French Onion Soup Recipe

I knew I wrote this down for someone at some point, but couldn't find it when I went looking for it.  Leaving it here for safekeeping.  Some day when I make it again, I'll add pictures.

(I don't measure when I'm cooking it, so these are best guesstimates.  Also, I do a bit of cheating at the end):
2 Tbs butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced (a mandolin is handy for this)
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 Tbs dry sherry, dry white wine, or red wine
2 Tbs flour
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
4 cups beef stock
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
French bread thickly sliced
olive oil
shredded swiss cheese (I like Emmental, but gruyere works well, too)

Melt butter over medium low heat.  Add onions, thyme, and bay leaf.  Saute until onions are fully caramelized, about 20 minutes (you can do this more quickly over higher heat, but I find I have better control over the process if I use lower heat).
Deglaze with sherry/wine and continue to cook until all liquid is gone. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
Sprinkle onions with flour and saute until flour has browned (but not burned).
Add stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.

Brush French bread with olive oil and lightly toast in the oven.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese and put back in the oven until melty.

Put bread slices in bottom of bowl and top with soup.  (You can obviously do it the real way - soup in bowls, top with toasted bread and then add cheese and melt in oven - but I'm lazy, so I do it the lazy way.)

Ambrosia Salad

It recently came to my attention that there are people in my social circle who haven't had Ambrosia Salad.  I can't express just how sad I am for them.  I decided that I need to make it for the next potluck gathering I attend, but realized I hadn't made it in years.

Today, while doing my regular grocery shopping, I found canned fruit and mini marshmallows were on sale.  The universe clearly needed me to do a dry run, so I took the opportunity to measure out my ingredients and write down my recipe.

Keep in mind that this is what I like.  You can use any fruits you want (fresh or canned, though I prefer canned because it's less work) and any ratios you want, any liquid and amount you want for the dressing, etc.  I use:


Ingredients:
15 oz can sliced peaches in light syrup, drained
15 oz can mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained
20 oz can pineapple chunks, drained & juice reserved
1 cup maraschino cherries de-stemmed and sliced in half (I measure the cup after slicing, not before)
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Combined all fruit, coconut, and marshmallows in bowl and set aside.
Wisk sour cream and 2T of the reserved pineapple juice together and mix into fruit mix.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour.  I like to give it one more good mixing before serving.
Some people like to reserve the coconut and marshmallows and put them in just before serving.  It's all about preference so go experiment with your "salads" and find out what you like!

Potato Corn Chowder

I totally lucked out this year.  Mayu split a CSA basket with some friends.  For those of you who don't know, CSA is Community Supported Agriculture.  At the beginning of the planting season, you buy into a farm and each week you pick up your share of the produce at the Farmer's Market.  Even with splitting the basket, Mayu had a ton of veggies.  When she wasn't actually cooking my meals, she was sending me home with yummy produce, including massive quantities of potatoes and some corn.  What better to make than potato corn chowder?  I made it up as I went along, using what I already had in the kitchen.  Here's my recipe:

2 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
3 T flour
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup ham, diced (or cooked, crumbled bacon if you prefer)
3 ears corn, kernels removed
extra milk for thinning, if desired

Saute garlic and green onion in butter until soft.
Add flour and stir until flour starts to color
Add about 1/2 cup cream, stirring constantly until smooth
Add about 1/2 cup chicken stock and bring to a boil, continuing to stir throughout
Add the rest of the cream and just bring to boil
Add remainder of stock, ham, and potatoes, bringing to a boil
Continue to cook until potatoes are done
Add corn and cook a few minutes more
Soup will be chunky and fairly thick.  Add milk to thin if desired.

Makes 4 - 6 servings and freezes pretty well.  I hope y'all enjoy it!

Broccoli Slaw

Okay, guys.  I'm pretty exhausted and just don't have the energy to write a pattern or any complicated crafting directions.  Next week, I'll be back to the fun stuff, but for today you get a recipe.  This is one of my favs for summer and is a more nutritious substitution for cole slaw.  I often make it at the end of the week from my veggie leftovers.  These quantities make about 4 - 6 servings.

Ingredients:
2-3 Broccoli stalks peeled and julienned
2-3 Cauliflower stalks peeled and julienned
1 Carrot julienned
Red cabbage shredded for color

Sauce:
3 T Olive oil
3 T Cider vinegar
1 t Sugar
1/4 t Celery seeds
1/4 t Dry mustard
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Toss all veggies together.  You can substitute additional broccoli stalks for the cauliflower and the carrot and cabbage are optional, but I add them because they're often available and pretty at the farmer's market.

For the Sauce, whisk olive oil and cider vinegar until emulsified.  Add sugar, mustard, celery seed, and pepper and whisk until combined.  Pour over veggie mix and toss (I like to put it in a large container with a lid and give it a good shake).  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but over night is best for maximum flavor absorption.