I think most people would argue that cooking French onion soup for Valentine’s Day is not a good idea. Stinky onion breath anyone? The thing is, we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day so we don’t care. Well, at least I thought I didn’t care. Until I read Katie’s post that is – Valentine’s Day suddenly looked a little more appealing! I can’t complain because I am the one who said it was all a load of rubbish, designed to make people spend money. I could have made Chris his favourite, individual beef Wellington’s like these that I made for my best friend last week. I served them with a black salsify, spinach and gruyere gratin, my favourite way of cooking such an interesting vegetable.

To make the beef Wellington’s I make a paste by blending chestnut mushrooms, seasoning and sometimes a clove of garlic in the blender and then fry it until all the moisture is gone. I let the mixture cool and then mash, chicken liver, mushroom or foie gras pate into the mushrooms. At this point it does resemble something you might serve up to your pet but it tastes great I promise. I then season the fillet steaks and sear for around 20 seconds on each side and allow to cool (keeping the pan for later). Then lay a sheet of cling film on a surface and overlap slices of Parma ham on it to form a protective layer between filling and pastry. I spread some of the mushroom-pate mix onto it and place the steaks on top. The cling film then needs to be wrapped around the steak packages firmly, twisting the ends so that they form a cylindrical shape and I pop them in the fridge for half an hour. This helps them to keep a lovely shape and cook evenly.

The pastry is rolled out to the thickness of a £1 coin and the steak parcels placed in the middle. I brush around the edges of each with beaten egg yolks and then fold the pastry over, tucking in the ends and sealing using my special clay-sealing technique (I used to do ceramics at college!). Then the top of each Wellington is scored lightly in diamond shapes, taking care not score right through and then brushed with more beaten egg to give it a glorious sheen when it’s cooked. I cook mine for 20 minutes and then let it rest a little as we both like our meat rare. For some sauce, I just add some red wine to the meat pan to de-glaze and then reduce, adding a spoonful of redcurrant jelly to sweeten.

Black salsify is such a joy to cook with as it is so odd! I really enjoy it’s earthy, nutty flavour but I do sympathise because of its rather unfortunate looks, like a bunch of twigs lurking in the bottom of your vegetable box. Then you cut into it and realise that it behaves oddly too, oozing out a sticky goo (similar to okra) and then requiring instant cooking or submersion in water and lemon juice/vinegar to stop it turning brown at record speed. The smell of the salsify cooking in boiling water is good, you can smell nuttiness and I sometimes think a slight whiff of candyfloss (!) but that could have been a bit of spilled sugar burning on the stove….

Black Salsify, Spinach and Gruyere Gratin

30g of butter plus extra for greasing the gratin dish
450g black salsify, peeled or scrubbed (some like to scrub their salsify but I use a ‘Y-shaped’ potato peeler and find this works well)
250g baby spinach
300ml vegetable or chicken stock
300ml single cream
Gruyere cheese (no exact amounts here as it depends on how much cheesiness you like!)
White breadcrumbs, a couple of handfuls

- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/Gas6/400F and butter the inside of your gratin dish.
- Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.
- Peel the salsify and cut into the desired lengths, then drop straight into the boiling water. Cook until just tender (around 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your salsify).
- Meanwhile, mix the stock and cream together and season.
- Place a layer of salsify in the bottom of the dish and then add a layer of spinach. Grate over some gruyere cheese then finish with the remaining salsify and spinach.
- Pour over the cream-stock mixture then mix the breadcrumbs with a generous amount of grated gruyere and sprinkle over the top of the gratin.
- Bake until golden and bubbling.

Now, for the onion soup. I think that the smell of onions slowly caramelising has got to be one of the best, up there with baking bread and grilling bacon. I add a splash of brandy to my soup as well as the wine as I like the extra depth but you could easily leave it out. I sometimes add thyme but also enjoy parsley, this time making a flat leaf parsley oil to drizzle over some cheesy croutons. This soup is also my entry for ‘No Croutons Required‘ hosted this month by Lisa’s Kitchen.

French Onion Soup with Gruyere Croutons and Parsley Oil

1 tablespoon olive oil
40g butter
700g onions sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A generous splash of brandy
250ml dry white wine
2 pints of vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
A generous pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper

For the croutons

2 cloves garlic, cut in half
A fat baguette or similar
Gruyere cheese
1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil

- Heat the oil and butter and add the onions, garlic and sugar. Cook for a few minutes on a medium-high heat then reduce the heat to minimum until the bottom of the pan is coated with caramelised onion goo (around 45 minutes).
- Add the brandy and cook until you can smell that the alcohol has burnt off. Add the white wine, stock, bay leaf, seasoning and give everything a good stir.
- Bring up to simmering point and leave to cook for an hour to an hour and a half (on the lowest heat).
- In a bowl, combine the parsley and then add enough oil to loosen the mix.
- When the soup is almost ready, cut thick slices (on the diagonal) from the baguette and toast lightly on both sides before sprinkling over the gruyere and toasting again until bubbling. Drizzle some of the parsley oil over each crouton.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the cheesy-herby croutons.

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