I am a dedicated carnivore but still love Vegetarian food. MY favourites are :
Stilton ( or any good blue cheese , gorgozonla, roquefort, even Dloce Latte) Souffle :
Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time 10 to 30 mins
Vegetarian
Ingredients
45g/1¾oz plain flour
45g/1¾oz unsalted butter
250ml/8fl oz full-fat milk
90g/3½oz gruyère cheese, grated
4 free-range egg yolks
salt and cayenne pepper
7 free-range egg whites
juice of ¼ lemon
90g/3½oz stilton cheese, crumbled
To Line the Souffle Dishes:
1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
25g/1oz dry breadcrumbs
20g/¾oz walnuts and hazelnuts, very finely chopped
10g/¼oz parmesan cheese, finely grated
Method
1. Lining the souffle dishes. preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas5, and place in it a baking sheet. Generously butter the inside of the four souffle dishes. Mix the breadcrumbs, chopped nuts and parmesan together and divide between the buttered dishes. Shake them and turn to line them completely. Tip out any excess and chill until needed.
2. Preparing the souffle. Mix the flour and butter together until smooth. Separately boil the milk. Add the flour and butter mixture to the milk and bring it back to the boil, whisking all the time, so you obtain a very smooth texture. (Or you could make a bechamel souffle base in a more traditional way - stirring the flour into the melted butter, then adding the milk gradually, stirring constantly.) Remove from the heat, cool a little, then add the grated gruyère and the egg yolks. Whisk into the mixture. Add a pinch each of salt and pepper, then taste. Correct the seasoning if necessary. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks, then whisk in a little salt and fold in most of the crumbled stilton. Whisk a quarter to a third of the egg white into the gruyère base mixture to lighten a little, then fold in the remainder carefully.
3. Cooking the souffles. The oven must be well preheated by now. Fill the four souffle dishes with enough mixture to come half-way up, add the remaining stilton, and fill to the top with the remaining mixture. Smooth with a palette knife. Run your thumb along the sides of the dishes to push the mixture slightly away from the sides. Place the dishes on the hot baking sheet (this helps provide an instant lift), and bake in the oven for about 13-15 minutes until well risen and golden. Serve immediately to your guests.
Variations:
You could replace the stilton with another blue cheese, such as roquefort. The gruyère could be replaced by parmesan.
I also adore Roasted Red Pepper Mousse:
Bavarois de Poivrons Rouges (Mousse of Red Peppers)
Can be prepared 1 day ahead, as can the Tomato Vinaigrette. Makes 8 – 10 portions.
½ onion, peeled and chopped
½ dl olive oil
2 medium size ripe tomatoes, halved, seeded and finely chopped
5 red peppers, roasted
salt
pepper
Cayenne pepper
4 gelatin leaves, soaked in cold water to soften
1 dl white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon raspberry vinegar
4 dl whipping cream
For the Jelly and Julienne of Peppers (optional):
1 red pepper
salt
pepper
1 leaf gelatin, softened in cold water
For the sauce:
100 ml olive oil, extra virgin
500 grams cherry tomatoes
5 grams salt
10 ml white wine vinegar
2 grams ground white pepper
10 grams Caster sugar
Always use the ripest tomatoes possible for this recipe. Blend the tomatoes in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Add the olive oil and all remaining ingredients, pass through a very fine sieve. Adjust the seasoning to taste, as this will depend a great deal on the quality of the tomatoes.
Preparing the red pepper mousse: Roast peppers in tin foil for 30-45 minutes at 190°C until cooked, without being browned. Place in a bowl, add plastic cling film, and let rest for 30 minutes. Remove red peppers from boil, reserve juices for jelly. Sweat the onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and cook covered with a lid, on medium heat for about 20 minutes. All of the moisture will have been removed. Cool down pulp and add red peppers purée through a food processor and force it through a sieve or mouli-legumes (You should obtain no more than 2 dl purée. You may find you have more). Warm up the purée and add 4 softened gelatin leaves, stir until dissolved. Separately mix the 2 vinegars in a casserole and reduce by 2/3 of its volume and add it to the purée. Taste, and then add salt and cayenne pepper. Cool down completely at room temperature.
Whip cream in a bowl until firm and fold delicately into the pulp. Taste and adjust seasoning. Place ring over a flat serving dish and pour in the mousse. Smooth top with pallet knife and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours to allow it to set.
Preparing the jelly and julienne of peppers: Bring the reserved juice to the boil and dissolve remaining leaf of gelatin in the juice. Allow it to cool down.
Julienne of pepper: Peel the pepper, cut in half deseed, cut the two halves into strips, divide each strip in half, horizontally, and cut very fine julienne sticks from the pepper. Season it with salt and pepper. Reserve.
Finishing the dish: Scatter julienne of pepper over mousse and spoon out jelly on the top. Refrigerate.
Serving: Loosen the mousse from ring with blade of a warm knife, and then lift the ring. Place raw tomato coulis in a sauceboat and serve to your guests. Should you have more than 2 dl of pulp then use 17 leaves of gelatin per liter of pulp.
Also Wild Mushroom Fricassee :
* Servings: 4
* Level of difficulty: Easy
* Preparation Time: 20 minutes
* Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
For the main:
* 100ml dry white wine
* 400g fresh wild mushrooms
* 5 dried black trumpets, (optional)
* 1 ficelle, or thin baguette
* 2 garlic clove, 1 peeled, 1 peeled and pureed
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter
* half a shallot, or quarter of an onion finely chopped
* 4 pinches of Salt
* 2 pinches of freshly ground pepper
* juice of half a lemon
* a handful of flat-leafed parsley, coarsely chopped
* 2 Tomatoes, quartered, de-seeded and cut into 5mm dice
Method
1. If using black trumpets soak them in plenty of water for 1-2 hours. Drain, pat dry and trim off the base of their stalks.
2. In a small saucepan bring the white wine to the boil and boil for 30 seconds. Reserve.
3. Brush any earth and dirt carefully off the wild mushrooms. Wash briefly (for 10-15 seconds at the most) in water and drain on a clean tea-towel. Set aside.
4. Make the croutons by slicing the ficelle into 3mm thick slices. Toast the slices until golden brown and rub with the clove of peeled garlic.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Fry the chopped shallots, stirring, over medium heat for 30 seconds without allowing them to brown.
6. Turn up the heat and add the garlic and all the wild mushrooms apart from the black trumpets.
7. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the reserved white wine and gently mix in.
8. Cover the frying pan with a large lid and cook over high heat for 1 minute.
9. Uncover the mushrooms and add the lemon juice. Stir in the remaining butter until melted.
10. Add the black trumpets, two-thirds of the parsley leaves and the diced tomatoes. Cook for a further 10-30 seconds.
11. Serve the mushrooms fricassee in either a large bowl or four soup plates. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley and serve with the croutons on the side.
I also love a simple French Onion Tart or gratinee French Onion Soup.... Plus lentil soup, haricot bean soup, carrot soup, etc...
This is making me hungry...
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