French Onion Soup

I saw a similar recipe on some BBC cooking show. I found a recipe on their website that I liked slightly better because of the amount of red wine and balsamic vinegar and adapted it. It's relatively easy although cutting the onions is a pain. The recipe calls for five onions but I think that European onions must be much smaller. I found that four big ol' merican onions was more than enough to fill my stock pot after I sliced them on the mandolin. I increased the saute time on the onions as well because the first time I made this the onions weren't soft enough for my liking. I used bullion cubes instead of stock because I didn't have any.









Ingredients:
4 large onions (sliced thinly on a mandolin if possible)
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of butter
2 or 3 glasses (not cups--I think a glass is 4 ounces--I put about a cup in total) of red wine
4 cups fresh beef stock
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I might go down to 3 1/2 next time)
8 thick slices of bread
284g/10oz Gruyère, grated (I grated gouda that I had at the time and it was very nice with the soup)
2 shots of brandy (optional)
salt and pepper
flatleaf parsley (optional)

Peel and thinly slice the onions and garlic. Then using the butter sauté in a large pan for 15-20 (do 30 if you like softer onions in the soup) minutes, until brown. Stir well before adding the red wine, stock, vinegar and brandy. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Toast the bread (I just sliced a baguette and put the slices in the toaster).

Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Keeping the soup in the pan, top with the sliced bread and a sprinkle of cheese. Place under the grill until it turns brown and the cheese has melted.

Scatter with fresh chopped parsley and serve from the pan at the table

Cinnamon Coffee Cake With Crumb Topping

I have been wanting a cinnamon cake with the crumb topping, it sounded really good and I found it, surprisingly, on a site that wasn't smitten kitchen--here. I like that it is similar to my other go-to yogurt cake but it has a little something extra. I feel like my crumb topping came out a little weird. I probably over-mushed the crumbs and ended up melting the butter into big globs, so, um, don't do that. It did give the middle a kind of "smile" effect which was cute (though my placement of the crumbs was completely random, so I doubt I could replicate it) but you could probably get the distribution better if you have smaller crumbs.

The next time I make this I will probably double the crumbs inside and add a layer of apples that have been dusted with cinnamon sugar. It seems like very a nice recipe for fall so I better get cracking. I will also make it in a bigger pan because as-is, the recipe overflowed from my 9 inch loaf pan into the bottom of my oven. It was messy, for me, but came out delicious. Like most yogurt cakes, it is much better the next day.











Cinnamon Coffee Cake With Crumb Topping
Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups full fat Greek vanilla yogurt

Crumb Topping Ingredients:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, cold and cut into tiny pieces

1 - 2 hours prior to making this cake, make sure you place the butter and eggs on the counter and bring them to room temperature. 

1.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the pan and set to the side.

2.  In a large bowl, sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set to the side.

3.  In the bowl of a stand mixer cream the butter and sugars with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy on low-medium speed. This should take roughly 5 minutes. Once the butter is creamed, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

4.  With the stand mixer set to low, add the eggs one at a time. Add the yogurt, and mix until combined. Slowly add the flour and mix until the ingredients have become moistened. Turn off the stand mixer, and continue to mix the batter with a spatula, folding a couple of times, making sure not to over combine. The ingredients should be well moistened, with no visible signs of flour.

5.  Spread half of the cake batter into the loaf pan.

6.  In a small bowl, add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Combine with a wire whisk. Cut the cold butter into small cubes. Add the butter to the flour mixture and work in using your fingers. You should have tiny pea size pieces of butter remaining throughout the sugar.

Crumble half of the mixture into the pan. Pour the remaining batter on top, and then top with the rest of the crumb.

7.  Place the pan into the oven on the middle rack and bake for 60 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool on a wire wrack for one hour.

Lasagna Bolognese

I've really been wanting to try this recipe for Lasagna Bolognese from smitten kitchen. It tastes amazing with the Bolognese sauce. It is a bit of a pain to make but I like it better than the traditional ground meat and ricotta/cottage cheese recipes. You will need to make the Bolognese and Béchamel sauces ahead of time. You can make the Bolognese well ahead of time, even freeze it, but the Béchamel I would make the same day. I am too lazy to make my own noodles. The boxed kind came out just fine.







Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 box of lasagna noodles (I used barilla flat lasagna noodles)
4 c. Bolognese sauce
2 c. Béchamel sauce

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350. In a 9x13 pan, drizzle and spread 1/4 heaping c. Béchamel sauce, to prevent the noodles from sticking. Layer noodles in and top with 1 c. of Bolognese sauce. top this with 1/3 c. of Parmesan cheese, then top with 1/2 c. of Béchamel. Repeat this three more times. It will look like this:

1/4 c. Bechamel
Noodles
1. c. Bolognese sauce
1/3 c. Parmesan
1/2 c. Béchamel
Noodles
1. c. Bolognese sauce
1/3 c. Parmesan
1/2 c. Béchamel
Noodles
1. c. Bolognese sauce
1/3 c. Parmesan
1/2 c. Béchamel
Noodles
1. c. Bolognese sauce
1/3 c. Parmesan
1/2 c. Béchamel

Bake the thing for 30-45 minutes, I only did 35. Allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.

Jib is un-cleaning my plates :3
:3

Béchamel Sauce

This is another sauce you will need for the lasagna recipe that follows. I think this would be great with seafood or vegetables on pasta. It was my first time making it but I think it came out creamy and delicious.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon table salt
1 clove minced garlic
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

 Directions:
1. Melt your butter in the bottom of a medium-to-large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add your flour and stir it into the butter until smooth. Cook the mixture together for a minute, stirring constantly.

2. Pour in a small drizzle of your milk*, whisking constantly into the butter-flour mixture until smooth. Continue to drizzle a very small amount at a time, whisking constantly. Once you’ve added a little over half of your milk, you’ll find that you have more of a thick sauce or batter, and you can start adding the milk in larger splashes, being sure to keep mixing.

3. Once all of the milk is added, add the salt, garlic, nutmeg (if using) and few grinds of black pepper, and bring the mixture to a lower simmer and cook it, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Bolognese Sauce

I love cooking with wine. I don't really know/care much about drinking it but it tastes wonderful when cooked. I have been wanting to make a lasagna and this recipe is for a sauce that will be great on its own or in the lasagna recipe that will follow. I made the sauce already and it yields 8 c. so you can use 4 c. for the lasagna and freeze the rest. It is great reheated, unlike many things. I stole the recipe for this sauce and the lasagna, which has bechamel instead of ricotta, from Deb at smittenkitchen.





Bolognese sauce (yield 8 c.)
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 large or 2 slim carrots, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground chuck, brisket or round or combination
1 1/4 cups tomato paste (12 oz)
2 cups red wine
Water as needed
2 bay leaves
A few sprigs thyme, tied in a bundle (I used dried thyme and I think it still came out wonderful)

1. In a food processor, pulse onion, carrots, celery, and garlic until finely chopped.

2. Heat a moderate-sized Dutch oven (4 to 5 quarts) over medium-high heat. Once hot, coat the bottom of the pan with two to three tablespoons of oil. Once it is hot, add the chopped vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables until they are evenly brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. "Evenly brown," is a relative term. I wouldn't worry about it too much, just try to cook off the moisture and brown them.

3. Add the ground beef to the vegetables and season again with salt and pepper. Brown the beef well and again, don’t rush this step. Cook for another 15 minutes.

4. Add the tomato paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red wine, using it to scrape up any stuck bits in the pan. Cook the wine until it has reduced by half, about 5 more minutes.

5. Add water to the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the meat. Toss in the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and stir to combine everything, bringing it to a low simmer. Simmer for 3-4 hours, adding a cup of water whenever you see the level gets too low.

French Yogurt Cake

Yesterday I was out watering my husband's puny poplar tree that he finally transplanted to our backyard after an 8 month stint in a re-purposed plastic cat litter container on our balcony. I couldn't believe that the angry thorn bushes I have been seeing all year had mysteriously transformed into something useful and desirable. Hundreds of juicy blackberries in various states of ripeness had appeared entangled in the thorns. This set into motion an unstoppable series of events which, naturally, culminated in us eating cake in bed at 11pm. I spent an hour harvesting a respectable mixing bowl full of only the ripest berries, I was only slightly bloody and very juicy afterwards. These berries were small and flavorful, not like the big mushy guys you get in the plastic tub.

But wait! The magical yardberries are only half of the story! I had read about this cake in several "nonfiction," if editorialized books written by non-French people, depicting highly romanticized versions French everyday life. In every book a chic French mother is teaching her chic, well-behaved French 6 year-old to make this cake on a Sunday afternoon in the South of France. If I hadn't actually been to France I would swear that it was a fictional place, like Narnia--the adorable made-up language, the fanciful delicacies, the charming/unpredictable inhabitants. I wanted to bake this cake but there are hundreds of different recipes for it and I was a little overwhelmed; different sizes, different pans, different proportions of ingredients, almonds/no almonds? nutmeg?  My quest to find the most authentic perfect, delicious recipe proved too much for me until the miracle of the berries gave me the push I needed to just f*cking pick a recipe already. I could have gone with Deb or Clotilde but something made me pick the bonappetit recipe for it. Don't judge me.

My favorite part of this recipe is making the lemon-scented sugar. You zest one lemon and then rub the zest into the sugar until it releases its oils and smells like...just...wonderful. We ate the cake warm with ice cream and berries but I feel that it tastes even better if it is allowed to cool completely.




by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen
 May 2012
French Yogurt Cake

Ingredients:
 Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
 2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
3/4 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 special equipment 8 1/2 x 4 1/4-inch loaf pan

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350°. Coat pan with vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour; tap out excess.

Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and kosher salt in a medium bowl.

 Using your fingers, rub sugar with lemon zest in a large bowl until sugar is moist. Add yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract; whisk to blend.

Fold in dry ingredients just to blend. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top.

Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50–55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto rack; let cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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Unrelated Fanciness and Fancifulness:
On Saturday I made the most unnecessary, extravagant baking-related purchase of my entire life. In the name of silliness I bought rosewater, pepperment extract, butter flavoring, a ridiculously priced flask of vanilla, parchment paper, goat cheese, and petit fours. "That's right, my good man, and wrap them all up in this Grocery Outlet bag that I had the foresight to bring with me". Mostly I just wanted to show off this dessert even though I didn't make it. Though I bet that I could easily make a much uglier version.

Sugar Cookies

I haven't make sugar cookies in...ever? Not since I was little anyway. My guildmate was raving about this recipe and insisted that I try it. They came out very tender and buttery. I dipped them in a little chocolate and put some toasted chopped pecans on top. I was happy to have a chance to use my forest animal cookie cutters. I also did another batch of bears without pecans but dipped in chocolate with a teaspoon and a half of peppermint extract. Mintybears!

I did have some trouble with the dough being sticky but it just needed to go back into the refrigerator for a bit longer. This recipe came from ourbestbites.com. 

 
Sugar Cookies
1 cup real butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla)
3 C flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop it!)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in egg and extract and mix to incorporate.

 In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. A very important note: It’s important to correctly measure your flour or you will end up with a dry, crumbly dough. Never, ever use your measuring cup to scoop up the flour. Use a regular sized spoon and spoon the flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour, or use this great tip to make things easier: When your dough is made, instead of putting it in the fridge, immediately roll between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and then place on a flat surface in the fridge. Chill for about 20-30 minutes and then start cutting it out. This way it chills faster and the bonus is that you don’t need to add extra flour to roll it out.

 If you don’t use this tip, proceed as follows: When you’re ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like them slightly chewy, about 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them slightly crisp and buttery, then go for 10-12.