Time for yet another cooking tutorial, and yes, it's soup again! Took a leaf out of my super-grande Spanish cookbook on Sunday... Snapped this bad boy up at Borders a long time ago for just $5!
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| The Complete Spanish Cookbook by Pepita Aris |
The soup of the day is Sherried Onion Soup with Saffon on page 97. Spaniards love thickening soups with ground almond and I thought I could skip a step by browning almond meal instead of grinding toasted almonds...
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| Just one of my handy dandy shortcuts: almond meal! |
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| Feel free to sift and flip but don't spill, party poopers! |
Do NOT leave the pan unattended. Nuts, whether whole, slivered, or ground, cook quickly. Don't let this burn and stir often. Once you're satisfied with the aroma wafting from the almonds, remove from heat and set aside. Then you can continue with the rest of the soup:
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| Slice two yellow onions as thinly as you can... |
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| like so. But if you can go thinner, go for it! |
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When you get close to the end of the onion, try using a fork to hold
the onion so you don't slice your fingers. It's not as steady but a whole lot safer. |
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| Et voila! A beautiful array of tear-inducing rings! |
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| Melt some butter over low heat. |
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| Add a small spoonful of minced garlic and the onion rings. |
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Cook over LOW heat, covered, for about twenty minutes.
Stir up the onions at least twice to loosen them up. |
Cooking the onions takes quite a while so you have plenty of time to play with the other components of the soup. Don't worry, the onions won't burn over low heat... go ahead and check the heat.
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Fancy schmancy saffron, just $5.99 at Trader Joe's.
Chicken broth... about half the price. |
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| pretty! |
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Sherry, fino sherry.
Spaniards love sherry! |
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I'm lovin' the easy-twist cork topper for the sherry...
I think it's also a sign that sherry is not for drinking.
It's for cooking. |
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Go ahead and combine three cups of chicken broth
with three tablespoons of sherry. |
Finally...
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| when the onions are really soft and a little yellow... |
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add a pinch of saffron.
Now the book calls for a really small pinch, just 0.05 grams
but I ended up tripling that later to get a rich yellow color. |
Cook the onions with saffron for a few minutes, then add the toasty almond meal.
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| Pour it on... |
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| and stir it up. |
Cook a few minutes more, then add the chicken stock-and-sherry mixture.
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| whoosh! |
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| Add paprika. |
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| Looks good enough to eat... but we're not done yet. |
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| Bring the soup to a boil... |
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| then simmer for about ten minutes. |
While simmering, I prepared an ice bath for the soup. This step is optional but I am one of those people who read the cautionary labels on appliances. My blender warns that you should never put things that are too hot into the blender. Now others (ahem, Mumsy) may stick their immersion blenders wherever they please but I don't have a fancy immersion blender or $300 multi-use stand mixer that can mix cement. So I take good care of my $16 blender from Target and cool off the soup in an ice bath before blending.
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| Viking sauna |
You only need to let it sit for 3-4 minutes, the length of a typical song. Then pour it in the blender (or dip your immersion blender in) and give it a whirl!
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| Ready? |
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| Blended! |
Now I thought it tasted just fine - surprisingly hearty for such simple ingredients - but I was disappointed that the yellow color disappeared while blending. So after making the journey to Mumsy's house...
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| Sunday traffic... ugh |
I added some more saffron while heating up the soup. Garnish with some chopped parsley and toasted almonds if you wish and enjoy!
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Not bad at all if I say so myself.
My brother The Hulk approves.
Mumsy... acknowledges "it's different." |
Olé!
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