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Category Archives: Recipes

Apr 18 2014

ROASTED POTATOES WITH LEMON, ROSEMARY AND GARLIC

HOMESTEADING…

I’ve been dreaming lately, maybe fantasizing is a better description, about living on a farm. I keep envisioning a huge garden, kids running around outside, lots of chickens, a few goats, and (Kyle thinks I’m insane) a pig, a donkey, and a sheep (all of the “micro” variety). If you’ve never searched the Web for images of “baby doll sheep”, it’s a good use of your time. If you’re really looking to procrastinate search for “micro piglets” and “miniature donkey” as well. I just got enthusiastic and searched for other miniature farm breeds and discovered miniature cattle!!! I am getting a bit off track…

Beyond the animals, I am picturing simplicity in the form of sheets drying on a clothesline, sitting on the porch shelling peas, reading books, scraped knees, maybe even a little art studio. When things in life get stressful, this is where my mind wanders. In fact I sort of meditate myself to sleep at night by picturing a quiet, white, bedroom; sheets slightly crisp from drying on the line, and smelling wonderfully fresh. I used to visualize Parisian cafés and an apartment in the City of Lights, but now I can’t see anything other than a little farm life. Not that I’d turn down a Parisian apartment, or a house in the French countryside for that matter.

My Nana had a farm where we used to go spend a few weeks every year. For a time in the summer all the grandkids descend on Nana’s farm and we would spend part of our summer vacation catching Garter Snakes (admittedly, I never participated in this particular activity. I stick with things that have between 2 and 4 legs. Three legged dogs are just fine.), admiring and feeding her horses and her donkey, helping her with chores, making apple sauce, driving her crazy, and climbing rafters in the barn and jumping into the owl-pellet filled hay piles (we didn’t tell her about this until we were much older).

nana PINThis photo is of me from July, 1990 on Nana’s farm. There’s a pretty large part of me that wants to rediscover that flower crown-making, rainbow sandal-wearing self…

While relocating to a farm life isn’t in our immediate future, I hope that someday we can make it a reality. In the meantime, I’m doing things around our home to help create the kind of environment I’m dreaming about. Since I’ve been hit with the homesteading bug, I’ve been focusing my energy on creating things from scratch. As I mentioned last week I made my own deodorant, and elderberry syrup. This week I made my own laundry detergent, cloth diaper detergent, dishwasher soap, and reusable baby wipes. When we run out of our current lotions and certain beauty products I have half a mind to try making those too. I’ve also been making things like mayonnaise when we can get farm fresh eggs, and I have plans to try my hand at making my own ketchup, mustard, crème frîache, ricotta, and yogurt. I already make Lulu’s baby food, most of the stock we use, and almost all of the meals in our house are created from scratch. As I figure things out and learn what works best I will share all of these directions and recipes!

We’re getting geared up to plant the garden this weekend, and I ordered a clothesline and pins this week. We’ve been spending as much time as possible outside; which becomes more and more enjoyable as we continue working on our backyard. So while farm dreams have to wait, homesteading has begun in full force. As a work-from-home, full-time, very-much-on-a-budget mom who has a high need to constantly create and cook, these activities satisfy me in every way. In addition to getting more hands on with the little things, I’ve also been “unplugging” more, reading more, laying in the grass with the kids and looking at the clouds more. Well, let’s be honest. Gigi and lay on the grass and look at the clouds; Lulu eats the grass.

lulu PINWhile relocating to a farm life isn’t in our immediate future, I hope that someday we can make it a reality. In the meantime, I’m doing things around our home to help create the kind of environment I’m dreaming about. Since I’ve been hit with the homesteading bug, I’ve been focusing my energy on creating things from scratch. As I mentioned last week I made my own deodorant, and elderberry syrup. This week I made my own laundry detergent, cloth diaper detergent, dishwasher soap, and reusable baby wipes! When we run out of our current lotions and certain beauty products I have half a mind to try making those too. I’ve also been making things like mayonnaise when we can get farm fresh eggs and I have plans to try my hand at making my own ketchup, mustard, creme friache, ricotta, and yogurt. I already make Lulu’s baby food, most of the stock we use, and almost all of the meals in our house are created from scratch. As I figure things out and learn what works best I will share all of these directions and recipes!

Now, as promised, here is my Roasted Potato recipe. I always cook it alongside my Roasted Chicken, the recipe for which I shared last week. You can certainly make these potatoes on their own but part of the key to their delicious flavor comes from the drippings of the Roasted Chicken and the garlic that roasts with the chicken. (I’ll add some adapting notes in case you plan to just make the potatoes on their own).

ROASTED POTATOES WITH LEMON, ROSEMARY AND GARLIC PINROASTED POTATOES  WITH LEMON, ROSEMARY AND GARLIC

ROASTED POTATOES (cooked along with a Roasted Chicken):
Ingredients.
4 lb new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1” pieces
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 large sprig rosemary
1/2 lemon, sliced into 1/4” rounds

Directions.
Fill a large pot with cold water, add the potatoes. Bring the water to a boil and par-boil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Hold a lid tightly on the pot and shake the potatoes about until the get very slightly bashed up around the corners and edges.

Preheat the oven to 450˚F.

Transfer the potatoes to a large roasting pan, add the lemon slices, and the sprig of rosemary. Season with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle 3/4 olive oil over the potatoes, and toss everything together.

Cover the potatoes tightly with aluminum foil, and roast in the oven with the chicken, for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, toss the potatoes about, and roast for an addition 30 minutes. At this point you will be basting your chicken, using the baster or a large spoon, transfer about a half cup of the chicken drippings to the potatoes and toss around. Put the chicken and potatoes back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

At this point (after half hour roasting covered, and an hour roasting uncovered) the chicken will most likely be done roasting. Add about a quarter cup of the drippings to the potatoes, along with the roasted garlic cloves, toss and put the potatoes back in the oven for about 10 minutes; until the stock is absorbed and the potatoes are nice and browned and crisp. (If the chicken isn’t done put it back in the oven along with the potatoes until it’s done).

Discard the rosemary sprig and the lemon rinds. Enjoy with your chicken!

ROASTED POTATOES (cooked alone):
Ingredients.
4 lb new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1” pieces
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 lemon, sliced into 1/4” rounds
1 head of garlic, cloves separated, peels on
1/2 cup chicken stock

Cover the potatoes tightly with aluminum foil, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, toss the potatoes about, and roast for an addition 30 minutes. Add half a cup of the chicken stock and the garlic cloves to the potatoes and toss around. Put the potatoes back in the oven for another 30 minutes.   Add a quarter cup of chicken stock to the potatoes, toss and put the potatoes back in the oven for about 10 minutes; until the stock is absorbed and the potatoes are nice and browned and crisp.

Discard the rosemary sprig and the lemon rinds. Gently peel the garlic cloves and add the roasted garlic back to the potatoes. Toss everything together. Enjoy!

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
ROASTED POTATOES WITH LEMON, ROSEMARY AND GARLIC

Apr 09 2014

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH HERBS, GARLIC AND LEMON

THAT DAMN JELLY BEAN…

Yesterday was one of those strange days where for everything that went perfectly, something was totally off… but in the end it was a really lovely day. We woke up early, a habit picked up when we were all sharing a room in Mexico for vacation last week! Did I mention we were going to Mexico? Well, we did and it was really lovely. My in-laws took us all (our family and Kyle’s brother’s family) to their time-share spot in Cabo. We went once before, when Gigi was only two months old. It sure was nice to get away and we came back to bursting tulips and 70 degree weather!

Lulu has a nasty cold, probably something she picked up by licking the airplane seats on the way home from Mexico, and sounds like a cranky frog. Despite her bug I had big plans for the day to get up to the local nursery and look at some different varieties of “stepables” to plant between our pavers on our patio, and to pick up a local planting guide so we can start planning and planting! So after Lu’s croaky morning nap, we stepped out to run our errands. We headed straight to the garden store, which is bright and open and was full of people buzzing with spring-fever. It felt so wonderful to soak in the late morning sun, smell the lavender, run our fingers over the crawling thyme, and eye the perfect rows and rows of Ranunculus.

Towards the end of our time at the garden store, Gigi was not being a great listener. I should have quit while I was ahead but I needed a few items from the grocery store, so I ignored my mothers’ intuition and we headed in. After all, we only needed six little things!

I was not all that surprised when Gigi had a major meltdown in the middle of the produce department. It all started when she stole a jelly bean from the candy bin. Why, one might ask, is there a big candy bin in the middle of the produce department? Anyway, we had a bit of a showdown that went a little something like this, “G, do not pick up that candy. Do not put that jelly bean in your mouth. Spit that jelly bean out right now! You are not choosing to be a good listener.” She said nothing, but when I finally pried that damn jelly bean out of her mouth she started wailing, “I want GRANDMA!!!!!!”, over and over again. I suspect G was suffering from a case of The Grandparent Withdrawals; I’m sure you know the symptoms. I plunked her in the cart, dashed away from the produce department over to the far end of the store while she cried and kid kicked my leeks, and grabbed the last couple items I needed before fleeing the store. I’m sure I was quite a sight carrying Lulu on my left hip, and Gigi around her middle with my right arm, crying and legs flailing, with the grocery gal following behind with my bag of bruised produce.

Once the girls were buckled in their carseats, I headed to the coffee shop, popped in for a couple of lattes (one for me and one for my sweet friend who just welcomed her third baby!), drove to her house and dropped off her caffeine (while G fumed in the car). I got a quick look at her beautiful new, fresh baby, and despite having a very snotty baby and very frustrated kid in my car, I felt a wave of desire. There’s just something about a teeny tiny newborn, sleeping with their delicate little arms up over their head, that makes me think crazy things. Once we were home, G said, “I need a naaaaaaaaaaaaaap!” Agreed.

I got the girls in bed as quickly as possible and started making dinner even though it was only 1pm. I just felt the desire to cook and prep, and zone out while I peeled garlic for a while. I didn’t even bother using a fast-peeling method, I didn’t even whack the cloves with my knife; I just did it, one clove at a time, tediously removing each little sticky strand of skin from the cloves while the breeze knocked around the curtains and the house was silent. I trimmed my herbs, scrubbed my chicken, juiced my lemons, in complete, blissful silence. By the time my chicken was prepped and in the fridge, I’d found that my heart rate had returned to normal and I was thinking back on how “funny” our little produce-section scene must have been to witness. It was, after all, a classic toddler-mom standoff… over a stupid jelly bean. If there’s one thing you need while raising a toddler, it’s a sense of humor… well, that and a good recipe for Roasted Chicken that takes just long enough to prep that you can regain said sense of humor after a trying morning.

I make my Roasted Chicken with Herbs, Garlic, and Lemon about every other week. It’s best when prepped around 1pm, so the lemon juice has time to tenderize and marinate the meat a bit. Doing the prep earlier in the day also makes dinner time feel like a breeze, and you end up with a crisp-skinned, tender, flavorful, comforting, chicken dinner. I almost always accompany the chicken with a side of crispy oven roasted potatoes (for which I’ll share the recipe next week), and a fresh salad. It’s one of our staple dinners, and it’s a dinner that fuels a few days’ worth of meals. I have stock simmering on the stovetop now to make Posole for dinner tonight, and tomorrow I’ll use a bit of the shredded chicken to make a spinach salad with and bruised veggies and a homemade dressing.

There is something pretty satisfying, and relaxing, about stretching one meal into three or four; about feeding a family of four for a few days from one main source. Plus, the homemade chicken stock should help us fight back against this spring cold (along with the homemade Elderberry Syrup I made last night)! I also made deodorant yesterday (please, please tell me if it’s not working, okay?). We’re talking serious homesteading over here! It just so happens I have some things to tell you about in regards to “homesteading” but it will have to wait for another day… maybe next week when I share the potato recipe with you. Potatoes and pioneering seem like a good match up.

In the meantime, here is my recipe for Roasted Chicken with Herbs, Garlic, and Lemon.

ROASTED CHICKEN  WITH HERBS, GARLIC AND LEMON

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
juice of 3-4 lemons
1 lemon, sliced
large handful of fresh herbs, thyme, rosemary, parsley (whatever you have on hand)
1 head of garlic cloves, peeled
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions.
Clean the chicken, inside and out, by scrubbing it with a good amount of kosher salt. Rinse it under cold water, and pat it dry with paper towels. Using a pair of poultry or kitchen shears, cut out the backbone. Set the backbone aside for making stock, or discard.

In the bottom of a roasting pan or casserole dish, place a pile of herbs and fan out one lemons’ worth of lemon slices. Place the chicken, breast side up, over the herbs and lemon slices. Toss the peeled garlic cloves into the pan between the drumstick (you want them exposed, not tucked under the bird).

Pour the lemon juice slowly over the chicken, drizzle it with a good amount of olive oil (I use about 1/3 cup). Season the chicken and the garlic cloves generously with salt and pepper.

Cover the chicken tightly with aluminum foil and pop it in the fridge for a few hours… it doesn’t have to sit and marinate but it’s great if possible.

When you’re ready to cook the chicken, take it out of the fridge and preheat your oven to 450˚F. When the oven is heated, place the covered chicken in and roast for 30 minutes. After the first 30 minutes, remove the foil, baste the chicken with the juices in the pan, and return it to the oven for another 30 minutes. Then, baste it one last time and check the temperature. The size of the chicken you have will vary this final cooking time… generally a 5lb. chicken will take another 30 minutes or so.

I pull my chicken from the oven with the breast temperature is 170˚F. Be sure to let the chicken rest for ten minutes or so before carving it up. Serve it along with the roasted garlic cloves, or my crispy oven roasted potatoes (which use the garlic cloves from the chicken)!

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
ROASTED CHICKEN

Mar 24 2014

BOURBON CHOCOLATE BANANA POUND CAKE

SO I BAKE…

Ten minutes ago I was half asleep on our bed, lying in the sunshine with the cat… but I didn’t give into the nap, although I probably should have. I have been working tirelessly on my new website… except I don’t think it counts as working tirelessly if you are really tired? I’m not sure how that works. I’m nearly done with website #1 and it’s heartening to know that in just under a month I rebuilt a rather complicated website on my own. I guess I have learned a thing or two these past four years of blogging. So, no nap for me today. Instead I made myself a hazelnut latte with our newly fixed La Pavoni espresso machine. It feels a bit sacrilegious to be pouring a glug of hazelnut syrup into a latte made from freshly roasted beans and whipped up with an $800 espresso machine. In fact, I hate hazelnut flavoring, chocolate hazelnut, hazelnuts in general. But, like my Hot Tamale addiction, my affinity for hazelnut lattes started during my pregnancy with Lulu. Here I am ten months after she was born and I am still drinking them.  Now I am sitting outside looking fabulous, I’m sure, in my old jeans, Kyle’s sweatshirt, and slippers, sipping my latte and pretending to work on my website while my tall, handsome husband attempts to rig together something to keep the moles from burrowing into our irrigation box. I’m going to take this charade one step further and lie to myself that when I finish writing this I’m going to pull on my Carhartts (I don’t own any) and get to work with him. If I were being honest, I’d admit to myself that once this latte is drained I’m going to lean back in this patio chair and be very still, and very quiet until one, or both, of my children wake up from their nap.

This afternoon hour of rest has been well earned this week. Sometimes life is overwhelming, so I bake. There is something about the measuring and sifting, the whir of the stand mixer, the sharp scent of pure vanilla, and the smell of something baking that helps to put things right. I’m certainly not the first person to have discovered the bolstering power of baking, and I dare say I won’t be the last.

Pound cake is my favorite thing to bake in the afternoon, with banana bread holding the morning spot, probably permanently, as my favorite thing to bake before noon. So, what do you bake at 11:00 in the morning? I dreamed up this pound cake a few months ago and have been tweaking it to perfection. I really don’t think of myself as a baker; I’m more of a cook. I like to toss in a pinch of this, a little of that… the precise nature of baking doesn’t always appeal to me. But this cake was worth the effort of trial and error.

I started off using the basic pound cake recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated New Best Recipes cookbook, then came the banana, the chocolate… the booze. The result is something that is at it’s core, a pound cake. It’s heavy in the way that pound cakes are, with a dense, spongy base. It’s vanilla-y, with a hint of banana and sharp layers of bourbon-laced chocolate swirled throughout. It’s not too sweet, not too banana-y, not to chocolaty… it’s not too anything. It’s pretty much just right. In my book, anyway.

One last note on the banana aspect of this cake, I am of the camp that believes that an overripe banana that has been frozen in it’s peel, then defrosted is the best kind of banana for baking. But if all you have is a ripe banana on your countertop that will work just fine too.

BOURBON CHOCOLATE BANANA POUND CAKE

Ingredients.
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 cup mashed banana = 1 very large (or two smaller) overripe banana
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons bourbon or whiskey (plus more for the chocolate sauce)
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 cups cake flour, sifted

For the chocolate sauce:
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons bourbon or whisky

Directions.
With water in a small double boiler (or pot of water and metal mixing bowl)* simmering, mix together the chocolate chips, 1/4 cup heavy cream, and corn syrup until melted and combine. Turn the heat off (alcohol is flammable) before mixing in the bourbon! Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 325˚F. Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

In your stand mixer, beat your butter for a couple minutes, until it’s shiny and smooth. Then add in the sugar and whip on high until it resembles frosting, about five minutes.

While the butter and sugar cream, whisk together your eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and bourbon. Reduce the mixer to medium low speed and slowly drizzle the egg mixture in, stopping once to scrape down the sides. Once the egg mixture is incorporated, add the banana. Finally add the salt, and a half cup at a time, add it the flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a spatula, gently fold the batter together to make sure everything is incorporated. Now you can assemble your cake.

First scoop in a layer of batter, followed by a layer of chocolate, then another layer of batter, a layer of chocolate, a layer of batter, another of chocolate, and, finally, the rest of the batter. It’s okay if you have chocolate left over, I usually do and it’s perfect on ice cream. Then, using a spoon, make three lines (the long way) down the top of the cake: one on the left, one center, and one on the right. Then take a sharp knife or skewer and, starting in on corner, work your way down the pan, swirling the chocolate into the batter.

Pop the cake into the oven, on the center rack, for 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours, until a skewer comes out mostly clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cook, in the pan, for about ten minutes before removing it. Let it rest another ten minutes before serving it. It great warm, at room temperature, and my favorite thing about pound cake is that it is a totally acceptable breakfast item.

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
BOURBON CHOCOLATE BANANA POUND CAKE

Mar 14 2014

RICOTTA STUFFED CREPES WITH LEMON ZEST

SOMEWHAT PATIENTLY…

Can somebody please explain to me how we are halfway through March already? This month has cruised by in what seems like a whirlwind of cuddles, laundry, sunshine!!!, cleaning, etc. I suppose I’m making up for our rough February. What a difference a few healthy weeks make. In fact, so far March is definitely proving itself to be a significant improvement in every way.  …
I’ve been taking a WordPress class at the college in the evenings with my Dad and beginning the rather tedious process of rebuilding all three of my websites. I’m starting with the most complicated one in the hope that the other two will be a breeze by comparison. This is resulting in a little less time spent doing actual “blogging” at the moment because I’m so sick of looking at my computer at the end of the day! But it will be wonderful in the end to have them all in one place, and to have complete creative and functional understanding of them.

I had an audition Monday which gave me a little acting fix just in time… every once in a while I get a sort of melancholy wave of missing it, of craving it, and often an audition pops up just in time to give me a little fix. It’s not the same thing as working on a little indie film, or shooting a commercial but it feels good to keep my toes wet. I know it’s time for a fix when I start to reminisce about our time in L.A. I start to think about the way it feels to drive on the ridged streets, the feeling of California grass under bare feet in the early morning, the buzz and excitement of walking onto a studio lot. I have half a mind to pop the girls in the car and head south… don’t ask me how I’d manage to pull of even a single audition with the two munchkins in tow! If we didn’t have a Mexican vacation on the horizon I just might be loading the car right now.

The weather has turned so lovely I’ve been practically singing my way through each day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the giant pile that’s been growing in the garage all winter long is in the car and headed to the donation center. I can’t stop getting rid of things! It feels like we are shedding one life, and lifetime of stuff, and moving into another. I can’t fully wrap my head around it but I’m just going with my instinct and letting things go.

I’m so pleased to get to tell you that Lila’s family is going to be spending two months in New York at Sloan-Kettering hospital. She’s going to receive a special treatment for her specific type of cancer that boosts her chances from a heartbreaking 10-20% up to a wonderful 75%. You can read more and support her family on their website. https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/mw14/lila-may-schow-s-cancer-fund?utm_source=giveforward&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=dashboard&shareid=1930191

Kyle’s folks, and his Nana, are coming down to visit for the weekend and I’m so excited. his parents haven’t been down since the fall, and his Nana hasn’t been down since our wedding. We will most certainly spend lots of time outside, and of course, I’ll be doing a little cooking. I’m thinking a nice breakfast on Sunday will be just the thing before they head home. I’m thinking crepes… or to be more specific Ricotta Stuffed Crepes with Lemon Zest.   I make these on semi-special occasions and I think Kyle’s Nana visiting is a very special occasion. These stuffed crepes have are just sweet enough without being overpowering. The lemon zest mingles with maple syrup and powered sugar and has a perfectly spring-like flavor that seems like it turns up the volume on the birds chirping outside. They’re pretty easy to make once you get the hang of crepe making, which always takes a couple tries. Once the crepe batter is chilling, you can whip up the filling, then it’s just a matter of assembling and waiting somewhat patiently.

These crepes go perfectly with a black cup of coffee… although a mimosa or bellini would be pretty wonderful as well.

RICOTTO STUFFED CRÊPES  with Lemon Zest
(adapted from Tyler’s Ultimate)

Crepe Ingredients.
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
10 tbsp. melted butter (plus more for the pan)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients.
15 oz. ricotta
zest of 1 lemon (plus more for serving)
2 tsp. lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar (plus more for serving)
1 egg

pure maple syrup, heated (for serving)

Directions.
Combine the flour, salt, milk eggs and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth. Add in the melted butter and blend again to combine. Pour through a mesh strainer to remove lumps. Refrigerate for one hour.

Meanwhile, combine the filling ingredients and set aside.

After the crepe batter has rested heat a skillet over medium heat. Brush a bit of melted butter into the heated pan. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan and swirl the pan immediately to spread the batter into a thin layer. Cook for about 30 seconds, gently flip it and cook for 30 seconds before removing it from the pan. Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep the finished crepes covered with a thin towel.

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Place a large cookie sheet in the oven to preheat.

Working with one crepe at a time, spoon 1/3 cup of the filling into the center of the crepe. Fold the top and bottom of the crepe to cover the filling, followed by the right and left side. Repeat with the rest of the crepes and filling.

Once the crepes are stuffed, carefully remove the hot cookie sheet from the oven, brush with butter and gently place the crepes on the hot cookie sheet, folded side down, leaving a little space between them. Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are heated through.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately with a little sprinkle of lemon zest, powdered sugar and plenty of warm maple syrup!

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
RICOTTO STUFFED CRÊPES

Feb 06 2014

FRENCH ONION SOUP

TO BE HOME…

We are so happy to be home. We are so happy it’s snowing. We are so happy Baby Lulu is feeling a little bit better this morning.

We spent the past weekend and the better part of this week up in Seattle. We watched the Super Bowl with Kyle’s family and some of our close friends. I ate way to many Skittles and Cool Ranch Doritos. It was so much fun to watch the Seahawks win a championship… and that’s probably the only time I have ever (or will ever) talk about football here. On Monday morning Kyle headed downtown to spend the day and night, and Tuesday day visiting brewery accounts, and I headed to my mom’s little house for what I was hoping would be a couple of days to play games with G, cuddle with Lu, and read by the fire. But by late on Monday evening, Lulu was a wreck. She was extremely fussy, touchy, and wouldn’t let me put her down. She woke in the middle of the night with a high fever, chills, and aches. She spent every waking moment glued to me in the Solly Wrap or nursing. She wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep… the poor little gal was absolutely miserable. She’s usually full of pizazz, happy and silly. Gigi kept asking, “What’s wrong with Lulu?” It was really rough. It just breaks your heart to see your little one so sick and sad.

When Kyle finally came “home” to us late on Tuesday evening I couldn’t have been happier to have my amazing husband back to help… not that Lulu would let him hold her. She only wanted me, which was fine with me (although my left arm may never be the same). I kept feeling thankful she only weighs 14 pounds, and that I had brought the Solly along. We packed up and headed out first thing on Wednesday morning, somehow lucking out and avoiding the traffic as hundreds of thousands of Seahawks fans headed into downtown to watch the victory parade. We cruised home, fretting about our lethargic little babe all the way. I took her straight to the doc, who determined she has a nasty virus, although it could be the flu… We were directed to keep her hydrated, and to keep trying to get her to eat something. So that’s what we are doing today. Kyle had to go to work but oh, what I wouldn’t give to have him here with us today.

Last night, after Lulu was sound asleep, I warmed up some French Onion Soup that I’d had the foresight to make ahead of time and freeze. It’s not quite the same warmed up from the freezer, but last night, after the week I’d had, it was just the thing. French Onion Soup is one of my very favorite things. I’ve been making it for years. A couple of things I’ve learned: it really makes a difference how you slice your onions so be sure to do it pole to pole; be sure to really let those onions caramelize into the deepest, richest brown or your soup will be limp and watery; it’s okay to make this soup as an excuse to consume bread that’s been smothered in cheese; once the broth has been added, be sure to let it reduce and thicken; if you’re a vegetarian, this recipe can be made using your favorite vegetable broth in place of the beef broth; eat it with people you love and I highly recommend getting cozy on the couch to watch Funny Face after you polish off the last drops from your bowl. You can take G’s approach, “After dinner I will watch Funny Face and learn about Paris and figure out how I can go there.” I mean, she’s got a a great plan there.

This recipe is pretty easy, and although it takes some time to get the onions nice and caramelized, you don’t have to babysit the pot. Just keep the heat nice and low, and come back to check and stir between things. I make it all the time and I hope it becomes part of your regular rotation as well.

Ingredients.
6 Tbsp. butter, (3/4 stick)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 large yellow onions, trimmed, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced pole to pole
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. flour
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 quarts low sodium beef broth (or sub. a rich vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian)
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 baguette*, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Grana Padano or Parmesan, grated
1 cup Emmental or Gruyere, grated
chives, thinly sliced

Directions.
In a large dutch oven, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, one bay leaf, a pinch of salt and pepper, Cook the onions, stirring often, for about 2 hours, until the onions are caramelized (a dark, rich brown color). Discard the bay leaf and thyme stems.

Add in the wine and dijon. Stir continuously until the wine has reduced and the onions are “dry” again. Reduce the heat. Dust the onions with the flour and stir continuously for five minutes.

Add in the broth and the second bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until the broth has reduced, and the soup has thickened.

Preheat your broiler. Toss the two grated cheeses together in a small bowl. Transfer the soup into ovenproof bowls, top with a layer of bread, sprinkle with a bit of the cheeses. Place them under the broiler, on a cookie sheet, until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
FRENCH ONION SOUP

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