French Onion Soup

I love, love, LOVE french onion soup. I get so excited when I open up a restaurant menu and find it offered. But I'm super finicky about it because there is so much that can go wrong with this particular soup. Its such a disappointment if the broth is bland or there is very little bread or the cheese isn't fully melted or the cheese is burned or there isn't enough cheese... you get the idea.
It was always a gamble so I figured it was high time I found a french onion soup recipe to call my own.

I'll never be disappointed again. At least not with my soup.

Here is what you will need:

4 onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups beef stock
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 rubbed sage
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 loaf French bread
Sliced Gruyere

Slice up the onions...

...mince the garlic

In a large saute pan add the olive oil and butter. Toss in the onions and garlic and saute over low heat until tender and golden yellow.

Sprinkle flour over onions, cook a few minutes more, browning the flour well.

Now look, at this stage its not the prettiest picture-- but the aroma more than makes up for it!

Now add stock and vinegar and bring to a boil. Add thyme, sage and bay leaf. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so. Salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle onion soup into an oven safe single serving crock and top with toasted french bread


and sliced cheese. Don't be shy, Gruyere was meant for onion soup.

This is what you get after a few minutes under the broiler.


The perfect marriage of broth, bread, onion and cheese... An ace in the hole.

Just be careful not to burn your mouth scarfing it down.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I know what you're thinking. ENOUGH with the squash already! I can't help it, they were on sale so I got two. And having never purchased butternut squash before I was not aware that two would yield enough squash to get me through the end the of calendar year. Cheer up! I only have half a squash left. That's one, maybe two more recipes. Then I'll be on to the next flavor of the week. I'm a fickle mistress.


This recipe is, in a word, delish.

Here is what you will need:


4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups peeled cubed butternut squash,
3 tablespoons butter, divided
3/4 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

So take your butternut beauty and peel her. Even though I have a decent vegetable peeler I was having a hard time with the thick skin, if you experience the same difficulty try this tip: Drop your whole squash into a pot of simmering water for about 3 minutes. Just enough to soften the skin, then you can peel and dice your squash with ease.

Remove the seeds and pulp and dice the squash into uniform bite sized pieces.

In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes

Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total.

Gently stir in the butternut squash.

Sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Brace yourself now, this is where it gets good.

Add the Parmesan and the butter. Ever so gently, fold together.

Hmmm. Do you know what this photo is missing? CHIVE. I made the rookie mistake of going to the grocery store that NEVER has fresh herbs in stock so my risotto is sans chive. Yet mouthwatering just the same. Don't forget the chive, but if you do don't apologize- no one will know- It's that good.

Butternut Squash Apple Crisp

I've been feeling a little down lately. I'm not afraid to admit it, it gets lonely staying home with an infant all day. I know I'm EXTREMELY blessed to be able to stay home with him and I wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes the thought of getting together with friends that don't have children is a little intimidating. I do not want to be the mommy who drones on and on about how her kid just learned to eat toast by himself. But when that's the highlight of your day, what else is there to talk about? I know I should get out more, like I said, intimidating. Its a vicious circle. Yet, instead of reading the paper or watching more than 90 seconds of CNN, I make dessert! It's therapy second only to retail.

I found this recipe online from The Hungry Housewife.

Like Leslie, I had never cooked butternut squash before and I'm not sure why. I guess I was just waiting for the right recipe... I think I found it:

You will need:

1 Butternut Squash
1 Apple, chopped, divided
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Butter, divided
pure maple syrup, a drizzle or two
(Ingredients continued below)

Cut the squash in half, lengthwise and scoop out the membrane and seeds from both halves.

Peel and dice your apple, toss in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Equally divide the apples between the squash halves and top with 1 tablespoon of butter each.

For the CRUMB TOPPING You will also need:

3/4 stick butter
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Instant Oats
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped

Add flour to a large bowl and cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until the butter bits are pea sized.

Add the remaining ingredients to the flour bowl and mix together.

Mound the crumb topping over the apples and butter. Don't be stingy you're going to have leftover topping so pile it on there. Now take the maple syrup and give your squash a drizzle.

Then throw it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes- depending on how large your squash is!

Mmmm. Yes, this will do very nice

Let's have a closer look shall we?


I feel much better now, ice cream anyone?

Leftover Lament

It may be a little early for this but I want to make sure you're prepared when the time comes. You know, so that when you're staring into a refrigerator of thanksgiving leftovers thinking, do I really want turkey again? you'll hear my voice saying: Yes, yes you do want turkey again. A delicious turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry sauce!

Huh?

Trust me, when everyone is coming off their tryptophan induced comas and the game is at half time YOU will be the hero of the living room when you walk in with this bad boy.

What you will need:
Two slices of bread or sandwich roll
Sliced turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry sauce
Mayo- just a bit, in case your mom overcooked the white meat!





Be sure to leave everything out on the counter so that when all of your relatives get their second wind they wont have to dig through your fridge looking for all the fixings. Its the right thing to do.

For the purpose of this post I'm using chicken breast. OBVIOUSLY, I'm not going to cook a turkey this close to thanksgiving and using deli meat is offensive. Don't even.


Take your turkey (or chicken) and your stuffing and zap in the microwave until warmed through. Yes, its got to be warm. Remember we talked about trust earlier? HERO.

Keep your cranberry cool. Hot cranberry sauce has its place in other recipes, like sweet and spicy meatballs or roasted turkey tenderloin, but it has no place here, in this recipe, and calling this a recipe is a stretch, I am aware.

Now for the assembly line: spread a thin layer of mayo on your bread or if you prefer go ahead and slather. I don't judge.

Now take your turkey and place on top of the mayo. Spread the stuffing out on the other side. If you're using a roll or a hoagie, hollow out that side and fill with stuffing, too much bread is, well, too much bread. Top turkey with cranberry and gingerly place stuffing side on top.

Then stand back and admire what you have created, for it is good.

It is very, very good.

Now hurry up and eat it before your uncle Hank manages to peel his butt out of the recliner and sniffs out your plate!

Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones

I was awakened at 6 this morning, not by a certain little boy's cries, but by the phone ringing. If you are me, this is a terrifying experience. It was my sister Leslie. She called to tell me my niece Becky was sick and they were headed home. They had come down to NC from College Park for the weekend to visit Kim. Today, we had planed to go to a pumpkin patch together and then maybe dinner. I guess Becky was running a fever last night and not wanting to take any chances with my sister Kim's compromised immune system they high tailed it out of there. As it turns out the fever was just a reaction to the H1N1 vaccine that she had received yesterday because by the time they reached the Virginia border, Becky was feeling right as rain. Speaking of rain....

...not really the best weather to take the babes to the pumpkin patch so Liam and I stayed home on this weary, dreary day. Although it sure is a pretty view from the front porch.

Of course, our only other option for a productive day was to make Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones!

(Recipe from smitten kitchen)

Here is what you will need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick or 4 ounces) cold butter, diced
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 eggs, divided
1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, diced
2 small jalapeno peppers, minced (I only used one as the hubs doesn't like too much heat, he gets the hiccups)
Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a small skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter and saute the jalapenos until soft.
Allow them to cool.



Now place them in a bowl with the cheddar cheese and coat them with one tablespoon of the flour. Let everyone get nicely acquainted. Combine the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt. Cut in the remaining butter with a pastry blender, fork or two knives, until the butter bits are pea sized.
Lightly whip two of the eggs and cream and add to the flour-butter mixture.
Using a wooden spoon, fold mixture until it begins to come together. Add the cheddar-jalapeno mixture to the dough and mix until everything is incorporated.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead gently for less than one minute. Pat dough out to a 3/4- to 1-inch thickness.

Now cut the shape of your choice with a biscuit/cookie cutter. Make an egg wash by beating the remaining egg with a teaspoon of water. Brush the scones with egg wash and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Mmm. Try not to eat them all before your husband gets home tomorrow.

Wine Snobery

Our friend Rob just blew into town with the carnival. Actually its the state fair. But I love referring to him as a carny only because he's so not. Doesn't fit the bill one bit. Rob works concessions with an outfit called Butcher Boys out of Rhinebeck, NY (Chris's home town). He spends every summer traveling the east coast slinging sausage and peppers, London broil sandwiches and chicken pitas to all the finest state fair goers from NY to NC . The last stop, Raleigh NC in October. While I'm sure its no picnic for his girlfriend back home in Utah it affords us our yearly Rob fix, which is always nice. The past couple of years when he has come out to the house for dinner he has brought with him a nice bottle of wine.
Now, nice bottle of wine is a relative term. If you ask my parents or a select few others in my family they will tell you, with conviction, that I am a wine snob. I, however, believe this to be very untrue. I am a novice. I know very little about wine. In the grand scheme of the wine world, I know nothing. None the less I bear the credentials to be a certified wine snob simply because I believe that wine from a box should not be consumed. Period. OK well, the only exception is, of course, if you are making a reduction sauce and you haven't any wine left in the bottle. Then and only then can wine from a box be used. Apparently this offends their sensibilities because my parents travel with their box wine in tow. His and Hers Franzia (I don't know those people but that picture concisely depicts how I feel about the stuff).


So back to Rob. This year the bottle wasn't so nice. But the wine inside, Oh the wine inside would turn any self respecting beer drinker into a wine snob. Here is the part where I would normally rattle off the name, varietal and perhaps the year. But I can't do that because this bottle was SO old, (how old was it) that the label had been lost in its travels only to be replaced by the dust and dirt from years sitting in an old wine cellar. Rob tells me that the gentleman who gave him several of these beauties suggested this was a 50 to 75 year old bottle.
The foil capsule as well as the cork still had, what I assume to be, the winery name: Mis En Bouteille Au Chateau. Surprisingly the cork came out in one piece! After a quick wipe of the bottle rim we got down to decanting. Whether this was necessary or not, I have no idea. But we received a beautiful decanter for a wedding gift and I hadn't had a reason to use it yet so we decanted. Then we ate, drank and were generally merry.
I wish I could say that the stars aligned for me and I serendipitously made a roast or steaks or even pasta with red sauce. Nope, I made chicken with sweet potatoes. Actually it was really much better than I just made it sound but this post is about the wine, not the food that didn't go very well with the wine. Although after a glass no one really cared about that.
I can't describe the color anymore than to say it was a deep red, very rich looking and the bouquet, meh, it smelled like wine. But, the taste was smooth and fruity with a bit of spice like a Merlot. It finished with a robust kick of tannin, the way a Cab does. It pinches you on the inside of your cheeks if you smile too much. I love that.
If I had to guess, which is what I'm doing here I'd say it was a Bordeaux (See, see what I did there? I used what little information I had from the wine bottle paired with the characteristics of the wine to make an educated guess). Of course I'll never know and that may drive me a little crazy for the next few days but hey, we all have a little OCD in us, right? Too bad there isn't any of that wine left- that would certainly help dull the nag of the unknown.

Punkin Oatmeal

I had some pumpkin leftover from the pumpkin roll recipe that I desperately needed to find a use for (after pumpkin cookie-gate I couldn't bear the thought of not putting it to tasty use). So this morning I thought Liam might enjoy spicing up his oatmeal, so to speak.

I usually add pureed or fresh fruit to his morning cereal but this, THIS won me big points. I guess Li's a pumpkin man just like his father.

There's really nothing to to this one.

4 oz milk or formula
2 oz quick oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin
a pinch or two of cinnamon





A little pumpkin for your little punkin.

Bethany's pumpkin roll

This is Chris's favorite time of year. His favorite meal is traditional Thanksgiving dinner, his favorite dessert is- actually he likes any dessert as long as it doesn't have nuts. But he loves, LOVES a pumpkin-y dessert so instead of the same old spice cake I make for him every year I thought I would ask friends for their favorite pumpkin dessert recipe. I received quite a few that included: pumpkin cookies, easy cheesecake, pumpkin bars and a pumpkin roll. Originally I went with the cookies which, in hindsight, was the WRONG choice.
At first glance of the recipe I thought the baking soda and powder quantities seemed a little high but baking is a form of chemistry, you cant 'eyeball it' like you can in other areas of cooking. So I didn't mess with it, I TRUSTED the recipe. And then they came out of the oven. Even after a sufficient cooling time they couldnt hold their shape. They were cake like but very dry and crumbly. Feeling my blood start to boil (yes, I have a temper about these things) I told myself, who cares right? I'm not trying to win a contest or anything... besides, Chris will have wolfed them all down in a day or two anyway. So I popped a broken piece into my mouth. And immediately spit it back out again. Bitter. SONOFA!!

I still had a mixing bowl full of dough. I figured tinkering with the recipe to see if I could counter the baking soda wouldn't hurt now so I cut it in half added more sugar to one and more flour to the other.

Fail and fail.

I had to pitch it all and I cannot put into words how irritated this made me. Not only is it a waste of a lot of ingredients but also two hours of my time and I had nothing for Chris's birthday.

So on Monday, a day late and two dozen cookies short, I opened a message from an old friend containing a recipe that I had been thinking about since I had received it.

Bethany if you're reading this, your recipe saved the day (ok, the day after but who's counting)! So here it is, Bethany's Pumpkin Roll:

Ingredients for cake:
3 eggs
2/3 cup mashed canned pumpkin
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted these for the birthday boy)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 clean, dry kitchen towels

Ingredients for Filling:
1 pkg cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Beat eggs for 5 minutes at high speed, gradually adding sugar, canned pumpkin and lemon juice. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Line a 10 X 15 pan with well greased wax paper and pour batter in. Sprinkle nuts on the top. Bake for approx 15 minutes.

Make sure you don't over bake if your oven runs hot.

When you remove cake from the oven, pick up wax paper and place cake on one of the kitchen towels. Sprinkle top of cake generously with confectioners sugar to prevent sticking. Place 2nd towel on top of cake and roll lengthwise (jelly roll style). Cool completely in refrigerator.

Soften butter and cream cheese in the microwave and blend with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Cool completely in refrigerator.

After both cake and filling have cooled completely in the fridge, unroll cake and evenly spread the cream cheese filling on the cake. Carefully re-roll while removing the wax paper from the bottom of the cake.

Its heavenly and sinful all at the same time, if that's even allowed.