sunday soup day.

a steaming bowl of soup on a cold, lazy day has this sort of calming effect on me. sometimes progresso or campbell's can provide that temporary high, but there's really nothing like just rolling up your sleeves, turning on the stove and just making your own.

so with the idea of french onion soup lingering in the back of my brain for the last... oh, 3 months, i got into the kitchen with a recipe up on my laptop screen and 3 pounds of onions on my cutting board.

plus, when was the last time campbell's tomato soup supplied any sort of delicious leftovers the next day?

exactly.

so i got chopping these absolutely monstrous onions. each one was almost a full pound!

no time to mess around with those pesky little onions. you know the ones where you cut off both ends, peel off the skin and you have all of a golfball sized "onion" left to work with. come on mother nature, give me a break! i want an onion i can actually work with!

let's make a full pot of french onion soup with only three onions.

yes. please.

by the way, best way to chop an onion is to cut off the tail so you have a level bottom that you can stand it on. then slice the onion in half, like i did above. after that, remove the skin and place the wider cutside down and make even, thin slices heading from the cut end to the end that is still in tact. i personally believe this is the easiest way to slice an onion because the bulb end holds it all together and you're never wobbling around with an unsteady vegetable and a sharp knife in your hand. not a good combination.

so three onions later, i had a very large bowl of onions sliced and ready for caramelizing.

starting with only a tablespoon of olive oil and half of the onions, i put the heat on medium and just let 'em go. i stirred them fairly often because i didn't want any to get more done than any others since my stock pot was already 1/4 of the way full.

...and because it's just one of those intoxicating aromas that i find very difficult to walk away from.

as they continued to caramelize, i continued to snitch hot morsels of sweet onion-y goodness.

hey. no harm, no foul.

once the first half of the onions were a nice caramel color, i added the other half of the onions.

letting the first half get a head start makes it so some of the onions are almost disintegrating when the glorious time comes to slurp up this sensational signature.

once the second half is added, i turned down the heat to medium low. it'll take almost an hour, but be patient and just let them hang out and get tasty.

and tasty is just what they got.

at this point, i would not think any less of you for taking a forkful for yourself.

in fact, i would probably encourage it.

it's crazy to think that this was once 3 pounds of monstrous onions that pushed the boundaries of a large mixing bowl. because now i can push all of those melt-in-your-mouth little bits to just one side of the pot.

(proof that caramelizing them loooow and sloooow can work all sorts of magic.)

once they've turned that dark brown color it's time to finally make this into a soup.

the recipe i was using called for 2 quarts of beef stock and a quart of chicken stock, along with a little lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, salt and white pepper. i also decided to add a little dried thyme and a little sprinkle of cayenne because as far as i'm concerned, a little bit of heat never hurt anyone.

but wait.

hold on a second.

there's something that needs to happen before all the liquid goes into the cauldron of deliciousness.

and its name is whiskey.

ok technically the recipe called for bourbon, so if you're making this and you have that on hand, feel free to use that. but the very limited amount of liquor that inhabits the top shelf of my parents' pantry apparently does not include bourbon. and even if it did, i would probably be from 1988 and i would be reluctant to use it anyways.

so regular whiskey would have to do. 

just throw about 1/3 of a cup into the onions and let it cook off for about 5 minutes.

(p.s. alton brown tid bit comin' at ya! if you ever hear that you can cook off all the alcohol in something, it's a myth. unless you cook it for like 5 hours, there is still going to be a significant amount of alcohol left in it. not enough to get you shhwasted with a slice of rum cake or a bowl of soup, but still.)

ok nooooow you can add in everything else. then just throw that sucker on low, cover it up, and try to resist it for about an hour.

your patience will be rewarded.

meanwhile, i made some croutons! on friday on my way back from a job interview in downtown milwaukee, i stumbled across this amazing bread shop.

homemade bread?

still warm?

made by a cute little old lady?

my original intent was to just pick up a scone since i hadn't had breakfast yet, but with everything going for this place, there was no chance i was leaving without a loaf of something.

and the faint sound of oven timers going off in the background completely validated my purchases.

so i cubed up what was left of my sourdough loaf and tossed them in olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, rubbed sage, cayenne, and white pepper.

perfect complimentary flavors to my soup that is just getting better and better on the stove.

just place them in a 350 degree oven and take them out once they're golden brown on the edges and very crunchy. i realize they're going to be soggy once they're in the soup, but it adds a little toasty flavor and they hold up better than just weird little cubes of bread.

and finally... the time came.

my family was all home, it was an acceptable time of the day for dinner (not that the time of day has ever stopped me from enjoying something delicious before) and the flavors had been fairly well developed.

i dished up the soup, threw some freshly baked croutons in the bowl, and topped it all off with some shredded swiss cheese.

it came out a little too salty and peppery, which i accredit to the fact that i used bouillon for the stocks (pretty salty to begin with) and white pepper (much stronger than regular fresh ground black pepper). but in the end, it was still fantastic. (and i adjusted the recipe so yours will be better!)

a fairly lazy soup for a fairly lazy day. like i said earlier, it really doesn't get much better.

French Onion Soup

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

3 lbs. sweet onions, thinly sliced

1/3 cup bourbon or whiskey

2 quarts beef stock
1 quart chicken stock
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
Homemade Croutons, see recipe below
Swiss cheese, shredded

In a Dutch oven or large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the onions and cook, stirring, until dark golden brown and caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Add the remaining onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until a deep caramel color, about 1 hour.

Add the bourbon and cook, stirring occasionally, until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except the croutons and cheese, and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thicker and fragrant, about 1 hour.

 Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm. Serve in a bowl topped with Homemade Croutons (or other crouton or crusty bread of your choice) and sprinkled with swiss cheese.

Homemade Croutons

Day old bread (french, sourdough, whole wheat, whatever you got!)
Olive oil
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Cayenne
Rubbed sage
White pepper
Salt

Cube up the bread into bite-sized croutons. Toss them in the oil and then sprinkle with a little of each of the other herbs and spices. Toss again and then place on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crunchy. 

 

bloggers aren't allowed to take time off.

i know, i know.

it's been over a month.

i've come to terms with the fact that i am one of the least consistent food bloggers out there.

but if you graduated from college, didn't have a job, and moved in to your parents' basement, your motivation wouldn't exactly be top notch either.

believe me, i have absolutely nothing against my parents.  in fact, my living conditions have improved.

i've been updated from a kitchen that got claustrophobic when all 3 roomates were trying to make a sandwich, to one with an island, a double oven and a snack bar.

i've been updated from garage sale treasures (which were perfect grandma schultz finds!), to kitchenaid pots and pans.

i've been updated from a set of dishware consisting of 3 bowls, 3 plates (all chipped) and non-matching silverware, to nice white plates that i never have to double check to see if they're clean.

but as i turn the corner from my "bedroom" towards the stairs to our 1st level, i glance toward the boxes and rubbermaid tubs that hold my once and future kitchen. i think of my seasoned george foreman, my 99 cent potato masher, and my well-stocked spice cabinet now carefully shoved together with other college apartment remnants like highlighters and desk lamps.

...they deserve so much better.

i hope you see where my lack of motivation to blog has come from. i have still been cooking, no doubt. christmas, new years (that blog post to come soon!), my parents' anniversary all called for culinary feats and feasts. today included.

today was my mom's birthday. but first, let's rewind.

for the first few months of this last semester, i was asked by the head chef/good friend of mine to work at his fabulous restaurant known as vino in the valley.

here's my plug for them: go there. weave your way through miles of gorgeous wisconsin landscape. feel like you're lost and on a roller coaster and then pull into the restaurant in this beautiful, vineyard-laden, naturally peaceful valley. then order whatever sounds good (which will be everything). then get a glass of wine, sit back, watch the sun set over the hills and dig into some seriously good italian eats.

so the fist time my parents came up to visit me, i took them there for dinner. and while the trip there had them second guessing ("how can this place be all that good?! it's in the middle of nowhere!?"), the food and atmosphere of the place had them begging to go back.

and my mom begging me to get the chicken fettuccine alfredo recipe.

back to today, her birthday. let's put it loosely and say she has probably asked once every two weeks since the beginning of october for me to make this for her. so i decided today would be perfect. i mean really. as far as birthday presents go, who would honestly turn down a delicious meal over a sweater you're probably going to return anyways?

after a little convincing, i got the recipe. although i can't really say that a list of measure-less ingredients and rough instructions count as a "recipe" according to webster's definition. then again, when was the last time i busted out the measuring spoons for something other than a cupcake recipe..?

so here it is, folks. with written consentment from the magician, benjamin sauer, himself, i give you the absolutely delicious garlic cream sauce.

warning: do not treat this with disrespect and substitute vegetable oil for butter. or jarred minced garlic for the freshly chopped stuff. or God-forbid milk for heavy cream.

we'll both be disappointed in you in the end.

first start with some olive oil and butter in a pot. my batch was pretty big since i was cooking for 8, so adjust everything accordingly.

while that's heating up a little, chop some sweet onion and fresh garlic. saute that until the onion is translucent and the garlic is starting to slightly brown.

by the way, these aren't instructions straight from the chef himself. this is how i did it. ha!

...but it should be pretty similar. i did watch him do it a few times (a weekend) at vino.

it's at this point that an intoxicating aroma is drifting around your house/apartment. the distinct aroma that if i had to choose one thing to smell for the rest of my life, this is what it would be. call me crazy, but the bouquet that onions and garlic emit from sauteing in olive oil could send me into a culinary coma just as easily as bobby flay walking through my door and asking if i want to grill up some burgers with him. i mean seriously, people.

anyways, back to reality. once the above magic has happened and the onions and garlic are looking better than ever, glug in a good amount of white wine. like a good amount. like i poured a glass for myself and the rest of the bottle went in the pot. yeah, this is not a few splashes, my friends.

then, stick that sucker on medium to medium low and let it reduce away. by "at least half," says the professional. however, since i was clearly not in the right state of mind when i went to the grocery store the day before and consequently bought 3 quarts of half and half instead of heavy cream, i was playing the waiting game for my mom to return with my more accurate dairy product. moral of the story is, i let mine reduce by more than half.

as you can tell, my inch-deep layer of white wine reduced to make an oniony-garlicy white wine sauce. spread that on some toast and call it a day!

...that's right, i promised a cream sauce. ok. fine.

what seemed like 76 pints of heavy cream later, i had what was starting to looks like a garlic cream sauce.

especially after the very precise measurements of nutmeg, garlic powder, onion powder, chicken base, salt and white pepper.

ha! i said precise.

while the sauce continued to reduce and the flavors got oh-so-fantastic, i started to grill the chicken. on my mom's christmas gift from my brothers and i, no less. i have been wanting an indoor cast iron grill pan for myself for a while, so i guess i just figured that getting one for her was just as good. and then she could grill in winter, which is what my family basically lives off during summer. 

and would you just look at those almost fake grill marks! after these thick chicken breasts were cooked thoroughly, i sliced them thinly, or into roughly 2-bite-sized pieces and placed them in the cooler... er, refrigerator along with the fettuccine noodles i had cooked off earlier.  

bubbling away and emitting more intoxicating aromas into the house. no complaining here!

since my family was getting hungry and my sauce hadn't reduced to the thickness that i had wanted, i decided to put half of it into a wider pan and add the chicken to it.

i cranked the heat, and let it bubble and thicken some more.

aaaaaaand some more.

but hey! i had time. i had homemade garlic bread broiling away in the oven.

 just some melted butter, fresh minced garlic, dried parsley, dried basil and salt and pepper. mmmmm. toasty, buttery, and major garlic pow.

and the final product was done! topped with shredded parmesan cheese and sopped up with that garlic bread, it was totally perfect. as i brought my dad his second helping, i had to ask. "pretty close, mom?"

"definitely pretty close."

well. i tried my best. and added as much love as i could. but i guess sometimes you can't recreate something exactly the way it once was without an exact recipe.

and sometimes... that's ok.

Garlic Cream Sauce a la Benjamin

Olive oil

Butter

Garlic, fresh, minced

Sweet onion, small dice

White wine

Heavy cream

Nutmeg

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Cayenne pepper

Chicken base

White pepper

Salt

Parmesan cheese, shredded

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil and butter mixture. Add white wine and reduce by at least half. Add heavy cream and all spices and seasonings. Reduce until it reaches your desired consistency. Toss with chicken and fettuccine noodles and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.

mexican. meatless. monday.

there are, what seems like, millions of food blogs out there. and they all have their own area of personal interest or expertise. 

gluten-free.

vegan.

just desserts.

cooking with a tight budget.

crockpot recipes.

semi-homemade.

asian.

breakfasts.

college student. :)

you name it, there's a food blog out there about it. and each is different in the way it is set up. however, there seems to be one recurring theme.

meatless monday.

so in lieu of joining the cult and obsession that is writing a food blog, i figured i'd follow the crowd on this one.

but i'm taking this one step further and donning this "mexican meatless monday."

oh yes.

did i mention this was an all day affair?

one class on mondays means pinterest and foodgawker are my morning rituals, which corresponds well with planning my dinner adventures. i had also gone grocery shopping which pretty much always gets my imagination and creative juices flowing.

guac for lunch?

yes please.

ok for all the avocado newbies out there, this is a convenient step-by-stepper for you.

1. run your knife around the fruit (yes, i meant to say fruit...) from top the bottom. guide it around the pit in the center, don't just chop the whole sucker in half, it won't work.

2. lightly, and safely, toss the knife into the pit.

3. make sure the knife is secure and so is your grip on the avocado and the knife. then slowly turn the knife in order to loosen the pit from the flesh.

4. pit is removed! now the trick is to get that slippery pit off the knife without slicing yourself open.

5. take a spoon and insert it into the flesh right under the skin. if the avocado is ripe, the flesh should come out in one nice chunk. if it's not ripe, good luck. :)

after all the avocados had been pitted and skinned, i mashed them into a chunky mess.

mm. there's something about avocados that i love. well maybe a few things.

what other type of vegetation can you think of that is creamy all on it's own?

what other type of vegetation can you slice onto sandwiches and mash up and spread onto a sandwich?

what other type of vegetation is this good for you? (ok so a lot. whatever.)

anyways, after some skillfull mashing, i squeezed in the juice of a full lime, along with probably a tablespoon of lemon juice.

those juices are on double duty: the acid keeps the avo from browning and adds some flava flave.

next i chopped up half of a sweet onion and threw that in.

onto the romas.

oh roma tomatoes. you are my favorite. i honestly could just eat these like apples if their juicy, seedy insides would stop oozing all over my chin and shirt. it's a love-hate relationship we have.

p.s. the easiest way to cut a tomato is with a serrated knife! little restaurant trick for all you "normal" people out there who have never had the joyous opportunity to slice a 20 lb. box of tomatoes in one sitting.

ok let's run back through this easy schmeasy recipe.

avo.

onion.

romas.

lime juice.

lemon juice.

salt.

peppa.

guacamole anyone?

psst. there's still some in my fridge.

ok so with the guacamole out of the way (and my not-so-meatless turkey, guac and greens pita had been consumed) i was on to dinner plans.

black and pinto beans sitting in my cabinet and tortillas sitting in my fridge got my enchilada taste buds whirling.

and with all that protein-y goodness from the beans, who needs to worry about defrosting chicken at this time of the day?

i found this recipe out there on the blogging world and must say, they are quite possibly the easiest and most delicious enchiladas ever. and very college student-friendly, i must say.

i started out by cooking some brown rice. once it was cooked, i added in some salsa.

my lovely vegetarian dinner guest drained the black and pinto beans and added those in too. i also decided to chop up half a red bell pepper so i tossed that in too.

then we added a full packet of taco seasoning. now you could stop there if you like, but my lovely vegetarian dinner guest and i decided we wanted it spicy. so i also eyeballed in about a teaspoon of cayenne. keep the spoons away, cuz this would be a great side dish all on it's own.

at this point, we grabbed a baking pan and threw in some salsa to cover the bottom in a thin layer. i filled the tortillas with some of the filling and rolled them up. 

once my pan was full, i smushed some more of my leftover filling on top of the prepared rolls. then for the cheeeeeeeese. probably about a cup of shredded cheese would work, but i had a little extra, so that got thrown on there too.

a little extra cheese never hurt anyone... at least no one i know.

into the oven it went until the cheese was totally melty and beautiful. 

these are addictingly vegetarian.

try them and you'll see the wonders of mexican meatless monday.

Basic Guacamole

3 avocados, pitted and skinned

½ sweet onion, finely chopped

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp. lime juice (or the juice of 1 lime)

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Mash the avocados until most of the large chunks are gone. Add in the lime and lemon juices and stir. Add in the chopped onion, Roma tomato, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with tortilla or pita chips.

Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas

2 cups brown rice, cooked

1 cup salsa

½ red bell pepper, chopped

I can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 packet taco seasoning

1 tsp. cayenne (optional)

5-6 flour or whole wheat tortillas (depending on the size)

1 cup shredded Colby jack or cheddar cheese

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and spread 1/4 cup of salsa over the bottom. Lay your tortillas out on a clean work surface.

In the pot you cooked the rice in, mix in the beans, peppers, taco seasoning, cayenne, and 3/4 cup salsa. Divide evenly among the tortillas. Roll each tortilla tightly and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Pour the remaining filling evenly over the tops of the rolled tortillas in the baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Serves 3-4.