Cleaning Out The Fridge Quiche

 

See a theme here?  Cleaning out the fridge?  I've been on a kick lately.  Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by the odds and ends in my fridge that I'm just desperate to get rid of it all.  This week I haven't shopped once, it's been all about using up the stuff I already have.  

The dish du soir is quiche, one of my all time faves.  Eggy cheesy goodness in a pastry shell--sort of like souffle but richer, and practically worry-free.  This isn't the first time I've used quiche to clean out the fridge--some of my favorite combos have been born out of this very routine, such as my "southwestern" quiche: onion and bell pepper remnants diced and sauteed quickly and tossed with some of Emeril's Southwestern Essence or just a pinch of cayenne pepper and pepper jack cheese.  Or the dregs of a box of frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, and paired with just about any cheese and a couple of dashes of nutmeg.  The list really could go on. 

Tonight's "Cleaning Out The Fridge" quiche was extra-special because I actually had pie dough that I needed to "get rid of."  If you recall, I had been planning on making mini-quiches last weekend for the Oscars, and after making the dough decided to scrap the project due to egg/cheese overload.  Usually I use frozen pie crusts for quiche (insert gasp here), but since I was going to make the mini quiches in muffin tins, I needed my own pastry dough.  The particular dough that I made, Martha Stewart's classic pate brisee, is supposed to keep well frozen for a month, but I knew if I didn't use it up soon many months would pass before I remembered I had it.  So I started thawing it in the fridge this morning, and by 6:30 it was ready to roll.  In addition to the pate brisee, I still had quite a bit of that ham left (remember, it showed up in potato gratin a few nights ago).  I also had some cheddar leftover from mac and cheese that we made about a month ago.  And, to pretend this dish had some nutritional benefit, I threw in one small onion, because I always keep onions on hand.

Before rolling the dough I assembled the custard part of the filling, which is more or less equal parts egg and sour cream (I use reduced fat), and about 1 cup of cheese, plus whatever meat/veg.  Can't you see how precise this recipe is?  Ha!  Clearly, I totally eyeball the whole thing.  So I mixed my egg, sour cream, and cheese, and on Erik's suggestion added some fresh dill and thyme that we had kicking around.  Then I diced the onion and sauteed it in a bit of EVOO until it had softened a bit, about 8 minutes probably.  Then I diced some ham in 1/4 inch dice or so.  When I was ready I sprinkled my silicone mat with flour, and rolled out the dough so it was about 18-1/4 inch thick.  After carefully transferring it to the pan and adjusting it so that I didn't have to stretch it to make it fit (apparently if you do this the pastry will shrink as it bakes), I rolled the overhanging edges and pinched around the edge to make a rim.  I kind of winged it, because actually, this is the first pie crust I've made from scratch.  But I'm happy to say, it was pretty easy!  Then I layered in the custard mix and the fillings....and realized I had waaaay too little.  I had made enough for a frozen pie crust, but my deep dish glass pan is nearly twice as big!  So then I mixed up some more custard mix, finished filling it, baked it for about 45-50 minutes, until it was set.  Erik put together a nice salad with mesculan, cuke, red bell pepper and chopped scallions dressed with a simple dijon-lemon juice-EVOO-S&P dressing (an easy classic), and dinner was served! 

I'm not going to lie, the quiche was delicious.  Although, I've never really met a quiche that wasn't.  While I will probably continue using frozen pie crust 90% of the time, the homemade crust was noticeably yummier, I thought (or perhaps I was just thinking about all that work making it...)  But whether you opt to duplicate tonight's recipe, or discover your own combination, think about quiche when you're thinking about cleaning out the fridge...or not.  It is so delicious that you should think about it next time you're having people over for brunch, or lunch, or dinner, or just whenever you want a delicious, easy dinner. 

Cleaning Out the Fridge Quiche

I had to nearly double the amounts of egg, sour cream, and cheese to make this fill my deep dish pie plate.  However, the amounts listed below are for your average sized frozen pie crust, which is what I use most of the time.

My half-filled quiche.  Oops.  If that were a frozen pie crust, it would have been perfect.

* 4 or 5 eggs

* About 1/2 a pint, aka 1 cup, of sour cream (reduced fat works fine)

* About 1 cup of grated cheese, plus and additional 1/4 cup or so to sprinkle on top. Semi-firm varieties, such as Cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack, and Gruyere work well

* Freshly ground pepper

At this point, that's all you need for a yummy plain quiche.  However, meat and veggie additions make it even yummier.  Tonight I used:

* 1 small onion, diced and sauteed in EVOO until softened

* About 1/2 cup diced ham (organic, nitrate-free, if you can find it)

* Fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems

* Fresh dill, chopped

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Remove your frozen pie crust from the freezer and allow to thaw while you prep filling.

2. Whisk together the egg, sour cream, pepper, herbs, and 1 cup of grated cheese in a bowl. 

3.  In a small skillet, saute onions in some EVOO over medium heat until they are softened, about 8 minutes.

4.  Dice ham to a 1/4 inch dice.

5.  Place pie crust on a cookie sheet (if you're using a frozen crust in a flimsy pan).  Pour about 1/3 of the custard filling into the pie crust (it doesn't matter if the crust hasn't thawed completely).  Sprinkle on about half the ham and onions, and then repeat with another 1/3 of the custard, the remaining ham and onions, and then the remainder of the custard.  This step doesn't have to be too precise, but I do it this way instead of mixing everything together to help ensure an even distribution of the chunky stuff.  Sprinkle the top of the quiche with the 1/4 cup of grated cheese. 

 Filled to perfection.  You don't want to go all the way to the top, because the egg will bake up a bit

6.  Bake quiche, on cookie sheet, for about 35-40 minutes, or until top is golden brown and the center of the quiche doesn't jiggle if you shake it gently.  If the crust is browning too quickly, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.

7.  Cool quiche for about 5 minutes before slicing, and serving like a pie.  Enjoy!

If you're feeling really inspired and want to make your own crust, try of Martha Stewart's classic pate brisee, recipe below.  The quantities listed make a single crust for 9 or 10-inch pan.

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1/2 teaspoon sugar

* 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

* 1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water 

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. 

3. Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap.  If needed, use your hands to gently press the dough together into a disc.  Wrap tightly in the plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

4.  To roll the dough, lightly flour a rolling surface and your rolling pin.  Starting rolling from the center, and rotate the dough often to create an even circle (or circular like shape)  Roll to about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick, and until it reaches the correct size.  Place your pie pan (ungreased--plenty of butter in there already!) right next to the dough, and gently lift it into the pan and center.

5. Trim any overhang that's too long, and transfer the dough to a part that doesn't have much of a lip, if necessary.  Fold the overhaning dough over towards the center of the dish, and pinch the edge all the way around to create a lip.

 Behold!  My first pie crust!  The unsightly overlap will be covered with egg, so don't sweat it.

Easy Potato Gratin with Ham

 

Gratin is what happens when you try to thinly slice potatoes for homemade potato chips, fail, and have a potato and a half of misshapen potato slices.  And a hunk of ham that was supposed to become end up in quiche that later gets scrapped.  And leftover Gruyere cheese from French Onion Soup.  Really, if you ask me, the leftovers in the fridge were telling me that gratin was meant to be! 

Working with what I had, I modified a Cooking Light recipe slightly (basically omitting the healthy part).  This particular recipe has you simmer the potato slices, along with thinly sliced garlic, in milk before baking them to increase the creaminess of the dish without using any actual cream or butter.  The milk starts to tenderize the potatoes and infuses them with the garlic flavor.  The softened slices are layered in a pan with chunks of ham and grated Gruyere cheese (and parboiled green beans, if you follow the recipe verbatim).  Finally, a cup of the milk is mixed with a bit of grated nutmeg and poured over the top, bake for 40 minutes and voila! 

Overall I was happy with the recipe--it gives you the cheesy, indulgent gratin experience without the excesses of cream and butter that so many use.  Don't get me wrong--those are delicious--but this is more appropriate for an everyday kind of meal.  My only notes on the recipe are that the garlic flavor that was so strong after the potato slices simmered in the milk became much more subtle--almost too subtle--after baking.  When I use this recipe again I will increase the garlic from two to three or even four cloves to help retain the garlicy-ness post-bake.  I will also double the amount of nutmeg, because that also became too muted upon baking.  These technicalities aside, I like this recipe for its *slightly* healthier approach to potato gratin and its adaptability.  While it's certainly special enough for a holiday meal, served alongside a big mesculan, spinach, and chopped veggie salad (keep cleaning out that fridge!), it makes a perfect weeknight meal as well. 

Potato and Ham Gratin (Cooking Light, April 2002)

Serves 8 according to Cooking Light--but 8 very virtuous side-dish servings.  If you are making a meal of this, as I did, only plan on 4 or 6.

* 3 cups of 2% or 1% milk
* 2 pounds potatoes, thinly sliced--they say red, I used baking, but I'm sure anything will work!
* 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (I'd use even more!)
* 2 bay leaves
* 4 ounces green beans, trimmed
* Cooking spray
* 1/2 cup deli ham, diced (look for nitrate-free, if you can)
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or more!)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
 
2. Combine the milk, potatoes, garlic and bay leaves in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring so the potatoes don't stick and the milk doesn't scorch on the bottom.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 cup milk mixture. Discard the bay leaves, but leave the garlic.

3. (If using), cook green beans in boiling water for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Rinse in cold water; drain.

4. Arrange half of potatoes in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange haricots verts and ham over potatoes. Sprinkle with half of cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with remaining potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir nutmeg into reserved milk mixture; pour over potatoes.

5. Cover the baking dish with foil and cut 3 (1-inch) slits in the foil. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Oscar Party Recap

 

I went a little bit hog wild this weekend.  Reason: The Oscars.  I love throwing a good party, and the Oscars gave me a great reason to cook up some tasty food for my friends.  I put together a pretty ambitious menu, mostly comprised of foods I'd never tried before, a party planning no-no that I always (unwisely) ignore.  I was trying to go for a theme of yellow food and foods that I could shape into stars, if possible.  My biggest struggle with party planning and cooking lots of different things is working out the timing.  If I could crank out dish after dish and not worry if a) they'll fit in the fridge, and b) whether they will need to be warm or hot or cold in 5 hours, then I'm sure it would be a (relative) cinch.  But of course, that is never the case, and to further complicate things, I was doing the cooking at the house where I was dog sitting (constant vigilace is required to make sure border collie hairs do not end up in the food!), but the party was at another friend's house, so there was the problem of transferring things: what goes in tupperware?  What can I plate now? Will everything get ruined when I bounce down the awful dirt road which I don't think has been graded once since I started dog sitting here 3 years ago?  Whew!  It was a lot to think about!

In the end I scrapped a few of my planned foods, because I realized after grating about a pound of cheese and going through about 2 dozen eggs, that a lot of my foods were cheese and egg heavy (they are golden, which made them natural choices when I was planning).  Homemade potato chips and mini star topped quiches, based on these Star Topped Mince Pies both got the axe at the last minute, the chips because they were a disaster, and the quiches because of the aforementioned cheese/egg overload issue.  I still think they would have been fantastic, but they seemed redundant at that moment.  

Puff Pastry Stars:

One dish that did make the cut was puff pastry stars that I cut out of pre-made puff pastry, baked, then topped with a dollop of creamy goat cheese, a slow roasted cherry tomato half, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction.  (Because I was using cherry tomatoes they only took about 1 1/2 hours to roast to perfection, and I was able to do them in a toaster oven, so didn't waste quite as much energy and heating your entire oven for that long).  These were good, although I scrimped a little and used store-brand puff pastry.  Next time, if it's available, I would use something like DuFour brand, which is hands-down the tastiest puff pastry dough I've ever tried, although it's a mite more expensive than Stop n' Shop brand.  The tomatoes obviously need to be cooked ahead of time, and the cheese and puff pastry need to be brought to room temperature, but the baking should occur at the last minute, according to package directions, and will take less than 15 minutes, at which point they come together very quickly. 

Polenta "Pizza":

Among my favorite dishes was a polenta "pizza."  I have been doing a little bit of experiementing with polenta lately, a polenta "lasagna" being one of my favorite creations.  This Brown Eyed Baker recipe tops a sheet of polenta with cheese and sauteed veggies.  It was delicious, and can be modified a hundred different ways, although I liked the suggested spinach, mushroom and tomato topping.  There is this misconception that polenta is a tricky and time consuming thing to make.  Let me say this: it's not!  There is also the fear that finding "polenta" or "instant polenta" in the grocery store is tricky.  You don't need it!  There are recipes out there that tell you to boil, then simmer, cover, then uncover, stir vigorously for 30 seconds, rest for 2 minutes, then repeat 20 times.  I've even tried one, and I have to say, they're not worth it.  I swear by a polenta recipe that I found in a thrift store cookbook several years ago.  Basically you need cornmeal, plain old cornmeal, and liquid in a 1: 4 ratio, i.e, 1 cup corn meal, 4 cups liquid.  You can use all water, but I prefer a 50/50 mix of water and milk for a little more creaminess.  You bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat.  When you reach a simmer, sprinkle the cornmeal in and whisk while doing so until all the cornmeal is incorporated.  Continue whisking over low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the polenta reaches a thick consistency.  Season with salt, pepper, cheese, butter, or whatever.  Polenta in 10 minutes, guaranteed.  The only time this recipe has ever failed me was when I spaced out and dumped all the cornmeal into the simmering milk without whisking, then I had lumpy polenta.  But add it gradually and whisk while doing so, and you'll be golden!  I'll definitely be making this one again, and it was also great because I was able to make the polenta sheet the night before, refrigerate it, then bake closer to the last minute.  

PS. If any of you readers also follow the blog Orangette, I had to laugh when I read the most recent post, which incidentally is also about polenta.  I didn't see it until after I wrote my bit on polenta, but I'd say we're on the same page!  See, even a seasoned, respected food blogger agrees with me!  Polenta is not hard, and fear of polenta can easily be overcome!  In this recipe or just plain, try it!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce:

Another favorite of the night was chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce.  Erik trimmed chicken breasts of excess fat and cut them into skewer-able strips.  We marinated the strips for a few hours in a mix of 1 cup of greek yogurt, and about a tablespoon each of minced or grated ginger and garlic, and a big tablespoon of curry powder, to get a nice yellowy color.  Before skewering the chicken, we soaked the wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to help to keep them from charring, then Erik grilled them, I'm guessing about 4-5 minutes per side, until they were cooked through.  The yogurt marinade made the chicken very tender and almost creamy, much like the yogurt itself.  They were quite different than chicken satay that you might order at a Thai restaurant, but still delicious, especially when they were warm from the grill.  The peanut dipping sauce that I served along side the satay was from an Emeril Lagasse recipe that I've made several times before.  I don't make any adjustments to the quantities or ingredients, but I will point out that if you have a mini Cuisinart you can use it to mince the garlic and ginger, then just mix the rest of the ingredients and pulse until it's a blended, creamy sauce.  I made this an afternoon ahead except and refrigerated it until showtime, at which point I topped it with chopped peanuts and cilantro.  Delicious!

Cupcakes: 

And of course, no party is complete without sweets (at least, no party that I throw!)  Chocolate dipped strawberries are always elegant, even when they're underripe, big, scary, winter strawberries.  The real tasty treats though were mini chocolate cupcakes topped with the same, incredible mocha frosting that we used on our Buche de Noel last December!  I haven't settled on a favorite, go-to cake batter yet, so this time I tried a fairly easy Paula Deen recipe (without the filling, although it does sound delicious!) I dug up on the Food Network website.  It made a nice, chocolaty cake that was incredibly tender.  I halved the recipe, and even halved it still yielded about 40 mini cupcakes, which was more than enough!   By the time I got around to making the frosting I was feeling a bit rushed and panicked, and managed to ruin the egg whites twice, thus wasting 4 eggs and half a stick of butter, which made me even more annoyed and frantic.  Luckily Erik stepped in and helped me out, and the third time was a charm (turns out, in my rush, I forgot to put sugar in--both times--hence the two failed attempts).  Again we made a 1/3 recipe of Ina Garten's AMAZING frosting, which was still too much for all those cupcakes, but was easier than trying to figure out a 1/4 recipe.  I finally got to use my pastry bag with a fancy tip, so the frosting looked (almost) professional, and it was actually a heck of lot easier and faster than trying to pick up and frost all those cupcakes, and then put them down without smearing the sides.  If you make these ahead of time, refrigerate the cupcakes, because it will help the frosting set up--it will soften up again after sitting out at room temperature for 30 minutes, so no need to worry about hard frosting, but it makes them easier to transport because the frosting isn't sticky.

If you've made it to the end of this lengthy post, congratulations!  There were more dishes, but these were the highlights, perfect for the Oscars or any time you're throwing a casual cocktail party.  And apologies for the lack of photos--I was just too busy to think about it!

Cleaning Out The Fridge Calzones

You may have noticed that my recent cooking photos were not taken in my kitchen--or maybe you haven't, I don't know.  But anyway, they weren't taken in my kitchen, because I am still pet sitting, this time for a border collie and 2 cats, my oldest "clients."  What started out as a favor for one friend is now my winter time "business"--I've been booked solid for the past 2 months, with the exception of February 19th, the only day I've been between jobs.  But anyway, back to my point, which is that I've been cooking elsewhere these days.  The best part about this current gig is that the owner has basically every kitchen gadget under the sun, and then some, so Erik and I always have fun experimenting with the things we find.  (I'm pretty sure the only time their pasta maker has ever been used is when we're staying here!)  The latest gadget that I wanted to try was a little calzone mold, available from Williams Sonoma, if you feel so inclined.  

While this little thing is hardly essential for making calzones, it was fun to try.  It's best attribute is that it helps with portion control--when I'm making calzones free form I get so carried away that each calzone is like an entire pizza, just folded in half.  I liked this tool because it makes a nicely sized calzone that left me full but not sick to my stomach because I just don't know when to stop eating.

But enough about a piece of plastic--let's get to the good stuff: the filling.  Since our time at this particular house is winding down, and we will be out every night until we head back to our own cottage, I was trying to figure out how to use up as many odds and ends as possible.  Surprisingly, and luckily, I had just the right amount of this and that to make the perfect amount of delicious filling--a cup of spicy homemade tomato sauce, about a 1/3 of a box of frozen spinach, the butt of a small onion, half a red bell pepper and some kalamata olives.  Tangy feta cheese and melty grated mozzarella rounded out this Greek-inspired combination, which I have to say was amazingly delicious, despite its ad-hoc nature.  In fact, part of the reason I'm posting about it is so that I remember to make it again, even when I'm not just trying to use up leftovers.

Usually when I make calzones I just toss everything on the dough, as if I were making a pizza, before folding it.  This time, however, I tried mixing all the ingredients together before making the calzones, mostly in the interest of saving counter space so I wouldn't have lots of piles of vegetables and whatnot while I was waiting for Erik to get back from the store with the cheese.  I actually really liked this approach, and will use it again in the future, since it helped all the flavors come together, and made the calzones quicker to fill.

The dough I used for these calzones is the exact same pizza dough featured in the flatbread post.  It made 4 individually sized calzones.  It is quite a soft dough, which made it a bit hard to remove from the calzone shaper gadget, although spraying it with Pam helped.  

Greek-Inspired "Cleaning Out The Fridge" Calzones

Serves 4

* 1 batch of this pizza dough, or the dough of your choice, either homemade or store-bought

* About 1 cup of tomato sauce, either homemade or jarred

* About 1/3 of a box of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid

* 1/4 of a small onion, diced

* 1/2 red bell pepper, diced

* 2 cloves garlic, minced

* A shake of red pepper flakes, if desired

* About 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, quartered

* Fresh or dried thyme and oregano, a few sprinkles of each

* Feta cheese, crumbled

* Mozzarella cheese, grated

* Cornmeal, for sprinkling, or nonstick spray

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  In a bowl, combine the tomato sauce, spinach, onion, pepper, garlic, olives, red pepper flakes, and herbs.

 

If you filling is this liquidy, just spoon off the excess so the insides of your calzones aren't runny

2.  Divide the dough into 4 portions and roll or stretch out into a circle.  If you are using a calzone gadget, place the dough on the gadget, if not, just leave the rounds on your work surface.  Place a quarter of the filling and a sprinkle of the crumbled feta and the mozzarella on half of each dough round.  Fold the other half over and pinch firmly with your fingers to seal the calzone.

3. Transfer the calzones to a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal or sprayed with nonstick spray.  If you want an easy cleanup, cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil first.  Arrange the calzones so they aren't touching, and have a couple of inches of space between them.  

4.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.  A big leafy salad is a great accompaniment for these calzones.  Enjoy!

A bad example of giving the calzones enough space.  Better to use two sheets if one is this crowded.

Roasted Broccoli

   

Broccoli happens to be my favorite vegetable, but sadly Erik does not share my appreciation for this wonderful veg, so I've had to do without for quite a while now.  However, a few weeks ago my sister and her boyfriend came to visit, and we made Mongolian Beef with Broccoli (another recipe for another post), and we had an extra head of broccoli kicking around the fridge.  I don't know where I initially saw the recipe, but rumor had it that Ina Garten's Roasted Broccoli was to die for, so I figured I had nothing to lose.  

What I love about this recipe is that it's so fast and easy, and it truly does make broccoli irresistible.  Upon serving it to Erik for the first time I was practically apologetic, because I knew he wasn't too excited, but I kid you not, his exact word were "Did you do something special to this broccoli?  It tastes like french fries."  And there you have it: even a broccoli un-enthusiast thinks this is one tasty recipe!  Plus it's so quick to prepare, adaptable for any amount of people, and can go along side just about anything (as long as you don't mind letting it steal the show!)  Ina has you toss the roasted broccoli with lemon juice, cheese and pine nuts, but so far I've only tried it with lemon juice, which does add something special, so I wouldn't skip that step.  I'm sure the cheese and pine nuts taste great, too, but the broccoli is so good on its own that they're hardly essential.

Roasted Broccoli (Adapted from Ina Garten's Back To Basics cookbook)

* Enough broccoli

* A few cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

* Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

* Kosher salt and pepper, a sprinkle of each

* Wedge of lemon for squeezing, and zest from the lemon

* Toasted pine nuts (optional)

* Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and adjust rack to the middle of the oven.  Cut the broccoli into florets and trim off any long stems.

2.  Put the broccoli and the garlic on a sheet pan (lined with tin foil for easy clean up, if you want), and drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss the broccoli and garlic around on the sheet pan to coat everything lightly with oil.

                              

3. Roast the broccoli for 20-25 minutes.  It's okay if the tips start to look a little charred--trust me, they will taste delicious!  

4. After the broccoli is done cooking, toss it with lemon juice and zest.  Add toasted pine nuts and a few shavings of parmesan if you so desire.

French Onion Soup, According to Cook's Illustrated

   
French onion soup has been on Erik's "to cook" list for a while now, and last night we finally got around to it.  There are so many recipes out there to choose from, but essentially they all start with caramelizing onions, adding  some sort of booze, a variety of broths, some herbs, and letting it simmer all together.  Then of course the thing that makes it French onion soup, not just any old onion soup, is the melting of copious amounts of cheese all over the top.  But which recipe to choose?  One of my fave blogs, Brown Eyed Baker, had recently featured a French Onion Soup, following a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, which might as well be the Bible, so I figured, might as well start with the best.  


What made the Cook's Illustrated version so appealing was that they took about four times longer to caramelize the onions, so I figured those would end up being some damn delicious onions.  And oh boy, were they ever.  Instead of doing everything stove-top, CO has you cook the onions down for 2 1/2 hours in the oven before even starting the stovetop caramelizing, which made those onions so sweet it was hard to believe I wasn't eating candy.  Not even hyperbole, I swear.  Then a mixture of beef and chicken broths, and water, thyme and a bay leaf, and we were simmering.   

Now, it might be sacrilege to admit this, but actually the only thing I don't like about French onion soup is that excessively cheesy crust.  Maybe it's my inner moderately-health-conscious person talking here, but just seeing all that oozy cheese all over the place just doesn't do it for me, plus it always makes a mess and inevitably you burn your tongue on it.  And in fact, Cook's Illustrated agrees with me!  So as a variation, we toasted slices of french bread on both sides under the broiler, then topped one side with grated Gruyere, and melted that for a minute, and floated those big cheese croutons atop the soup.  The soup quickly saturated the crouton and helped melt the cheese, making it, for me, the perfect topping for an exceptional soup.  But no matter how you like to finish it, either drenched with cheese or delicately topped with a modest amount this soup is a winner.  It takes a bit of time, but it's a fun project for a Sunday afternoon (or whenever you have time).  From start to finish the soup took about 4 hours, but the first 2 1/2 is just oven time, and your patience will certainly be rewarded.


French Onion Soup (from Cook's Illustrated)
Serves 6


* 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
* 4 pounds of yellow onions, peeled, halved, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

* Salt
* 3 cups water, divided
* 1/2 cup dry sherry (we used a dry white wine)
* 4 cups of chicken broth
* 2 cups of beef broth
* 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, tied in a bundle with kitchen twine
* 1 bay leaf
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices
* About 2 cups of shredded Gruyere cheese


1.  Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Generously spray the inside of a heavy bottomed large (7 quarts, at least) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray.  In the Dutch oven combine sliced onions, butter, and 1 teaspoon salt.  Cover and cook in oven for 1 hour.  After an hour, remove from oven and stir, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot.  At this point the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume.  Return the Dutch oven to the oven with the lid ajar and continue to cook for an additional 1 1/2 hours until the onions are very soft and turning golden brown, stirring onions and scraping down Dutch oven again after 1 hour.

2.  After a total of 2 1/2 hours in the oven, transfer pot to stove top over medium-high heat.  Cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of the pot, until accumulated liquid has evaporated and onions start to brown more, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the bottom of the pot is coated with a dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes.  Scrape any crust that sticks to the spoon back into the onions.

3.  Deglaze pan by stirring in 1/4 cup of water, and scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen crust.  Cook until water evaporates and the pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes.  Repeat process of deglazing an additional 2 or 3 times (3-4 times total), until onions are very dark brown.  (Taste them now, they are like candy!).  Perform a final deglazing with the sherry, stirring frequently until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

  
4.  Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, and bay leaf, scraping up any final bits of browned crust.  Increase heat until broth begins to simmer (a few bubbles breaking the surface every few seconds), then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.  Remove and discard herbs, then season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
  

5.  While soup is simmering, prepare the croutons.  Arrange baguette slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes until the bread is dry and lightly browned.


6.  Time to put it all together: If you have individually sized broiler-safe crocks to serve the soup in, proceed thusly:  Adjust oven rack 6 inches below broiler element then preheat broiler.  Set crocks on a cookie sheet and fill each with soup, but not all the way to the top.  Top each crock with a single layer of baguette, 1 or 2 slices of baguette, and sprinkle evenly with cheese.  Carefully transfer the cookie sheet to the oven and broil for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.


If you do not have broiler safe crocks (we didn't), just arrange the baguette slices on the cookie sheet, sprinkle evenly with cheese, and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Remove from the oven and place 1 or 2 croutons atop each bowl and serve.  Enjoy!!! 

Indian Spiced Cauliflower Soup

  

Last night I tried my hand at Indian cooking for the second time; the first time was about three years ago, when I attempted an Indian take on tomato soup and grilled cheese after a trip to the emergency room. The meal turned out terribly: the soup was like water and I forgot the toasts under the broiler and they came out charred.  Erik and I still laugh about it, as it was one of about three meals that I've ever made that neither of us liked. However, last night I had my game face, and was armed with the right ingredients, arguably a better cook book (Best-Ever Indian Cookbook--how could I go wrong?), and I was ready to focus and get it right.

While I am a great appreciator of Indian food (it's basically my only must-have any time I'm off-island), I hardly know enough about the actual cooking of Indian food and planning of a menu to formulate a proper meal, so I just chose the first 2 easy recipes I came across in the first chapter (Soups and Appetizers), and went from there. The Spiced Cauliflower Soup was easy and delicious, and packed with healthy ingredients like vegetables, calcium- and protein-rich yogurt, superspice turmeric, and low-fat to boot. The Samosas, though healthier than some restaurant ones because they were baked, not fried, presented problems for me because of the old phyllo dough that I had on hand, which in retrospect would have been better off tossed in the garbage... So I will tell you about the soup, since I was made it with ease, but I will hold off of the samosas until I have a chance to try them again, and won't have to preface the recipe by saying "make sure you phyllo dough isn't total crap, flaking apart on one side and a soggy gelatinous blob on the other...."

My only warning about this soup is that turmeric STAINS. Everything.  I splashed some on the counter, which is now covered with yellow spots, the (formerly) white ladle is now bright yellow, and the lid of the blender looks like someone took a neon yellow highlighter to it. Did I mention that none of this stuff is mine, rather, it belongs to the couple for whom I'm currently pet sitting? At least I still have 2 weeks to work with the bleach... When you are blending this soup, be careful, and don't put down anything that has the soup on it on a porus surface, unless you want the exploding highlighter look in your kitchen as well...

Indian Spiced Cauliflower Soup (From Best-Ever Indian Cookbook)

4-6 Servings

* 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florettes

* 1 large potato, such as a russet or yukon gold, peeled and diced

* 1 large onion, diced

* 1 tablespoon oil

* 1 clove of garlic, smashed

* 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, finely diced or grated

* 2 teaspoons of turmeric

* 2 teaspoons of ground coriander

* 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds (or ground cumin, if that's what you have)

* 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds

* 4 cups of vegetable stock

* 1 1/2 cups low fat plain yogurt (I'm a fan of Greek yogurt, such as Fage or Chobani brands)

* Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

* Chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish

 1. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, combine cauliflower, potato, onion, oil, and about 3 tablespoons of water. Put over medium heat, and when the liquids become hot and bubbly, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add garlic, ginger, and spices, stir around, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.

 3. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender. (Careful here--you don't want any yellow soup explosions! If the soup is still hot, remove the middle part of the blender lid, and cover with a dishcloth or paper towel while you're blending to allow steam to escape.) 

 4. Return pureed soup to the pot, and stir in yogurt. Do this either off the heat or over very low heat to prevent the yogurt from curdling or separating. If you think of it, bring the yogurt to room temperature while you are preparing the soup; this will make incorporating the soup easy.  Seaon with salt and black pepper to taste, and serve up and top with fresh cilantro leaves. Enjoy!