Sometimes I puzzled over the foods more than drooled over them.....I mean, you have no idea how long it took me to figure out what vol-au-vents were. BTW, according to wiki:
A Vol-au-vent (French for "windblown" to describe its lightness) is a small hollow case of puff pastry. A round opening is cut in the top and the pastry cut out for the opening is replaced as a lid after the case is filled. Vol-au-vents can accommodate various fillings, such as mushrooms, prawns, fruit, or cheese.Anyway, I digress, the point is that Betty has lots of interesting menus ,mostly for dinner, but often for teas (yum), and sometimes other meals. I've decided to collect/write out these menus and then put up the recipes for some the foods.
This page should serve as a simpler way to find the blog posts that refer to Menus and recipes.
I'm just getting started with this so y'all might have to wait a week or two for the recipes but I will make sure that I put up the book and hopefully the page of the book that the food or recipe comes from.
From Roses and Champagne, pg 28, Lunch: Smoked Trout, Boeuf Stroganoff and Ruche Glacee (having a hard time finding this last item)
Vichyssoise from a meal mentioned in The Quiet Professor
Good Grief!! There are tons of recipes out there for vichyssoise and each is just a tad different than the other. So I picked these three which are similar but have some obvious differences. I say we make all three and see which we like better!
Vichyssoise (recipe found at allrecipes.com)
Ingredients
- 2 leeks, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced potatoes
- 2 1/3 cups chicken stock
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1 1/8 cups heavy whipping cream
- Gently sweat the chopped leeks and the chopped onion in butter or margarine until soft, about 8 minutes. Do NOT let them brown.
- Add potatoes and stock to the saucepan. Salt and pepper to taste; do not overdo them!
- Bring to the boil, and simmer very gently for 30 minutes.
- Puree in a blender or food processor until very smooth.
- Cool.
- Gently stir in the cream before serving.
.... this version of Vichyssoise is from about.com I picked it because it used premade items and had a little twist: Vichyssoise is a classic French cold soup, made quicker and easier with frozen potatoes. And a sweet potato adds a little extra color and nutrition.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 leeks, white part only, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1./8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 (16-ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 1 cup chopped canned sweet potato, if desired
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup tiny frozen peas, thawed and drained
- 1/4 cup chopped chives
Preparation:
Place butter in a large soup pot over medium low heat.
Immediately add the leeks, onion, and garlic.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft; do not let them brown. Add thyme, potatoes, sweet potato (if using), water, and chicken broth and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.
Pour into a large glass pitcher or glass bowl.
Stir in heavy cream, cover, and chill until cold, at least 6 hours.
To serve, ladle into chilled bowls and garnish with peas and chives.
Serves 8
My final recipe is by Cooking Mama. I found it at Delish.com .
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.
Pour into a large glass pitcher or glass bowl.
Stir in heavy cream, cover, and chill until cold, at least 6 hours.
To serve, ladle into chilled bowls and garnish with peas and chives.
Serves 8
My final recipe is by Cooking Mama. I found it at Delish.com .
POTATO, LEEK AND FENNEL SOUP
Your chopping technique doesn't matter here—you are going to puree this soup. And don't be put off by the pungent, black-licorice-smell of the raw fennel. When it's cooked, it mellows and adds a nice sweetness to the soup.
In a heavy-bottom soup pot, melt butter and oil over medium-high heat.
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 2 glugs olive oil
- 2 leeks, white and light green stem only, cleaned and chopped (reserve dark green leaves for stock)
- 2 fennel bulbs, white bulbs only, outer layer removed, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 medium waxy potatoes, scrubbed (peeling optional, I don't)
- 1 box free-range chicken broth (+ more to thin soup if desired)
- half and half, at least a quart (you'll use a pint plus a little more to taste)
- salt and pepper
- creme fraiche and chives for garnish
When butter is foamy add the leeks, fennel, and garlic plus a pinch of salt.
Let the veggies sweat until they are softened, about 10 minutes.
Stir occassionally and if butter starts to brown, reduce heat a touch.
Meanwhile, chop potatoes into 1-inch cubes.
Add potatoes to the pot along with the box of chicken broth.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cover and let simmer until potatoes are cooked though, about 20 minutes or so.
Remove from heat. Stir in a pint of half-and-half and then puree the soup completely with a stick blender.
Important: If you use a regular blender let soup cool completely first.
If the soup starts to go all gluey as you puree it, keep adding splashes of half-and-half (or milk or water or broth or a combination) until soup returns to a velvety consistency.
Taste for salt and pepper.
Refrigerate.
Serve very cold in chilled bowls with a dollop of creme fraiche, Greek yogurt or sour cream (if you like) and snipped chives.
