french onion soup

Please excuse my brief hiatus. I have been very busy in the kitchen continuing to bake my little macarons! Be still my heart. There have been over-cooked ones, under-cooked ones, beautiful ones and very dry ones. This has been a fun little adventure, although my husband is getting tired of being the guinea pig and really wants me to go back to baking his favorite cookies!

Here is a yummy french onion soup recipe I made the other night after a long night of baking. I don't really have a lot of experience with onion soup - I've only had it one other time at a restaurant. But this recipe was cheesy and definitely fulfilling! I used mozerella instead of gruyere and I also omitted the parmesan rind because I didn't have it on hand. FYI - we bought those cute little soup bowls at World Market!

French Onion Soup

recipe from Food Network

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large yellow or Spanish onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup port wine
6 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan rind
Reserved bread from bread bowls or 4 slices sourdough baguette, about 1-inch thick and lightly toasted
8 slices Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and preheat broiler.

Melt butter and oil together in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and sugar and cook 10 minutes, until onions are tender and golden brown. Add thyme, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper and stir to coat. Cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Add port and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Add broth and Parmesan rind and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove bay leaves and Parmesan rind and ladle soup into oven-proof bowls. Place bowls on a baking sheet. Place reserved bread rounds or a sourdough round into each bowl and top bread with Gruyere cheese. Broil 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.

Homemade Tomato Soup

We have been having some unusually chilly weather this past week and today, husband and I were really craving some soup and grilled cheese for dinner. Because we have 5 gajillion (yes, gajillion) tomatoes coming out of our ears, I thought I'd try to use 'em up in the soup. After a little research, I came up with this delicious meal that totally hit the spot! The chipotle really gave it a little kick and we both agreed this recipe was a keeper :)

Excuse my amateur photography - I have no idea what I'm doing!!

Homemade Tomato Soup (very loosely adapted from All Recipes and Art and Aioli)

1 tbsp olive oil (eyeball it)
1 chopped onion
4 chopped garlic cloves
4 c. chopped tomatoes
1/2 to 1 c. chicken stock
1 handful chopped basil (also 2 leaves purple basil, optional)
1 minced chipotle pepper
1 can condensed tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste
shredded cheddar (optional)

In a stockpot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil with salt and pepper over medium heat until softened. Add rest of ingredients and simmer on low until tomatoes have cooked down a bit*. Puree in blender**. Serve with shredded cheddar if desired.

*husband was on the phone with his dad from the time I started this meal until I finally had to kick him off the phone for dinner which was about 90 minutes. I'm sure it would've been done in half an hour, but the longer it simmers, the better the flavors blend together.
**BE CAREFUL!! I did this in 2 or 3 batches, and the second one exploded everywhere.

Yummy Potato Soup!

I had a ton of leftover food I needed to get rid of so I made this last week and it was so tasty and easy to make! Sorry I don't have any of my own pictures, but you can check out the website.

image from here

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

3 1/2 c. peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 c. diced celery
1/3 c. finely chopped onion
3/4 c diced cooked ham
3 1/4 c. water
2 tbs. chicken boullion granules (I used beef since it's what I had on hand)
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1 tsp. ground pepper, or to taste
5 tbs. butter
5 tbs. A/P flour
2 c. milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

As Rachael Ray would say, "yum-mo"!!