Chocolate Delight

As a newcomer to California, I didn’t see my first actual pomegranate until I was 40

years old. It became a favorite soon after, especially since it truly is seasonal. Blink,

and the season’s done, so make this quick and easy dessert while you still can!

My friend Mara introduced this to me one Thanksgiving, and she got it from another

friend, so this is a hand me down of the best kind. Thankfully, it is the most forgiving

of recipes, in addition to being so easy. Break apart a pomegranate and pick out the

arils (seeds), add to melted semi-sweet chocolate, scoop out and chill for an hour, voila! 

Chocolate Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake

This Fall I was gifted with a gorgeous pie pumpkin that produced 6 cups of puree. As a single gal who doesn't have a sweet tooth, I was wracking my brains on what to do with all of that pumpkin! Then photos of chocolate swirl pumpkin cheesecake popped up on the web and my problem was solved!

I won't lie, this is a long, multi-step recipe. But it is not hard, it just needs to be made in advance, which makes life easier if you plan on making this for Thanksgiving - dessert will be done at least a day in advance!

I made my basic, go-to gluten free crust that in the end mimics a graham cracker crust without having to buy or purchase gluten free graham crackers: Dates and walnuts blitzed in a food processor with a little coconut oil to hold it all together. I only like crust on the bottom of my cheese cake, so if you want it up the sides, see the note in the recipe regarding increasing the crust ingredient quantities. ! 

Notes:

Read the recipe first before starting. There are several items that need to be at room temperature before starting, as well as some caveats I note.

The recipe I used was very light on the pumpkin pie spices; next time I will probably use a teaspoon more of each of them. But if you want your cake more cheesecake than pumpkin pie, stick with the recipe below. Also, I cooked my cheesecake in two separate pans since I only had a small springform pan, and only one of them got the water bath (see recipe). It didn't seem to make a difference either way. If you split it between two pans, it won't rise as high and you need to start checking that it is done at 50 minutes, and then every 5 minutes after so you don't overcook it