French Onion Soup
It's 80°+ outside, muggier than hell, alternating rain and sunshine, and I made onion soup. Yes, soup. It's one on Nonna's favorites, and since she's heading home tomorrow, I thought I'd make a batch so she could take some with her. Besides, it may be a million degrees outside, but we're doing our part to kill the environment by keeping the air conditioning running. I'm a wuss. What can I say?!?
Onion soup is definitely one of my more favorite meals, as well. It's extremely easy to make - once you peel and slice a bazillion onions, that is. And you do have to pay attention to the caramelizing onions. Ya definitely don't want them to burn.
I usually make a beefy French onion soup - actual chunks of beef in the soup. It's not exactly traditional, but then... neither am I. But dayum, it's good!
I really did make a huge vat - I started with more than 12 pounds of onions - but I plan on freezing the leftovers that Nonna doesn't take so I can drop them off now and then to retain my favorite daughter-in-law status. Whatever it takes, right?!?
French Onion Soup
- 12 pounds onions, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 tbsp butter
- 2 pounds cubed beef
- 3 qts beef broth
- 1 tsp herbs d’Provence
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper, to taste
Place onion and garlic in a large soup pot with the butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are deep amber in color. This can definitely take a while. (It took about 1 1/2 hours today.)
When onions start getting close, brown beef in another pan. Add to onions. Add broth, herbs d’Provence, bay leaves, and S&P, to taste.
Bring to a boil and then simmer at least an hour.
I will make it a bit differently from time-to-time, adding red wine and/or brandy or sometimes cooking the beef in bacon fat. I didn't tonight because the wine cellar is getting sparse, but I probably will next time I make it.
Traditionally, it is served with a floating crouton covered with ooey-gooey gruyere cheese, but we eschew the crouton for a crusty loaf of bread and butter.
Who cares what the weather is - this was good!
Cream of Asparagus Soup
Last week I received an email recipe from La Cucina Italiana. It was a Spring soup - asparagus with an over-easy egg floating in it. It looked like gastronomic heaven on earth. And it was almost 80° outside. I saved the recipe, thinking I might make it in the fall - with frozen asparagus. All the while, I kept spying beautiful bunches of fresh asparagus at the store.
And then the culinary gods smiled down upon me. It went to 28° last night. Time to make soup!
I used the magazine's idea and my own recipe for the soup. Soups are one of those things that I just instinctively throw together. They really are one of the easier things to make. But while the soup itself is easy to make, the accoutrement is another story...
I've done eggs over several different dishes, but seeing a fried egg floating upon a sea of asparagus soup was pure genius. Any good cook will tell you that it's the details that make a good recipe great. The finishing touches that turn ordinary into extraordinary. This was one of those moments.
And pure gastronomic heaven.
Cream of Asparagus Soup
- 2 bunches asparagus (about 2 pounds)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
Remove tips from one bunch of asparagus and set aside. Cut remaining asparagus into 2" pieces.
Saute onion and garlic in a pat of butter. When translucent, add asparagus. Saute a few minutes and then add broth and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 20 minutes or until asparagus is cooked through and very soft.
Using an immersion blender, cream soup. Add cream and sour cream and mix well. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste.
Meanwhile, blanch reserved asparagus tips and set aside.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with a single fried egg. Add asparagus tips to garnish.
The magazine called for little toasted baguette slices. I sliced up a fresh semolina loaf.
The hot soup continues to cook the egg, so don't be afraid to add it a bit underdone for your normal taste.
Victor raved. He said it was the best soup I have ever made. I'll take the compliment, but there are a few I've liked better... But it really was good. So good that I'm not going to care what the weather is next time I make it.
Yum.
Bachelor Meals
I really do hate just cooking for myself. it's just not a lot of fun. And with Victor in Dallas for a week, the urge to live on hot dogs and chili burgers is ever-present. I decided I needed to come up with something quick and easy to head off the bad habits.
So... when I got home yesterday, I cooked up a vat of vegetable beef soup. Definitely enough to keep me going for a few days. Healthy, reasonably low-calorie, and really chock full of vegetables. And... since Victor isn't here, I was able to chop up a head of cabbage and add that to it. I love cabbage, but, sadly, Victor does not. Fortunately, he has other redeeming values... But, really... he doesn't like (cooked) cabbage.
Oh well.
The soup has been perfect since I've been spending time with the bathroom renovation. Just paint and a bit of redecorating, but it's amazing the amount of time it takes... The actual painting wasn't bad, it's all the detail work. I even broke down and painted the linen closet - which meant emptying it out, going through everything, seeing what should be tossed...I refinished the old wood wall cabinet and the wood shelf. I have a vision for the shelf, but I'm just not clever enough to make what I want. I'll find it one of these days.
And then there's the rest of the decorations - or trying to find what I had in mind. Since we have a 1950 ranch home with 1950 bathroom tile, I thought kinda going with a '50s theme would be fun. Well... It probably would if I could find the right stuff for the walls. Alas, I haven't had a lot of luck. My original goal was to have it 100% complete by Friday night when Victor got home. I now think that it can be a work-in-progress and we'll just find things as we go along.
It's fresh, clean, and uncluttered. That's not a bad thing...
Before
After
Notice how the color of the tile has changed since the green is gone...
Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
While perusing the latest issue of Cooking Light magazine, I came upon a section entitled "International Soups." I'm a soup-lover from way back, and when I saw the recipe for Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, I knew I had to make it. And am I ever glad I did!
Everything about this soup is great. It is totally restaurant-quality in minutes and it is definitely going into the repertoire. There's nothing to change, nothing to add.
It was 20 minutes start-to-finish, because I had boiled a chicken yesterday and already had fresh stock and shredded chicken in the 'fridge. It was just what I needed on this rather chilly day.
Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (3-inch) stalk lemongrass, halved lengthwise
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
- 3 cups Chicken Stock or fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups light coconut milk
- 4 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 8 ounces)
- 1/2 cup green onion strips
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Preparation
1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and the next 4 ingredients (through lemongrass); cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chile paste; cook 1 minute. Add Chicken Stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard lemongrass. Top with onions, cilantro, and juice.
Seriously good.
Beefy Onion Soup
I love onion soup.
I almost don't even mind the amount of time it takes to make. Almost.
The key to making a good batch of onion soup is caramelizing the onions - and that takes time. There are no short-cuts. It's just a long, drawn-out cook-and-stir-and-watch-and-stir.
Another key factor is, of course, the onions. I usually use a combination of sweet and yellow onions. I like the balance the two types give the soup. All sweet is - too sweet. All yellow means I need to add a few tablespoons of sugar. 50-50 is how I like it.
Another consideration is how the onions are sliced. Slicing the onions in half-moons may look pretty, but they disintegrate. Slicing the onions pole-to-pole gives the best result.
I'm also a beef-and-onion soup person. Using beef broth is very traditional. Putting in cubes of beef is not. But... I'm not exactly traditional. I don't always go with the crouton and cheese, either. Last night I just made a loaf of beer bread to go along with it.
Beef and Onion Soup
- 1/2 lb butter
- 4 lbs yellow onions
- 4 lbs sweet onions
- 2 lbs beef cubes
- 4 qts beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
Slowly melt butter in large pan. Add sliced onions and slowly cook until golden brown and caramelized. This is a process and can easily take an hour or more.
Meanwhile, brown beef cubes in another pan.
When onions are caramelized and looking beautiful, add beef cubes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until beef is tender and broth has reduced by about 25%.
Check again for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
If you like, you may serve it with croutons and gruyère melted on top.
As I mentioned, I made a quick beer bread to go along with the soup. Fresh bread in an hour. Gotta love it.
George's Beer Bread
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tbsp sugar (raw sugar works best)
- 12 oz beer
Use a 4″ x 8″ bread pan. Mix and bake at 350° about 1 hour. Top with melted butter before baking.
Feed A Cold Feed A Fever
Ah... there's nothing like a day-after-Christmas-cold to bring out the Grinch in me. Sore throat, achy, nose running a mile a minute... Bah! Humbug!
But if ya do have to catch a cold the day after Christmas, having Victor make Chicken Soup really does make it all feel better.
It was a simple, basic soup - the perfect type for slurping. Really rich broth and plenty of vegetables.
Really, really good.
It was also the perfect antidote to the Feeding Frenzy that was Christmas. We ate well, boys and girls. Really well.
We started with crab, smoked salmon, and shrimp and then came the clams and linguine.
Fried tilapia and baked cod in wine...
To round the evening out - and to make sure we had the requisite seven, mussels in a spicy marinara...
Simply exquisite.
There were way too many cookies, homemade candies, cheese cake... not to mention the Christmas morning breakfast that seemed to go on for hours...
It was fun.
And speaking of fun...
Even the two Nonna's got into surfing the 'net on the iPad... I'm not sure what they were watching here, but a browser history showed someone did a search for "Chippendale Dancers."
Turkey Soup
Once upon a time Thanksgiving meant 4 days off. And I usually took Wednesday off to cook, so it was a 5-day holiday. Friday after Thanksgiving was our Christmas Decorating Day. None of this shopping at 3 ayem junk. A good nights sleep, and then we decorated until we dropped.
Then we moved east and I changed professions. That luxurious 5 days off is a thing of the past.
But while the days off may have changed, the decorating hasn't. We still get up early and start hauling out the bins. That's "bins" as in plural. Many. A lot.
Merging Christmas Decorations was fun. 17 years of buying even more has been even more fun.
And making Turkey Soup on Decoration Day is the final part of the tradition.
I do not understand people who throw away the turkey carcass! Turkey soup is the whole reason for roasting a turkey in the first place! It is the best part of the feast.
Thanksgiving evening, I break out the stock pot and into it goes the carcass, a couple of onions - skin and all - plus celery, garlic cloves, and carrots - also unpeeled. The skins and peels add flavor and color to the stock. I usually add a bit of gravy to the pot, as well. I make a lot of gravy.
I let it simmer overnight - it's a big pot and not about to boil dry - and the following afternoon I strain it all and have the base for several batches of soup. I portion it up and freeze some and the rest is for the leftover soup.
Leftover Soup. I call it that but could just as easily call it clean out the refrigerator soup. Same concept. Everything goes into the pot.
Today's batch included the leftover risotto from the appetizers, stuffing, spinach, and turkey, plus leeks, carrots, celery, white beans, red-skinned potatoes, mushrooms, peas, green beans, and a bit of salt and pepper.
Clean out the 'fridge, indeed.
We're slowing down a bit with the decorating. The number of bins has continued to grow and it's taking us two days now to get everything done, but the soup just continues to get better with age. Of course, it doesn't take any effort.
And speaking of decorating...
About 5 years ago we finally went out and got an artificial tree. I know... I know... We thought the same thing. No Way! Travesty! What we finally figured out, though, is the tree really is all about the ornaments. Virtually every ornament on our tree comes with a story... We have handmade ornaments, ornaments bought on our travels, family ornaments, beautiful gifts from friends, and the first two ornaments we exchanged on our first Christmas - that always go on the tree first.
Some of the ornaments really are priceless to us and we just wanted to take as good care as we could with them. It works for us.
And I don't miss cleaning up the needles...
Chicken Soup and Cornbread
How many ways can a person make Chicken Soup?!?
A lot.
I had planned on having roasted chicken for dinner last night. Alas, I spent a few hours in the ER at Paoli Hospital getting poked, prodded, CT scanned and pharmaceutically comfortable.
I actually went to the Dr because I had a severe pain in my abdomen. It felt like a classic diverticulitis. On a scale of 1-10, pain was at a 12. Even at that, it took a bit of convincing by Victor that it was a prudent thing to call the Dr. I think he said something like "I'm only doing to mention this one more time, and if you don't call the Dr I'm going to make your life hell." We're very subtle with one another.
I took the cue.
My primary care Dr poked and prodded and thought the same thing - the location, the symptoms... But the degree of pain was worrisome. I really couldn't even stand up straight. In order to get the proper type of antibiotic, they would need more information. He called the ER, gave them his thoughts, told them to expect us, and off we went.
I love Paoli Hospital. Every single Employee/Dr/Nurse/Tech/Whatever I have dealt with over the years has been great. Upbeat, positive, professional - my kind of place. And the ER was textbook perfect.
Fortunately it was a slow afternoon - I was admitted in minutes, and within another few minutes I had an IV in my arm. After taking my vitals, the most woooooooonderful little drug was introduced that made all the pain go away. Gotta love modern pharmacopeia.
After a few hours of tests, the end result was NOT diverticulitis, but,"Undetermined Cause." I was sent on my way with instructions to get back with my PC Dr next week and a prescription for Peroset.
Today, the cold is still with me but the pain has pretty much abated. I only took one pill this morning.
So back to the chicken...
I needed to get the chicken cooked - it had been in the 'fridge long enough. So last night after dinner - leftover chicken soup - I just threw it in the oven. Salt & Pepper. That was it. Out of the oven, into the fridge. Me into bed.
This afternoon, I pulled all the meat off the bird and cooked the carcass down.
I ended up with a really rich broth to which I added potatoes, brown rice, a few split peas, carrots, celery, peas, corn, white beans, a can of diced tomatoes, little scoops of a lot of different grains in the cupboard, and some of the chicken meat... I then let it simmer.
Perfection.
And to round out our perfect soup, I decided we needed cornbread. Not just any cornbread, mind you, Adluh Cornbread!
It was great! Light and cake-like, but not sweet! Excellent texture and loads of corn flavor. It's a just-add-water mix that makes a perfect 8x8 pan.
I had bacon grease in the fridge so I greased the pan with it but brushed to top with melted butter after it came out of the oven.
It was the perfect accompaniment to a big bowl of soup. We weren't in the mood for too much food tonight, but I could just imagine this with honey or fresh jam. And it would probably be perfect for a cornbread dressing.
Yumlicious!
Adluh is down in South Carolina but you can get their goodies sent right to your door! Take a look and support small businesses!
Feed A Cold... Part Deux
The cold is in full swing. Time to bring out the heavy guns - Chicken Soup.
I didn't have a whole chicken, but I did have two chicken breasts and a couple of quarts of broth. And a bunch of other good stuff...
- Onions
- LOTS of Garlic
- Carrots
- Celery
- Andouille Sausage
- Peas
- Diced Tomatoes with chiles
- Small Red Beans
- Extra-Wide Egg Noodles
- Green Beans
I started of by cooking the onions and garlic, added the celery and carrots, added the chicken, and then the andouille. When it looked like it was getting cooked, I added the broth, diced tomatoes, and beans. It came to a boil and I then let it simmer. I stirred in the peas and green beans.
I cooked the noodles on the side because I didn't want to thicken the soup very much. Often, I will cook them right in the broth.
I added a bit of salt and pepper, and that was it.
The spicy andouille and the tomatoes with chilis took care of the spices. I didn't need to add anything else.
We had the bread Victor baked yesterday and lots of Irish butter.
And Victor baked a Pumpkin Pie.
The cold isn't any better but I'm feeling pretty good...
Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
I've known for a couple of days that we were having a butternut squash and apple soup tonight. I had the squash, I had the apples... It was just a matter of putting it together.
Soups are the easiest thing in the world to create - and I do mean create. In our house, soups are generally of the clean-out-the-refrigerator variety. Literally anything can go into the pot. All of those odd little tupperware containers of that little bite of whatever? Into the pot. Fresh vegetables that have seen better days? Into the pot. A bit of chicken and a bit of pork tenderloin? Cut them both up and into the pot.
It's a great system.
Every now and again, however, I'll look for a specific flavor profile and and be a bit more circumspect in my ingredients. A Mulligatawny Soup needs fairly specific ingredients. A butternut squash soup can go in many directions, but the ingredients have to be true to the direction you take...
My original thought was butternut squash, apples, and sage. It's a fairly classic combination and perfect for the season. But as I started cooking, I knew I wanted something else.
I kept thinking of my Uncle Dick's Jalapeño Pumpkin Soup. Unkie Dickie was a great guy - married to my father's baby sister. We shared Giant's season tickets with them at Pac Bell Park. He was just one of the really good guys.
I love that soup but it wasn't quite where I wanted to go. I was leaning southwest, but didn't want cumin. I decided to start with a couple cans of diced green chilis and build from there.
That definitely put me in the right direction. I next needed a bit of heat. I first thought of cayenne pepper but ended up with my spicy-standby - Sambal Oelek. Granted, an Asian chili paste is not exactly southwestern, but it's my recipe - I can do anything I want.
While I thought the finished product was pretty good, Victor declared that it was one of the best soups I've ever created.
I thought that was pretty good!
I also baked a loaf of bread but we both filled up on soup and barely ate a slice each.
The soup can easily be made vegan. Just switch the chicken stock for vegetable stock and don't add the sour cream topping. I added a can of pumpkin because my squash was small and I kept adding to the pot. If you use a larger squash you don't need it. I probably didn't really need it, either, but it was in the cupboard...
Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 5 small mcintosh apples, peeled and sliced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 can pumpkin
- 2 cans diced green chilis
- 2 cans cannellini beans
- 2 tsp sambal oelek
- Salt and Pepper
Saute onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in a bit of olive oil until aromatic and the vegetables are limp. Add the squash, apples, and broth and simmer for about 30 minutes or until everything is temder.
Using an immersion blender, puree soup to desired consistency. I prefer a few chunks. At this point you can decide whether to add a can of pumpkin, or not.
Add the diced green chilis, cannellini beans, and sambal oelec - or cayenne - to taste.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with sour cream, if desired.
Yeah... this was a good one - and there's plenty left for lunch tomorrow.
The bread was a variation of the Pane Pugliese...
This one lasts for a couple of days and makes great paninis!
Simply Soup
I planned on having soup for dinner tonight. What I didn't plan on, though, was not having to make it!
My thought was to add last night's leftover risotto to some chicken broth, add some chicken, a few more veggies, and call it done. Except there wasn't any leftover risotto. I started thinking about Plan B when Victor said he would make a soup for dinner. I quickly accepted before he could change his mind!
Into a pot of chicken broth went celery, carrots, peas, corn - and langostino. He was going to thaw and chop up a chicken breast when he saw the langostinos.
It all came to a nice boil and he stirred in a raw egg that had been scrambled.
And shredded parmesan on top.
Yum.
We didn't have a dessert planned, so he asked if I would make my Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cookies.
I did. They're cooling as I type.
Chicken Soup
I am just so over cold weather!
Really. Over. It.
And depending upon how Mother Nature decides to play, we may get snow on Friday. Happy April Fools Day, indeed.
So... I had a couple of bone-in chicken breasts that would have gone perfectly on the grill tonight - but it was cold outside. Did I mention how much I am loathing the cold?!?
Chicken soup seemed such a better option, tonight.
I browned the breasts, added 2 quarts of chicken broth and let it all simmer until the chicken was done.
I pulled the chicken out and added a jar of roasted red pepper and artichoke tapinade, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, some dried tortellini, and a bit of pasta. I cooked the pasta, added the shredded chicken, and dinner was served.
I also made a small loaf of bread since the dough was in the fridge.
The tapenade really added a fun twist to the soup. Roasted peppers, artichokes, just a hint of tart from the vinegar.
I'm going to have to remember that one...
And, hopefully, this was the last winter-type meal of the season.