French Onion Soup, Stone Ground Whipped Cauliflower, Roasted Brussels

Traditionally, french onion soup is made with beef broth. I wanted to create that deep rich flavor french onion soup has without using vegetable broth, so I decided to make a mushroom stock. Stocks are super easy and take no physical time at all but they do need to simmer for a couple hours so all the wonderful flavors from the vegetables can impart into the water. Not wanting to spend an arm and a leg on dried mushrooms, I simply gave fresh ones a good roast prior to adding water so they could crisp up a bit and add a nice woodsy taste to the stock. If you can find fresh Morel mushrooms go ahead and use those in place of the cremini, as they are a darker, hardier mushroom and would make a wonderful stock.

Sweet yellow onions, caramelized slowly until soft and brown in a rich cremini and herb infused broth. Cauliflower, whipped with extra virgin olive oil and stone ground mustard served on top of the soup with roasted brussel sprouts.

Mushroom Stock-Yield 4 cups
1 carrot, cut into large chunks
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 leek, green parts only, in large chunks
1/4 lb white button mushrooms
1 cup cremini mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4c fresh parsley, torn
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 tbl dried sage
1 tbl dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tbl sea salt
1 tbl pepper
3 tbl extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and add all stock ingredients. Toss with olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes until the vegetables are slightly browned with crispy edges.
Transfer all of the ingredients to a large stock pot and fill with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. Continue to add one cup of water at a time every 30 minutes as the stock reduces up until the last 30 minutes of cooking. (Three cups total)
Drain the stock from the vegetables and pour stock back into pot. Set aside.

French Onion Soup-Yield 2 entree portions

3 tbl earth balance vegan butter
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp organic sugar
1 tbl sea salt
4 cups mushroom stock
3 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
pepper

In a large saute pan, melt the butter and oil together. Add the onions, sugar and salt and cook over medium high heat until caramelized, about 35 minutes. Stir occasionally and add 1 tbl of water when necessary so the onions don't burn. When the onions are done, add a little bit more water and scrape up all the bits of onion on the bottom of the pan. Transfer onions to the mushroom stock along with the thyme, bay leaf and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, allowing flavors to meld. Remove thyme bundle and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stone Ground Cauliflower

1 cauliflower head, core removed, cut into small florets
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbl stone ground mustard

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the cauliflower and 1 tsp of salt. Cook until completely tender. Drain and transfer to a food processor. Puree completely then add oil, salt, pepper and mustard. Pipe or spoon the cauliflower on top of the soup.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
15 small brussel sprouts, ends removed and sliced thinly
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil. Toss the brussel sprouts with oil, salt and pepper and roast for 7-10 minutes.