A trip to the Farmers Market in Santa Barbara always has a few surprises. I ran across this massive onion last Tuesday. It tipped the sacle at 2-1/2 pounds. It is large enough to make onion soup for six.
I am going to partially hollow it out and stuff it with cooked onion, garlic, chicken, chorizo and Jerusalem artichokes then slow bake it until the onion is soft and caramelized. I think a sauce made from the cooking jus, balsamic vinegar and a little stock will do the trick. Pinot?
Never has so little been able to make so much for so many.
That sounds like a Winston Churchill quote but this aptly describes the pastry batter called pate a choux.
Milk, water, eggs, butter, flour and salt... From that there are a host of savories and desserts such as Paris brest, eclairs, gougieres, profiteroles, potatoes dauphine and the crowning glory, Croquembuche.
I recently did a charity event for People's Self Help Housing in Santa Barbara. I prepared a porcini mushroom soup with a garnish of micro choux puffs. It's rather fussy work to make the tiny puffs. They serve as a crunchy sort of crouton on top of the soup.
The great chef Escoffier called them, Profiteroles pour Potages. They replace and older garnish of dried bread. There are some interesting option that would work well for soups.
