French Onion Soup



French Onion Soup



First of all, I would really like to apologize for not posting as much as I should! We ran into some issues down in Colorado and ended up having to move back to Montana.  So things have been...........crazy (to say the least!)

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Onions before.



Alright..... lets get down to business! For anyone that knows me, they would be shocked to hear that I even considered to make French Onion Soup!  Since I can remember, I have hated onions.  I'm not sure what it is about them, I think it was the texture of them cooked and I feel like they are overpowering when they are raw.  One day out of the blue I really wanted a steak with caramelized onions and mushrooms on top...... to make a long-ish story short; I realized I really like caramelized onions!  So I scoured the Internet in hopes to find a decent onion soup recipe that uses caramelized onions. I was shocked to see that most of the recipes out there instruct you to "caramelize" onions for about 10 minutes! ( HA.... that makes me laugh a little on the inside) I'm not sure about anyone else, but theres not a whole lot of caramelizing going on in the first 10 minutes.











Onions after
(oh so delicious!!!!!)



* I found the trick to excellent caramelized onions..........PATIENCE! You really do have to go low and slow.  I use a combination of a little butter and olive oil, and let the onions do their magic for AT LEAST an hour (stirring occasionally)*



Anyways, back to the soup! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com but really only used it as a guideline.





Croutons!!!!!



French Onion Soup

1/4 c. butter

4 T. olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

1 T. all-purpose flour

4 c. (32oz.) beef broth

1/2 c. red wine

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 baguette

8 slices of Swiss cheese

Directions:



Almost done!!!

1.  Melt butter in 2 T. olive oil in a 4 quart saucepan.  Cook onions on medium low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally.



2.  Stir in flour until well blended with onions and pan juices.  Add beef broth, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves; heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, cut about 1/4 of the baguette into cubes.  Reserve remaining bread to serve with the soup.  Spread cubes on a baking sheet and coat with remaining 2 T. olive oil.  Put under a broiler set to high until browned.  Set aside and preheat your oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)

4.  Ladle soup into four 12 oz. oven-safe bowls.  Top with croutons then 2 folded slices of cheese.  Place bowls on a cookie sheet for easier handling.

5.  Bake for 10 minutes.



FINISHED!!!













spinach and cheese quiche with potato crust.

I love quiche...... Any kind of quiche...! I really wanted to show that even if you don't know how to make a pie crust, or if you can't afford to buy strictly fresh veggies, you can still make a really yummy quiche!  I used potatoes for the crust because I am running REALLY low on flour and I also used canned chopped spinach. Would I have liked to use fresh? Of course, but times are hard so you kind of have to use what you got! The quiche turned out really yummy, and I really liked the potato crust!  This recipe is really versatile, you can add whatever vegetables you like, meat.... the possibilities are endless!

Potato Crust Quiche
3 tablespoons vegetable oil ( I had olive oil on hand, so I used that)
3 cups shredded raw potato (be sure to pat the potatoes as dry as you can get them, it makes the potatoes crispier!)
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup vegetable(s) of choice (if using canned vegetables, drain)
1 cup milk (you may use evaporated milk or even heavy cream for a richer quiche)
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste
Optional:
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven 425 F
1.  Mix potatoes and vegetable oil in a 9 inch pie pan and press evenly into pie crust shape. Bake for 15 minutes until it just begins to brown.Remove from oven.
2.  Layer on cheese and vegetables.
3.  In a bowl, beat together milk, eggs, and seasonings.  Pour egg mixture over other ingredients and bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
4.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

a food blog is born!

Who doesn't love homemade Chocolate Chunk Cookies?! I had bought my package of chocolate chunks awhile back, but never made it around to making them..... So today I decided "YES!"..... and then realized I didn't have enough all-purpose flour to make them. I was lucky enough to run into this recipe from the Betty Crocker website for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (since I had some whole wheat flour in the freezer)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chunk Cookies:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks (2 cups)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375º F.
2.  Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff).  Stir in chocolate chunks. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft).  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet.  Cool on wire rack.