Soup a L'oignon

It is cold again up here. I suppose that is when I like to cook most. And when we found Gruyere cheese for sale at Whole Foods we had to make French onion soup. The recipe is from Julia Child and it is very easy aside from the time it takes to actually cook. I encourage you to try it. It was the best French onion soup I've ever had.

1 1/2 pounds yellow onions (or 4 large)

3 tbs. butter

1 tbs. oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

3 tbs. flour

1 qt. stock (beef or chicken)

1 qt. water

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 oz. cognac or brandy

old bread (I recommend a nice crusty sourdough loaf)

1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

*please, go out and find Gruyere. It must say "Gruyere" - don't use anything else.

Chop the onions in thin strips. I halve and peel them, then simply slice them so they make little half moons. Melt the butter and oil in a heavy bottomed stock pot, add the onions and cook on low for 15 minutes with the cover on.

Uncover, raise the heat to medium, add salt and sugar, and cook the onions for 30-40 minutes. You will need to stir them every so often. And I encourage you not to have the heat too high. You are slowly developing color at this point not sprinting for the caramelized finish.

While the onions brown heat up your water and stock. You want to add it to the stock pot when it is boiling so as not to arrest the cooking process. If you have any beef stock to hand, I recommend it rather than chicken as it adds more color and flavour to the soup.

When the onions are a nice golden color, and the stock is hot (but not yet added); sprinkle the 3 tbs. flour over the onions and stir frequently for 3 minutes. Now it is time to add the stock - boiling hot mind you to prevent flour clumps from forming. And I recommend initially adding a cupful at a time and stirring it well. Once you think the flour has been incorporated - pour in the remaining stock. Add the white wine and bring the soup to a low simmer and cook partially covered for another 30-40 minutes.

Grate your cheese and cut a 1/4 inch slice of sourdough for each soup bowl. Find oven safe bowls and turn on your broiler. Taste your soup first, and add any extra salt if necessary. Ladle it into the bowls. You can under fill it so that you don't have the hazard of burning yourself with boiling hot soup. I left a good three quarters of an inch. Plonk your bread slice on top and smother the soup with gruyere.

Place the bowls on a tray under the broiler and crack the oven door so that you can watch them. The cheese will first melt, the it will begin to bubble. You may wish to gingerly slide out the tray and check for browning; but it could take a good five or ten minutes. If the soup is browning unevenly, rotate the bowls on the tray.

We served the bowls on plates so that we didn't have to worry about scorching ourselves.

Enjoy!

BTW...

Check it out. Hint - you're looking for my name.

Rhubarb and Ice cream

We have rhubarb! Honest to goodness rhubarb, in the grocery store! And it doesn't look like the rhubarb they tried to sell me in Arizona, brown, limp, weeping. It is robust, rosy, and cheap! So I had to bring some home to surprise my husband. He has been whining for dessert after dinner these last few nights and I think he will be excited by cooked rhubarb and ice cream.

1 pound rhubarb

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. lavender

Slice the tops and tails off the rhubarb. Next divide any wide pieces in half down the middle. Chop the rhubarb into 2 inch long lengths. Find a skillet wide enough to accommodate the rhubarb in one layer. When it cooks down it will release a lot of moisture and the large surface area of the skillet will aid in evaporation. Combine your herb, sugar, and veg. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until the rhubarb releases moisture and the sugar dissolves. Then turn down heat to medium low and stir every ten minutes or so. Cook until tender 30-40 minutes. Cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Atomic coffee

We are in the middle of a heat wave, and the only way to fight it is with a batch of Merissa Mendoza's Atomic Coffee. I got this recipe from Merissa when I worked with her in the pastry kitchen at the Sheraton. It must sit overnight, but it has the added bonus of not requiring the application of any heat. Keep that house cool!

1 cup coffee grounds

3 cups cold water

3 cups heavy cream or half and half

6 cups milk

1 cup sugar

a generous pinch of cinnamon

a generous pinch of kosher salt

Combine the coffee grounds and cold water in a container and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Strain the mixture and measure your amount of coffee. The list of the remaining 3 ingredients require the addition of 3 cups of coffee. So if you haven't quite made that much, adjust the recipe accordingly. Combine coffee and milk, cream, sugar, and spice; sit and sip.

The coffee will taste even better again if you let the cinnamon mellow with the other ingredients for a time, but I bet you can't control yourself.

Fool

We made this dessert for dinner guests this weekend. I was in the mood for ginger, and thought I would make a cake; but lost my motivation. Fool is an English dessert, something I learned to make when working in London. It is layered much like a parfait, but it doesn't require the arduous fiddling with eggs.

16 oz. greek yogurt

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peak

6 peaches, pitted and large dice

1/4 cup sugar

a generous grating of fresh ginger

1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

There a lots of little tips I can give you with this recipe. The first, don't substitute anything for the greek yogurt. It has a natural tartness to it that is a beautiful foil for the fat and sweetness of this dessert. But if you must, if you cry, "Claudine, I cannot find greek yogurt for sale at my local grocery store", then try plain FULL FAT yogurt.

Secondly, I like to have fresh ginger to hand, but found myself constantly buying it, using a miniscule amount and then laying it in my crisper drawer to be forgotten and to become moldy. Then some clever cookbook recommended I keep it in the freezer and simply grate the frozen chunk into whatever recipe calls for it. Pure genius. The ginger will change in consistancy and become quite sodden with water if it is defrosted, but that should never be neccessary. Remember, freeze and grate.

Enough tips - let me outline the simple recipe for you.

The first step is one we used in England, and I skimped on it quite a bit when making the fool this weekend. I will let you decide whether you want to do it or not. I was taught to turn the yogurt onto a double or triple layer of cheesecloth. Gather the ends of the cloth and secure them. Then hang the whole contraption suspended over a large bowl and leave it to sit in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning you will find a thin yellowish liquid in the bowl, dispose of this. You have effectively leeched some of the liquid out of the yogurt making it thicker and creamier in consistency. If you would like to cheat, I will tell you that this weekend I only drained the yogurt for 2 hours, and had good results.

Combine the chopped peaches, 1/4 cup sugar, and grating of ginger in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir the mixture occassionally to prevent the sugar from catching and burning. You need only cook the peaches for a short time, perhaps ten minutes, only long enough for the fruit to soften and the flavours to combine.

Remove the pan from the heat and cool off the mixture. I placed the whole thing in the freezer and stirred it every ten minutes. You won't want to add it to your cream/yogurt mix until it has cooled. Lukewarm would be permissable.

Lastly whip your cream to soft peak. For those of you who aren't familiar with this term, soft peak refers to the type of mound you should see in the cream when you touch and pull your finger, a fork, a beater away from the surface. It happens shortly after you notice the cream thicken. And it should create a little mountain which falls over on itself at the tip.

Okay, I said this way easy...so here goes.

In a bowl large enough for the cream and yogurt stir your yogurt with a utensil to break it up and soften it. Add your cream and gently combine the mixture. Now you are ready with all your layers. Simply combine them yogurt, fruit, yogurt, fruit in a container for serving - or in individual containers - think glasses....

If you are using the crystallized ginger, it is typically very spicy, so be spare with it.

AND if you are like us and overfeed your guests you will find yourself with leftover fool. No matter. This recipe is fabulous on top of waffles in the morning, especially if you have candied nuts around. Or you can pop it all in the freezer for an impromptu semifreddo, simply be sure to stir the mixture every 1/2 hour to prevent untasty ice crystals from forming.

Blueberry muffins

It was 80 degrees here in Boston yesterday. I don't really understand what that means yet in a region where humidity is the norm and AC isn't. And well, I had a craving for blueberry muffins. I hadn't yet been out into the afternoon sun and wasn't aware how warm it was. As I trudged to the market for blueberries and eggs I noticed I was doing little more than a shuffle; as if my clothing weren't proof enough – a tank top and skirt – it was hot. This after we had the heat going only three weeks ago. Nevertheless I was determined, and once I returned home the oven was preheated to a searing 350 and the windows were thrown open. Lucky I did because these muffins were awesome.

350 g all-purpose flour (have you bought that scale yet?)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 wt oz. sugar ("wt oz" means use the scale again)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
6 Tbs. melted butter
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line one 12 cup muffin tin with baking cups. Into a large bowl sift together your flour, powder, soda and salt. Whisk your sugar into that until it's well combined. Measure the milk in a largish liquid measure and add to it the vanilla and beaten eggs. Melt your butter. I like to do it in the microwave, but find it's best to use two short cycles of time, say 30 seconds twice, rather than one long time as the butter has a tendency to bubble over and make a mess. Make a well in your dry ingredients and pour in your milk/egg/vanilla mixture. Using a whisk and a light hand begin mixing, making small circles at first to incorporate the flour nearest your well before working your way to the sides of the bowl. Herein lies the key to great muffin making – a light crumb. This is achieved by restraining your mixing. With that said, it is okay to stop with your whisk well before you have incorporated all the dry ingredients. Add your blueberries to the bowl and pour over your butter being sure to distribute it over your entire batter. With rubber spatula* in hand (*notice the tool change), begin lightly folding the batter to incorporate both the blueberries and melted butter and to finally work out the last of the dry balls of flour. Et voila!

Your next challenge is to divide the mix evenly amongst the muffin tins. Much to my chagrin, I find that an ice cream scooper works the best. You know, the kind of scoop with the switch at the handle that sweeps the metal ring across the inside of the spoon and dislodges your ice cream ball. These are sold at kitchen specialty stores in a variety of portion sizes and are most often used in professional American kitchens to portion batters for baking. I used a number 10 sized scoop, but would actually recommend a size smaller for standard muffin tins – try size 8. The muffins should take between 20 and 30 minutes in the oven. Don't forget to turn them halfway through and don't turn off your oven in the middle of baking as I did. Oops!

Holy Bolognese Batman!

I am inclined to tinker with this recipe, but as of now it has met with Tyler's approval. So perhaps I will leave well enough alone. It takes four hours on the stove - not a pretty thing if the house is hot or you have errands to run. But if like us it is still only 50F outside and you don't mind forgetting you left your gas stove running while at dinner to celebrate your anniversay, it should be a breeze.

2 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. evoo

2 Tbs. yellow onion small dice

2Tbs. carrot small dice

2 Tbs. celery small dice

3/4 pound ground beef

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup milk

1/8 tsp. nutmeg, freshly ground

2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

(or canned and crushed like I used)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. freshly cracked pepper

In a pot - much like a soup pot, or equally large and wide but with shorter sides - melt the butter and heat the oil at medium high. Dice your onion and add to the cooking fat and cook until translucent. Meanwhile dice your celery and carrots. Add them to the pot once your onion is cooked and give them 2 or 3 minutes to soften. Add the 3/4 pound ground beef to the pot and begin breaking it up. My recipe recommended using a fork which was so "Susy Homemaker" but it did work fairly well. Once the beef begins to color but before it has cooked through add the wine to the pot. Allow the wine to cook off almost entirely, stir occassionally. Next add the milk and the grating of nutmeg. Allow the milk to cook off almost entirely as well also stirring occassionally. To this add the tomatoes and reduce the heat to a whisper so the whole sauce only bubbles intermittently - like you imagine a steaming swamp might do. Let it cook like this uncovered for three hours - feel free to go out to dinner. If you are home stir the sauce a few times while it cooks. Before serving taste for seasoning and add the s & p.

I doubled this recipe and ended up with enough for 8 servings. Half of it went into a container in the freezer for a night I don't feel up to cooking. The other half was heated and served on Campanelle pasta. Any shape that has holes, ripples or crevices would be ideal for this sauce as it can glom onto the meaty yummy bits.

This is where I tell you that the recipe comes from Marcella Hazan. So that you don't think I was clever enough to think it all up. I would like to alter it and reduce the amount of wine added to the recipe and perhaps swap the celery for fennel and the beef for sausage ala a meat sauce I had when we went out for dinner Friday night.

Mustard Maple salad dressing

We spent a weekend down in Philadelphia not too long ago with my brother Sean and sister in law, Susie. Sean is an avid cook often shaming me in his knowledge of meats and wine (and I went to cooking school). He is as Susie says, "an expert salad dressing maker". Here is something I saw him concoct one evening. It was so good it has been the only thing served in our house since.

1 Tbs. Dijon mustard

1 Tbs. champagne vinegar

1 Tbs. maple syrup (please don't use any imitation products;

this means no bottles shaped like people)

1/4 to 1/3 cup good evoo.

This would be evoo that you intend to eat raw. Ask a seller at a specialty store. It will inevitably be more expensive, but it's worth it. I recommend an oil with a fruity rather than a peppery finish especially if you are new to the world of olive oil.

pinch of fresh cracked pepper

pinch to 1/4 tsp of kosher salt

Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl big enough to accomodate a whisk. Granted this isn't a lot of liquid to work with but still put it in a large-ish bowl. You may have heard that oil and water don't mix but the mustard included in the recipe will act as an emulsifier. Begin whisking the dressing and adding the oil in a slow steady stream. The dressing will be yellow and become opaque. This is good. Once 1/4 cup of oil is added taste the dressing. It should be sharp, but not too sharp, and NOT oily-never oily. If the vinegar is still too strong, continue adding oil, if the dressing sits heavily on your tongue, prepare another batch of the mustard, syrup, and vinegar; and begin again. Adding not oil this time but the old dressing, tasting, and continuing with oil if necessary. Dressing really is very simple, but I find it can require confidence and a good sense of taste. Good luck.

A warning to the adventurous who may consider trying this recipe. The ingredients are expensive. You will only buy them occassionally, but that first purchase could be dear. Try it when you feel like treating yourself.

CHOCOLATE

When it is cold, as it was over the last few weeks; and you have little else to occupy your thoughts; visions of chocolate have a way of sneaking in and taking hold. Tyler's Birthday came and went last week, and to celebrate I whipped up this easy intense flourless cake. The recipe was passed along to me by a friend who found it at Epicurious.com. It is a cinch to make and produces a cake that more closely resembles the consistency of fudge. Now, that's my kind of cake!

4 oz. good-quality bittersweet chocolate

(this is any chocolate with a cocoa solid over 65%)

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

Preheat your oven to 375F. Find an 8 inch baking dish, butter the bottom and sides. Line the bottom with baking parchment, if you don't have any to hand I find you can cover the butter with a fine coating of sugar. It remains dry during the baking process and provides a little realease for the cake, but it doesn't work as well as parchment. Whatever the case, I typically only use the parchment for the bottom circle of the pan and use the butter/sugar trick for the sides.

Break the chocolate into pieces, about bite sized or a little bigger. Put it in a metal bowl and place the bowl on the stove over a pot of barely simmering water. Chocolate melts at around 85F (making big claims here....I'm not sure if my pastry memory serves me that well, but maybe I'll check my facts later). Anyway, it doesn't take much heat to melt chocolate, a good rule of thumb; melted chocolate should never feel much warmer than body temperature when you put your finger in it. And chocolate burns easily. It's not as tricky as I am making it all sound. Merely stir your chocolate occassionally being sure to scrape the edges of the bowl and if you see steam escaping the sides of your bowl/pot contraption, you probably have the heat too high.

On a separate burner in a small pot melt your butter on low heat. Once it is ready, and if your choclate is nearly all melted you can combine the two. If your choclate is not yet liquified continue to keep it over the simmering water. When done, take the pan off the heat and stir in the sugar. You may use a whisk or a rubber spatula, the trick is to use as few strokes as possible. The more air you introduce into chocolate the harder it becomes to handle. Again it's not as delicate as rocket science, it's simply something to be aware of while you work. Crack your eggs into a small bowl and beat them to break up the yolks. Touch your chocolate, if it is merely warm you may add your eggs; if it seems hot, let the mixture cool for a few minutes first.

With the addition of the eggs you are ready to add your cocoa powder. Please - sift your cocoa first. A pastry cook knows that cocoa clumps as it sits around in its container, secretly plotting to foil your favorite confections with dry lumps of bitter chocolate dust. Sifting it before use reduces those lumps and thwarts it's nasty plot. Please, please...sift. If you are fastidious you may even choose to sift it over your cake batter in three additions, gently folding the batter in between to incorporate the powder.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and take a moment to make it reasonably level. Voila! It's time to put your pan into the oven. I typically set the timer for half the recommended length and turn my cake when it buzzes. Keep an eye on this cake near the end of its cooking time. Overcooking it will strip it of much of its unctious moist goodness. It is done when a crust is beginning to form over the batter. Don't despair if you are lax in this respect, I have found the cake rising and cracking in the oven; after nervously puling it out, it cooled to a level appearance, and had retained enough moisture to be devilishly good.

Oh, it should take 25 minutes.

Chicken Parmesan

Tyler is the chicken parmesan Maestro at our house. This dish was his brainchild and it is by far the best chicken parm I have ever had. I think the secret is in pounding the breasts thin, it provides a better crumb to meat ratio making each bite much more flavorful. You will have to forgive us as there is no hard and fast recipe for this just some suggestions and a little guidance.

2 breasts of chicken, pounded 1/4 thick

3 pieces of FRESH bread

various herbs.

we like rosmary, sage, and thyme,

but made it last night with only rosemary and Italian flat leaf parsley.

Kosher salt (1/2 to 1 tsp)

fresh cracked pepper

2 eggs, beaten to break up the yolks

1/2 pound dried spaghetti

1 Tbs. butter + 1 Tbs. evoo

jar of tomato sauce

shredded mozz. (maybe 1/2 pound)

So here are the few heretical tricks that will improve your chicken parm. Use fresh breadcrumbs. No need to toast. The fresh crumbs coat the chicken better and make the whole dish more moist. Also be sure to coat your chicken in breadcrumbs first then dip it in the egg wash - not the other way around like your mamma did it. This creates a better and more consistent coating of breadcrumbs where most of the flavor in the dish comes from.

Now the step by step.

We cut off the top crust of our bread because it was decorated with oatey bits we didn't want in our meal. The bread then went into the Cuisinart along with the needles of 2 maybe 3 sprigs of rosemary and a handful of Italian parsley. Rosemary is a fairly forward tasting herb so start small and add more if the crumbs need it. To this add the 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp (approx) of fresh cracked black pepper and blast the whole mess in the Cuisinart until the mix is pulverized. Warm your butter and oil in a skillet large enough to accomodate all your chicken, and preheat your oven to 350F. Crack your eggs in a bowl that will accomodate a piece of chicken and transfer your breadcrumbs to a plate. When the butter in the pan is producing small bubbles you are hot enough to begin. Coat both sides of your chicken in the crumbs then dip it in the egg mix and put it in the skillet. Repeat for the second fillet. You will only be cooking the chicken long enough to brown the crumbs and set the egg. Flip the breasts once taking care not to pull away the yummy breadcrumb coating. You may want to cut your fillets in half before coating them to make the whole prospect of flipping easier. We find we can only eat half a breast of chicken anyway. Meanwhile add a little tomato sauce to the bottom of a baking dish, just enough to cover. When the chicken is browned transfer it to the baking dish, cover with more sauce, and a generous portion of cheese. Cooking time in the oven will vary, but we find that 20-25 minutes is usually enough. There is nothing wrong with cutting into a piece of chicken to check it - unless you are trying to impress someone with presentation. And then, you are probably trying too hard. If you are checking, remember to always check the thickest part of the fillet.

The rest of the dish is fairly straightforward for anyone who has ever made spaghetti with red sauce. Boil your water, cook your pasta, drain, and toss with a little oil to prevent it from sticking together while it waits to be served up. It's all in the timing. But starting you water when the chicken goes into the oven should be good timing for everything.

Squash and radicchio risotto

We're ending the blog hiatus with a cooking entry. It is freezing in Boston, well it could be worse; but I should get some slack for coming here from Phoenix. The weather has made stodgy filling comforting dishes in high demand at our household. We're all trying to put on winter "coats" or rather fill out to keep warm. Living way up here in the wilds of New England where there is snow on the ground and positively nothing growing I am acutely aware of the produce in the grocery store. Where on earth are these tomatoes coming from?...And while truly ameliorating this worry would mean eating only roots and tubers, I am happy enough to stick to foods that tolerate a colder growing season. Seems reasonable, right? So here is to starchy wintery food!

6 cups stock

1 cup cooked squash (I used Butternut)

1 head radicchio, cut into wedges 1 to 2 inches wide

evoo

salt and pepper

balsamic vinegar

3 Tbs. butter

1 onion, diced

1 1/2 cup arborio rice

1 cup parmesan

Before I begin I should give credit to Deborah Madison for this wonderful recipe.

Whenever you have the time and the oven is on perhaps for something else, halve the squash, scoop out the seeds, spread oil on the cut side and place it, cutside down on a baking sheet in the oven. The best temps for roasting are anywhere between 325 and 375, with 350 being ideal. It is finished when it is tender to the touch - about 45 min. Scoop out the cooked flesh and mash it with a fork. You only need 1 cup for this recipe so if you have extra put it in a plastic bag and freeze it for the next batch of wonderful risotto. Before beginning the remaining recipe be sure your stock is steaming but not simmering on a neighboring burner. In a warmed skillet, medium heat, with 1 Tbs. of oil sautee the radicchio until it is wilted and just browning. Take it off the heat and splash it with balsamic vinegar, between 2 and 3 Tbs, if you need a measurement. Chop your onion while you melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and cook it until it is translucent and wilty. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat it in the fat.

Here Ms. Madison departs from what I know as conventional risotto making technique. I'm sure both methods would be acceptable. She advises turning the heat on the skillet to high and adding 2 cups of stock. Cook the rice at a boil, stirring occassionally. I turned the heat down at this point and continued at the normal simmer of risotto.

When you are 2/3 the way through your stock it is time to add your mashed squash to the risotto. Simply stir until it is well combined. When the rice has reached the right consistency add your radicchio, turn off the heat, stir in the cheese, and taste then season with pepper and salt (if needed).

You are done, and if you are eating it somewhere cold like I am you will probably enjoy it wrapped in blankets in front of the TV. (Or is that just my terrible habit?)