Robb + Jessie Married & in the Badger State
French Onion Soup
Last week while at Trader Joes, I couldn’t resist purchasing a bag of Walla Walla onions. You don’t see these very often in Wisconsin as they are native onions of Washington. Also, they are sweet onions.
My favourite. Robb and I are not much of onion lovers (particularly raw), but when they are caramelized and cooked down to the bare bones, I adore onions. Except the whole slice-and-dice part. I always keep a box of tissue nearby. I have heard of all the little tricks to keep yourself from crying, but I just sucked it up and cut up my six onions.
So, since Robb and I were both ill these past weeks and it was a typical-Seattle-rainy day (except in Madison), I decided to try my hand at some French Onion Soup (from Joy of Cooking, of course).
While I was slicing up the onions, I melted 2 T of butter into 2 T olive oil. When it was melted, I added the onions to the pot and a pinch of dried thyme. Allow these to turn into a rich brown color by cooking on med-high for 15 minutes and then medium for another 40 min.
After they become a sufficient brown color, add 2 T Sherry wine and allow this to evaporate over high heat. Next, add 3-1/2 cup stock (I used my homemade chicken stock which I made last month) and continue to simmer for 20 m. During this time, grate up some Swiss or gruyere cheese and thinly slice some French bread. Ideally, you are supposed to ladle the soup into bowls that can withstand the broiler. As I don’t have any, I simply broiled my cheese on my bread for about five minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.
Now, this is truly a make-it-again dinner. For one thing, Robb’s taste buds are next to nil at the moment. But also, this was simple enough and hearty enough to enjoy during the winter. Mmmm. I could eat soup forever.
Props to our new friends Eric and Ruthie for their blogging ideas: lots of photos to document the cooking process. Yum!
Comfort Food
Tuna noodle casserole.
Did you flinch? Oh I’m sorry.
What is with the aversion to this dish? Is it the cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup? If so, then I heartily agree with you. Yuck!
But get this. It’s really good if you make it from scratch.
I, of course, used my ‘Joy of Cooking’ for the recipe. I like to tweek it by adding rainbow fusilli pasta and vegetables (I used corn and peas which were on hand). For the breadcrumb topping, I smashed up some Caesar salad croutons and sprinkled them on top. Also, I used a mix of cheese: sharp cheddar and parmesan.
And it hit the spot for comfort food.
On the menu
Robb and I are revamping our eating life right now. We’ve had one too many brats and now that our garden is starting to flourish, we are looking to use some of our fresh, organic vegetables.
When I walk home I generally ponder what I will make for dinner. Or at least, what will be the main source of protein. For instance, yesterday I wondered I considered eggs, tofu, chicken, beef, pork… The latter three are in our freezer, and I didn’t want to go through the defrosting cycle, so I settled on tofu. I have only recently begun experimenting with tofu. I have learned there are many different ways to prepare it, but I have mostly stuck with pan frying.
I checked out my trusty recipe website, Allrecipes.com and searched for tofu. To my surprise, the second recipe listed struck my fancy. Chinese Shrimp and Tofu Soup. I just happened to have a half of bag of shrimp left over from when I made shrimp and pesto pasta last month. (Frozen, cooked shrimp from Trader Joe’s).
The only ingredient I was missing was fresh ginger. Instead, I used my Chinese five-spice powder and mixed it with the chopped garlic. I sautéed the shrimp (mostly defrosting them) and then added the tofu to increase the flavor as other reviewers had mentioned it being bland. I also increased the amount of peas and simmered the soup for about 15 minutes (or until the rice was finished cooking). Then, the secret ingredient, cilantro fresh from our garden. Robb and I were very satisfied.
Then, we enjoyed watermelon for dessert while the cake Robb made was baking (that is another story).
Real People
Yesterday, our new toaster arrived.
We had bagels and cream cheese this morning.
It’s funny how finally having a toaster in our kitchen finally makes it feel like a real kitchen.
And now we are real people.
Soup!
This week, Robb redeemed himself in the kitchen.
He made a basic, but divine, roasted chicken using a recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking… yum!
In addition to the lemon and herbed chicken, we had some tasty mashed potatoes and veggies, of course. But nothing like that chicken could make my week complete. It was amazing how my tiredness of chicken changed as Robb was carving the bird. There is only so much you can do with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Not to mention, my parents roast or barbeque a chicken weekly and but it to good use in a variety of meals. I suppose I should start doing that now that I am (1) living on my own and (2) a wife. Woot!
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the chicken was the carcass. I have never made soup from scratch before (save split pea soup, butternut squash soup, clam chowder, etc.).
Our church just welcomed a baby into our congregation. To help our the new parents, we are all taking turns and bringing them meals. I was at a loss – what should I cook that is not lasagna? I ended up making a delicious 15-bean soup with chicken and ham. Not half bad. And thanks to Robb’s brother, Harrison, we got to test out our new stockpots capabilities. I think I will be making more soups this year. Especially chilled soups as the weather warms up. Perhaps using some of those veggies from our community garden (pea-patch) plot!
And yes, Robb won the wishbone from our chicken.