Lonesome Road Kitchen Challenge: French Onion Soup

Cold... icy... snowy...you need comfort and you need it now.

 

You need homemade soup.

From scratch.

A soul-satisfying, steaming bowl of fragrant homemade soup made with lots of TLC, what better way to celebrate the cozy cocooning of the long winter months?

If you're like me, you love to experiment with all sorts of new ideas, but mastering the classics is a challenge in its own right. To make it even more compelling, sometimes the classics become a little... cliched. Rushed. Or pushed aside in favor of a trend. Morphed into something they were never meant to be: overly processed, lacking in fresh quality ingredients and unrecognizable in their current state.

Who hasn't had a cup of the local restaurant's version of French Onion Soup of the Day? A salty brown liquid tinted with caramel coloring, with giant hunks of tough old onions and pre-made onion-powdery croutons from a resealable bag with a shelf life of three years?

You deserve better. Reacquaint yourself with the real French onion soup, an old favorite that, when made as it should, will warm your tummy and your heart and make you wonder why you ever settled for less.

First of all, start off with the best beef stock you can. That is, make your own. It's not difficult. Get a couple of large beef soup bones at the store, and add some celery stalks with fresh leafy tops, a couple of cloves of garlic, an onion (peeled and quartered) and a large leek; parsley and black peppercorns. A couple of medium-sized carrots are nice, too, but keep in mind that carrots do make a stock or broth taste a little sweet.

If you're really trying to be frugal, freeze leftover beef bones from cooked bone-in roasts and steaks to use later for your beef stock. 

Cover the whole tasty melange with 8 cups of fresh water and let it simmer, partly covered, for as long as you have time. The longer the better, but even a little bit is preferable to using store-bought stock. A couple of hours is a good place to start.

If you have an extra day, let the finished stock cool down and store it overnight in the refrigerator so you can skim off any fat that will rise to the top. Carefully strain it and discard the vegetables.  

The difference between "stock" and "broth?" Generally, stock is made with meat and bones; broth is made primarily with meat only.

The next thing to remember about making fantastic homemade French onion soup is to slowly and patiently caramelize the onions.

Thinly slice two large yellow onions and three small leeks (white parts only). Many people add garlic to French onion soup, but I prefer adding leeks, with their complex flavor somewhere between onions and garlic, and their amazing aroma. Heat two or three tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot and add the onions and leeks, cooking over medium-low heat until evenly browned (not burned).

When onions are perfectly caramelized (about 30 to 40 minutes), add six cups of beef stock, two bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. I know that many people add adventurous seasonings to French onion soup, but I like to keep it simple and let the flavors of the homemade beef stock and richly caramelized onions shine through.

Simmer everything together for at least an hour, then add three tablespoons of sherry or dry white wine and let the alcohol cook off a bit. (The wine is totally optional but adds so much to the flavor of the finished soup, in my opinion.)

Discard bay leaves before serving.

To serve, either spoon the French onion soup into ovenproof crockery bowls and top with a slice of toasted French bread smothered in cheese (preferably Gruyere, Fontina, Provolone, and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan). Briefly broil until cheese is bubbly. Or, if you don't have ovenproof soup bowls, you can simply broil the bread and cheese on a baking sheet and drop into the hot bowl of soup.

Another option, if you're serving several people, is to pour the soup into a large ovenproof casserole dish and cover the top with toasted French bread slices and cheese, then briefly broil until cheese is bubbly.

Makes approximately five to six servings.

"Ooh La La" by Angie Cornelius at Lonesome Road Gallery.

Soup, bread and cheese... what could be more gratifying on a cold winter day? Even better that it was created with love in your own kitchen from first-rate ingredients and techniques!

atomic carrots & super freak pumpkins - the Lonesome Road Kitchen Garden 2012!

Atomic carrots and super freak pumpkins. Sounds like some kind of mutant science fiction vegetables. In reality, heirloom Atomic Red carrots and warty Super Freak pumpkins are part of the 2012 Lonesome Road Studio kitchen garden!

Part of the New Year's Day break was spent poring over pages and pages of all the new gardening catalogs arriving daily in the mail, with their tempting photos of gigantic heads of cabbage, heaping piles of green beans, and bushels and bushels of perfectly ripe tomatoes. Eighty dollars later, we've made some progress in planning the garden. Joining the Atomic Red carrots will be Tendersweet carrots, and the Super Freak pumpkins will be neighbors with Giant Magic Hybrid pumpkins. Fresh garden salads are a favorite on the Lonesome Road, and there will be Romaine lettuce and a lettuce blend, plus two varieties of spinach, and radicchio.
The pepper family is represented by three favorites: Cubanelle (wonderful in summer bread salad), San Martin Anchos, and Del Sol Serranos. Let's hope they grow this year; 2011 was not the best year for peppers around here.
Mr. Lonesome enjoys snow peas, and I like long slender filet-style green beans and yellow wax beans, so there will be a little of all of these in the kitchen garden again this year. I am always intrigued by the beauty of deep purple beans but that fascination fades just like their purple color after cooking. Instead, finger-length Hansel eggplants will provide the purple in this year's garden.
Don't tell anyone... but I'm not a big fan of corn even though I live in the heartland. Mr. Lonesome does though, so we will have a little patch of sweet corn this year, replacing the patch of Japanese hull-less popcorn we grew last year (and are enjoying in abundance!).
Two old favorites are making a return in the garden this year, cucumbers and white kohlrabi. This year's newcomers are Borettana Cipollini onions and Stonehead cabbage. I did not forget how awesome last year's Walla Walla onion harvest was and later this spring I will be returning to the garden center where I bought last year's sets - why mess with a good thing?
The neighbors' Clydesdales assisted with this year's garden, if you know what I mean.
Did I forget anything? Oh yes, tomatoes and herbs. The tomatoes of choice are usually paste varieties like Roma or San Marzano. We haven't decided whether to start them from seed or purchase plants later in the spring. As for herbs, we've ordered a couple varieties of oregano and I'm sure we'll have more than enough volunteer dill and maybe cilantro. Past efforts to grow perennial rosemary and tarragon were not particularly successful, but gardening is much like being a Chicago sports fan, there's always next year!
Check back to see our garden's progress, and tell me a little about your garden!

vegetables as far as the eye can see!

It's that time of the year when parts of the kitchen garden are yielding produce by the piles and you could eat salads for three meals a day and it still wouldn't make a dent. But that's what you waited for all winter, right? So let's do some interesting things with all that beautiful summer bounty!

One of my favorite summertime vegetable preparations is from the terrific cookbook "Herbs Love Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions & Zucchini" by Ruth Bass, published by Storey Books. On every page there is a mouth-watering recipe using simple ingredients to make wonderful everyday meals. When you're up to your eyes with garden vegetables, the recipe "Marinated Vegetables with Tarragon" is one that you will turn to again and again.

Simply prepare 4 cups of vegetables, your choice: tomatoes, snow peas, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots... whatever you like and have on hand that day.

Mix up the marinade:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup tarragon vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

4 tablespoons chopped green onions, white and part of green

1 teaspoon dried tarragon (double the amount if you have fresh tarragon available)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons sugar

Arrange veggies in a shallow dish, pour the marinade over them, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to one day, stirring once.

Serves 4 to 6 veggie lovers.

garden season - finally! (?)

Well now, this certainly has been kind of a weird spring in the Chicago/northern Illinois area! Mainly below-average temperatures with no lack of rain, followed by a brief spell of highs in the '90s. Hopefully we've "weathered" (groan) most of the unpredictability of spring and can now settle in and get a decent garden planted. If nothing else, there will be a bumper crop of mesclun on the Lonesome Road; check out the little volunteer lettuce plants (above) from last year's garden... can't wait until they're big enough to make a fresh and tasty backyard salad!

Look closely - this little dude (? - I'm not really interested in determining the sex of toads, LOL) was discovered during some rototilling. Thankfully he escaped in time...

I'm sure that everyone in the state of Georgia will hate me for saying this, but I really prefer Walla Walla onions, and they are planted in the Lonesome Road garden for the first time this year! We also planted California white garlic, there is nothing like fresh garlic instead of that puckered-up, dried-up grocery store junk. I also hope to make batches of buttery slow-baked garlic, delicious when used for garlic bread, added to soups or pasta sauces, mmmmm!

Ah, a dog's life! Jane the Dog enjoying a bit of fresh air and sunshine. She enjoys the garden too - Jane loves fresh carrots.

A Lonesome Road garden tradition - Roma-style tomatoes. I always hope for a bumper crop for making pizza/pasta sauce to freeze in the fall.

These are just a few of the things you'll find in the Lonesome Road garden. This year's plans also include popcorn, green and yellow string beans, snow peas (the husband's favorite), cucumbers, pumpkins and melons (please please please, no squash bugs this year!), carrots, and probably lots and lots of volunteer dill (like every year). Hot peppers? Definitely, as well as herbs like oregano, thyme, and basil.

[while we're on the subject of salads... try this yummy Tequila-Orange salad dressing. Perfect on mixed greens, spinach + a bit of julienned jicama and avocado!]

Whisk together: 6 tablespoons fresh orange juice, 4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons tequila, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 4 teaspoons honey, 1 small garlic clove, very finely minced, sea salt to taste

aphrodisiac week - day two - x-rated veggies!

Asparagus - Exposed!!

Everyone has heard tales of the mighty asparagus spear, inspiring lust in all who dine on it. Once again, its rumored powers may only have started because of its contours, but asparagus is a good source of folic acid, which can boost histamine production necessary for the ability to achieve the Big O.

You don't have to go overboard with asparagus as they did in nineteenth century France, where bridegrooms were served three courses of the vegetable at prenuptial dinners. Enjoy it in a light primavera-type pasta dish, serve steamed on the side with classic Hollandaise, or try something a little different - an airy, light beer tempura asparagus appetizer.

ingredients:

• 16 asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed off
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 water
• 1/4 cup beer
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying (not olive oil)

In a large bowl combine flour, cornstarch, salt, sugar and baking powder. Add water and beer to the dry mixture. Whisk together slowly until tempura batter is smooth. Pour batter into a shallow dish for dipping the asparagus spears.

In a medium saucepan or skillet, heat the oil until a drop of the batter fizzes and bubbles; then the oil is hot enough.

Dip half of the asparagus spears in the batter, transfer carefully to the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon or tongs to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Fry the remaining dipped asparagus spears. Serve immediately.

Of course, this is a terrific tempura batter for other vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, etc. and for fried shrimp as well.

new for Easter... pineapple and carrot relish

A new, healthy and delicious

holiday classic.

Yes, there are always tried-and-true holiday favorites, but as someone who loves to cook and try recipes, it's always fun to inject some new life into an old menu.

This nifty little recipe came from one of those cool free recipe cards at the supermarket. Originally intended to be a salad; but after tasting, I think it is best served on the side as a relish. Try it, and be the judge for yourself.

I used safflower oil in place of the original canola oil, but use what you like as long as it is light and not overpowering. Also, I used white balsamic vinegar for the white wine vinegar (basically the same thing but with a slightly different flavor that I prefer in this dish). And, I used curry powder since I absolutely adore it and I have the tastiest Madras curry powder purchased from an Asian grocery. Frankly, I'm not sure what the interchangeable-ness (a word?) is between chipotle chili powder and curry powder; I'm sure it's just a matter of preference.

Try this beautiful, fresh and easy salad (relish) for Easter; I think you'll like the way it complements your old favorites!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
• 2 cups shredded raw carrots
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon canola (or safflower) oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large serving bowl combine pineapple and carrots.
In a small bowl stir together marmalade, oil, vinegar, chipotle or curry powder, salt and pepper. Pour over pineapple-carrot mixture; toss to combine. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Serves 4 as a salad.

new for the kitchen garden

It's that time.... seed catalogs stacked to the ceiling... garden plans graphed neatly... tiny peat pellets sprouting new life, promising a season of bountiful richness.

The Lonesome Road gardens are a bit soggy at the moment, but the choices have been made for this year's kitchen garden. Of course we have more seeds than we could possibly ever need (how did we end up with 7 or 8 different kinds of lettuce?). Yet enthusiasm wins over practicality every year and so we will get to work in the garden once again in a couple of months. Besides, any extra produce is always welcome at local food pantries and as part of Plant A Row For The Hungry.

The newest addition to the Lonesome Road kitchen garden this year will be the herb epazote. I am a Rick Bayless fan; I have been to his fabulous Chicago restaurant Frontera, I have one of his many cookbooks, and I love to watch his cooking show "Mexico One Plate At A Time." One of the ingredients that Bayless uses often in his authentic Mexican cooking is epazote; it's not readily found in my area stores so I ordered seeds to plant my own and will give it a try this year. In my research, I discovered that epazote is often used in bean dishes because it has digestive properties, kind of a natural "Beano."

I am also treating myself to Ichiban eggplant this year. In previous years I've planted several varieties of eggplant; the little white ones that look like actual eggs, the lovely lavender and white ones, and the list goes on. I've never really liked the texture and seediness of the others but have always longed for those elegant long, dark Japanese eggplants that need no peeling. So I found what I was looking for in my trusty seed catalog, and I will hopefully have a bumper crop of Ichiban eggplant for everything from ratatouille to Chinese stir-fries and oh yes... tempura!

Of course the usual suspects will be included this year. Last year was not a good year for tomatoes on the Lonesome Road; we will try again for a good crop of Roma tomatoes for my awesome homemade pizza sauce which is made in large quantities for the freezer (yes, I will post the recipe here!). Other garden favorites to be planted this year are Cubanelle and Poblano peppers, and herbs. This year the herbs will be part of a container gardening system; with my busy schedule of juggling a job and an ever-increasing show schedule, I just don't have the time to pick weeds in an extensive herb garden. Plus, it gives me an excuse to buy some cool pottery *wink*.

Post your garden suggestions here; what's new in your garden this year, and old favorites that you can't live without.

happy march 1st!

Fresh, tender asparagus - the perfect spring vegetable! Beautiful shades of green mixed with purples (or all purple, or all white), asparagus's visual appeal is as unique as its flavor.

One of my favorite ways to prepare asparagus is to simply sprinkle it with a bit of olive oil, a healthy squeeze of lemon juice, some salt and pepper, then wrap the whole thing in foil and cook to perfection for 10 or 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. This technique also works with grilling.

I also love steamed, chilled asparagus with a great dipping sauce. My favorite is a take on the familiar Bearnaise sauce, but done as a rich but fresh-tasting mayonnaise. Sweet and mellow, tarragon is another one of my favorite flavors, and like dill, it seems to blend so well with all the lovely vegetables of spring, like asparagus, spinach and fresh peas.

Try this Bearnaise mayonnaise with chilled asparagus spears for your next spring fling:

• 1 minced shallot, or 2 teaspoons of minced mild onion
• 4 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (if you have tarragon vinegar, all the better!)
• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon dried dill

Heat together in a small saucepan until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Keep an eye on it; once it begins to evaporate, it happens quickly. Also, you may want to turn on an exhaust fan or crack a window as the vinegar aroma does become a bit pungent.

Combine the reduced mixture with:

• 1 cup mayonnaise

Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill completely, and serve as a dip for fresh vegetables.