Q I am looking for a recipe for tomato bouillon. Do you have one?
Tricia Horne
ABouillon is the French word for broth. In Michael Ruhlman's book The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen, he says what distinguishes it from stock is that broth (bouillon) is traditionally intended to be served as is, whereas stock is the foundation for other preparations.
To be served on its own, bouillon needs be rich and flavourful. In the case of chicken and beef bouillon, that's accomplished by making it with meaty bones and plenty of aromatics, such as vegetables and herbs.
For tomato bouillon, you still need plenty of aromatics, but what gives it its backbone is the tomato flavour. Some recipes use tomato juice, but in the recipe I cooked up for Tricia, I used the more concentrated taste in tomato sauce. stock, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, Tabasco and herbes de Provence. Bring to a gentle simmer and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.
Set a fine sieve over a second pot. Strain the tomato sauce mixture, in stages, through the sieve using a whisk to help push the liquid through the sieve and into the pot. Discard vegetables in the sieve.
Return bouillon to a simmer, taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Serve bouillon hot, garnished with a few fresh parsley sprigs. Or cool to room temperature, chill several hours, until icy cold and serve the bouillon in wellchilled bowls, garnished with a few fresh parsley sprigs.
Note: Herbes de Provence is a French-style herb blend sold at most large supermarkets in the bottled herb and spice aisle.
Q As a vegetarian, I eat a lot of beans and prefer to soak and cook them myself. Most recipes call for cans of various sizes, so can you tell me how to convert can sizes to yields for beans? I can't find a chart.
Diane Young
ALike Diane, I could not find any conversion charts, so I bought the most common can sizes and drained them to see what volume of beans they held.
Beans (such as white kidney beans) and legumes (such as chickpeas) are usualy found in 14-ounce (398 mL) and 19-ounce (540 mL) cans.
A 14-ounce can equals one and three-quarter cups. But when the beans were rinsed and drained, I was left with just under 1.5 cups of beans, although there was some variation from brand to brand.
A 19-ounce can equals two and a quarter cups, minus about 1 Tbsp. When the liquid was drained and the beans rinsed and redrained, I was left with just over 1.75 cups.
The Pulse sa国际传媒 website, pulsecanada.com - a great resource for bean fans - says one cup of dried beans will yield two and half to three cups when cooked.
So, according to my math, if a recipe called for one 14-ounce can of beans, be they navy, black, kidney or romano, she would have to soak and cook about 1/2 cup of dried beans to equal the amount in the can.
If a recipe called for one 19-ounce can of beans, she would have to soak and cook a scant 2/3 cup of dried beans to equal the amount in the can.
Note: In my column this Wednesday I'll write about lentils. On April 25, I'll do a column on other types of pulses, such as beans, chickpeas and peas, that will contain information on where to buy them and how to store them and offer cooking tips and recipes.
Eric Akis is the author of the bestselling Everyone Can Cook series of cookbooks. His columns appear in Life Wednesday and Sunday.
TOMATO BOUILLON
This richly flavoured soup can be served piping hot, or icy cold in summer.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: About 30 minutes
Makes: 4 servings
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium rib of celery, thinly sliced
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 cups vegetable, chicken or beef stock
1 (660 mL) can tomato sauce
? splashes Worcestershire and
Tabasco sauce 1/2 tsp herbes de Provence (see Note)
and white pepper to taste ? salt
? fresh parsley sprigs
Place the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the celery, onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the
Send your culinary question to Eric by email (see his photo), by fax to Ask Eric at 250-380-5353 or by regular mail to Ask Eric, sa国际传媒, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, V8T 4M2
