French Onion Soup

In my laziness, I found this recipe on the America's Test Kitchen website. Its close enough to mine. Enjoy!

Sweet onions, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, will make this recipe overly sweet. Be patient when caramelizing the onions in step 2; the entire process takes 45 to 60 minutes. Use broiler-safe crocks and keep the rim of the bowls 4 to 5 inches from the heating element to obtain a proper gratinée of melted, bubbly cheese. If using ordinary soup bowls, sprinkle the toasted bread slices with Gruyère and return them to the broiler until the cheese melts, then float them on top of the soup. We prefer Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth and Pacific Beef Broth. For the best flavor, make the soup a day or 2 in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step 1, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to 3 days before proceeding with the recipe. Serves 6

Soup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (see illustration below)
Salt
2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups chicken broth (see note)
2 cups beef broth (see note)
6 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine
1 bat leaf
Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons
1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)


For the soup:
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

2. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.) Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons:
4.While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400-degree oven until bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

5. To serve: Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Asparagus and Shitake Risotto

Making this Risotto for Lincoln's 4th Birthday dinner.

yield: Makes 4 main-course servings
Making risotto is often thought to be an ordeal. Yes you have to add the broth, a cup at a time, and stir, stir, stir... but I find it to be one of the joys of cooking. My suggestion is to pour a glass of wine and enjoy! It really only takes about 20 minutes.

My suggestion is to prep all items first. A pretty easy dish, especially for a main course. We serve it with quickly sauteed or grill shrimp and top with chives or scallions.

6 cups chicken broth
1 pound thin to medium asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, leaving tips 1 1/2 inches long
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
Scallions or chives

Bring broth and water to a boil in a 4-quart pot. Add asparagus and cook, uncovered, until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer asparagus with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking, then drain and pat dry. Keep broth at a bare simmer, covered.
Heat oil with 1 tablespoon butter in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a bowl.
Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed, about 1 minute.
Ladle in 1 cup simmering broth and cook at a strong simmer, stirring, until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue simmering and adding broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until rice is just tender and looks creamy, 18 to 20 minutes. (Save leftover broth for thinning.)
Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese, remaining tablespoon butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Gently stir in asparagus and mushrooms, then cover pan and let stand 1 minute. If desired, thin risotto with some of remaining broth. Serve immediately with remaining cheese on the side. Top with scallions or chives.

Sourcream Cheesecake

This is the dessert Lincoln requested for his 4th birthday dinner.

I think people tend to be intimidated by cheesecake but really it's so easy. Yes, cheesecake can be a bit fussy but I think if you relax, it'll come out just fine. A few tricks I've learned are to have all ingredients at room temperature (a must for all baking), mix well but do not over mix, place 2 ramekins of water in the oven while baking, and cake should jiggle when you take it out, it will set as it cools.


Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Topping:

1 1/2 cups sour cream
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Crust:

stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Pat this mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan.
Filling:

Beat together the cream cheese and granulated sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, and then beat in the vanilla. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the oven. Cool for 10 minutes. Do not turn oven off.
Topping:

In a bowl, mix the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Spread this mixture over the warm cake and return to the oven for 4 minutes.

Let the cake cool to room temperature in the pan, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. At serving time, use a table knife to loosen the cake from the pan. Remove the sides of the pan and place the cake on a platter, leaving it on pan bottom.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

The cake Lincoln always wants as his birthday cake!

Originally this was called Chocolate Birthday Cake or Chocolate Fudge Cake. Somewhere along the way I added cinnamon. It reminded me of Mexican hot chocolate. The rest is history.

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/1 cup shortening
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
3 1/2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
1 Lb powdered sugar (a box), sifted
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven at 350

Grease & flour 9x13 pan

Cake:
Mix together flour, sugar baking soda and cinnamon.
In saucepan, bring butter, shortening, water and cocoa to a rolling boil.
Mix into sugar & flour.
Combine remaining ingredients and add to mixture.
Bake 35-40 minutes.
Start frosting when you take cake out of oven.

Frosting:
In a pan, melt ~ almost boil ~ butter, milk and cocoa. Add sugar and vanilla.
Pour entire mixture over warm cake.
Cool completely before serving.