French Onion Soup

A few weeks ago, Nick and I decided to make French Onion Soup.  I haven't made it by myself before, but decided to try.  I think it turned out really really well.  Don't get me wrong, I think I can make it better, but it was very tasty.  

French Onion Soup Gratinee - Williams Sonoma Cooking at Home


1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
salt and ground pepper
5 cups brown chicken stock or beef stock
2 bay leaves
1/2 lb gruyere cheese, shredded
4-6 slices French bread, 1/2 inch thick, toasted golden brown


Makes 4-6 servings


In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the onions, season with salt, and stir to coat well with the butter.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not yet browned, 20-30 minutes.


Uncover, raise the heat slightly, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions turn a deep caramel brown, about 1 hour.  Take care not to let them burn.


Add the stock and bay leaves, raise the heat to medium, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes longer to lend the flavors.


Preheat the broiler (grill).


Discard the bay leaves.  taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.  Place heavy, flameproof serving crocks or bowls on a rimmed baking sheet.  Ladle the soup into the crocks, sprinkle a little of the cheese into each bowl, then top with the bread slices.  Sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese.  Broil (grill) until the cheese is bubbly and golden, 2-3 minutes. Serve right away.

Banana Nut Bread

I don't typically make a lot of bread, but Banana Nut Bread is something that gets made about 4 or 5 times a year.  I LOVE it!  I have been using my mom's recipe forever, and to be honest, I do not know what cook book it is from, but here it is.

Banana Nut Bread- from my mom


1 C. Butter
2 C. Sugar
4 Eggs
1/4 t. Salt
2 t. Baking Soda
4 C. Flour
6 Bananas- mashed
1 C. Chopped Pecans


Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, mix dry ingredients together. Add dry mix to creamed mixture, stir in bananas and pecans.  Pour mix into 2 greased loaf pans, bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick comes out clean.






Just for an FYI I used one large and two small loaf pans.  This way I can share the small ones, because Nick and I wouldn't be able to eat two full loaves.

Friday

So even though today is Friday, and I should be very excited about the weekend ahead...

I'm not.

I work a double today at work and the dinner shift tomorrow.  I want to sit at home and crochet and read and watch movies.  Or go out and pick pumpkins and go to the movies and out to dinner and have fun.

But, in the meantime, I am going to dream of...

Apparently I have homes on the mind.

Sweet Tea

There is nothing more heavenly than sun-tea as the summer dwindles to an end.  I've got to say, I can't wait for hoodie season, but I am savory my last pool days!

P.S.  See all that flour on the counter?  I made this batch of tea the same day I made the lattice pie, lol!

Pot-Roast Hash

A few years ago, I tried the pot-roast hash at Bob Evans and fell in love.  I know it doesn't sound that amazing, but it is pot-roast, home fries, shredded cheese and eggs.  I made pot-roast last week, so over the weekend, Nick made the Bob Evans dish at home for us.

Lasagna

Until a few years ago, I did not really like lasagna.  I'm not sure why.  I'm a huge pasta, meat and marinara fan, so I don't know what caused me to dislike lasagna.  


During my junior year of college, however, I made my first lasagna, just to try it out.  Now I can't get enough.  It is on Nick and I's short list of dinners to get us through the week.  With only two of us to feed, lasagna keeps us fed for two dinners and Nick's lunches for almost a whole week.  

One-Step Lasagna with Sausage and Basil
from Bon Appetit


3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage, casings removed (we just use ground sausage)


1 26-ounce jar thick spaghetti or marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (we typically use dried)
1 1-pound box of lasagna noodles
1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated (we buy shredded)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 350 F. Saute beef and sausage in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up meats with back of spoon, about 4 minutes.  Transfer meats to a bowl.

Combine spaghetti sauce, water and basil in large bowl. Spread 1 1/2 cups sauce mixture in bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 1/3 noodles, slightly overlapping if necessary, atop sauce. Spread half of ricotta over noodles. Sprinkle with half of mozzarella cheese, half of meat mixture and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Top with 1 1/2 cups sauce. Repeat layering with noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, meats and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over. Spoon remaining sauce over, covering completely. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Cover tightly with heavy-duty foil. Place on baking sheet.

Bake until noodles are tender and lasagna is heated through, about 1 hour. Uncover; let stand 15 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Rewarm covered in 350°F. oven about 45 minutes. ) Cut lasagna into squares and serve.

Homemade Pasta

During school, I had to learn how to make homemade pasta.  Let me just tell you, it tastes so much better than the dried pasta you buy at the store.  There are several different recipes and types of pasta you can make at home.  Nick and I mostly make spaghetti using an egg noodle recipe.


We bought a pasta maker/roller from Bed Bath and Beyond a while ago, and we use it once or twice a month.

1.  Mix the batter together and form into a ball.  let the dough rest for 15 minutes, make sure to cover it with a damp towel to keep it moist.


2.  Grab about 1/4 of the dough and flatten it out a bit on a floured surface, then place the pasta maker on the highest or largest setting.


3.  The pasta will go through the highest setting three times.  Between each time, fold it oer and flour it heavily.


4.  From now on, decrease the roller size one notch at a time and do NOT fold the dough anymore.  Eventually, the dough will flatten out completely.  Make sure to continue putting flour ont eh dough to dry it out.

1.  This is our pasta maker.  It has both a spaghetti and fettucine setting.


2.  After the pasta has been rolled out to the desired thickness, put it through the grooved side to cut it into noodles.


3.  The recipe we use makes so much pasta.  We eat on it for days (one of my favorite parts).


4.  Homemade noodles only need about 3 minutes in boiling water, which is nice since it does take a bit to make the actual noodles.

YUMMY!

Vegetarian Week #4

January's vegetarianism is officially over.  I have to say, I enjoyed it.  The challenge was refreshing and easier than I expected.  In fact, meat doesn't really sound appetizing to me right now.  I'm sure I will change my mind and want a hamburger soon enough, but I'm nervous about it.  


Nick is very excited about the end of vegetarianism.  He has a plan of which restaurants he wants to visit and which recipes he has missed {most of which will appear here, no worries}.  


This week we had some very good recipes/creations. 


Bean Soup: Nick was very concerned about this idea.  He loves bean soup and corn bread, but couldn't figure out how we were going to get the desired flavor without ham or bacon.  

 Bean Soup

2 cans Great Northern Beans (drained)

1 can Kidney Beans (drained)

1 can Garbonzo Beans (drained)

2 Carrots (diced)

1/2 Onion (diced)

2 Celery ribs (diced)

Vegetable Broth (I used the big jug)

4 small Red Potatoes (diced at different sizes)

2 Garlic cloves

1 Tbs of Olive Oil

Heat the olive oil, add carrots, onion, celery and garlic to oil and saute until onions are clear.  Add the drained beans, vegetable broth and potatoes.  Heat until boiling and simmer for roughly 1/2 an hour.  

I diced my potatoes and different sizes so at the end I could smoosh them against the sides of the pot to thicken the soup.  We added generous amounts of salt and pepper and proceeded to devour this lovely soup.

Cheesy Tortellini: Nick was the master of this dish.  He combined prepared cheese filled tortellini noodles with farfle noodles, pasta sauce and an Italian mix of cheeses on top and baked the finished product.  It was so good!

Pizza...again.  


Pizza was the easiest thing for us to eat during this process.  We made another pizza over the week, with grilled peppers and onions and fresh mozzarella cheese.  It was amazing.  Have I told you that originally Nick thought homemade pizza was inferior to pizza shop pizza....he has been converted! 

We also made Garlic-Slathered Cheese Bread courtesy of Perry's Plate.  Natalie mentioned a few recipes that had changed her life a few weeks ago and this was one of them.  Let me just say, our lives have been changed too!  This was amazing!  Natalie provides a link to a quicker bread recipe {which we used} that works just as well as the one in the link.  Thanks again Natalie!

Cheesy Bean-y Enchiladas {kinda}


Nick was the master of this as well.  He took spanish rice, diced tomatoes, onions, refried beans {vegetarian of course}, enchilada sauce, Mexican cheese and tortillas to make an amazing dinner that tastes just as good reheated as it does the first time.

Any new dishes you want to share?  Just tell us about them in the comments!

Vegetarian Week #3

Okay, so this post is super overdue.  There is a reason though.  Last week, I had a bug and, as a result, Nick did a lot of the cooking.  He did an amazing job cooking, but when he cooks, he forgets that we are blogging and doesn't take any pictures.  


So instead of going into detail about our meals, I'm going to tell you about "flexitarianism."  Flexitarianism is a growing trend of people who are conscious of their meat consumption for health, environmental and economical reasons.  It is the one of the best diets around.  The idea is to seek out vegetarian meals more often and to have meals focus less on meat.


An article from MSNBC and an article in the Feb. 2011 issue of Bon Appetit helped me decide that this is what I will do once January's vegetarian diet is over.  One of the keys to our new lifestyle (that's right, Nick too), is to have Meatless Monday's.  It is also perfect for blogging, as well as for our health and the environment.

Saturday Breakfast: #4

In the past, these posts have focused on breakfasts when we have done something snazzy or new.  This time, I decided to focus on some of the basics instead. 


Introducing....


Cheesy Scrambled Eggs and Toast with Peanut Butter and Honey (oh and OJ)

I absolutely love breakfast.  Sometimes I forget how important breakfast is to me.  I know it is odd, but breakfast has always been my favorite.  Oh yeah, that lovely salt and pepper shaker set came all the way from France.  Nick's sister and her husband got them for me while on their European excursion.  

Kitchen Wish List

I love my kitchen, and all of the gadgets in it.  However, there are a few gadgets that I wish I had...

1. A food processor.  I know that most of the things that are done with a food processor can be done with other gadgets or by hand, but gosh darn it, I want it to be easier. 
2. I fell in love with KitchenAid Mixers at college.  Each kitchen had their own mixer, heaven.  I want it in Green Apple (an explanation to come later).
3. A knife is pointless if it isn't sharp (ha, that's a pun).  This one is from Crate and Barrel.
4. I find that there is never enough room for cupcakes on my cake stand.  A cupcake  carrier from Crate and Barrel would keep them so much fresher.
5. We had a wok, but when we brought it out to make the disastrous stir-fry it had rusted (it was really old).  This new one from Crate and Barrel would do the trick.


Is there any kitchen gadget you can't live without or wish you had?  Let us know.