French Onion Soup

I saw this on The Chew Friday and couldn't stop thinking about it. So I made it. It ended up being super delicious and now I can't wait for the leftovers.

French Onion Soup
Courtesy of The Chew (Clinton Kelly)


2 pounds medium Yellow Onions (sliced)
1/2 bunch fresh Thyme (tied with kitchen twine) (I used 1/2 tsp dried)
2 Bay Leaves
1 teaspoons Salt
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Full-Bodied Red Wine
4 cups Reduced-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 cup Water
1 teaspoon Black Pepper

6 slices Baguette (1/2-inch slices)
1/2 pound Gruyere or mild Swiss Cheese (grated)
2 tablespoons Parmesan (grated)

In a heavy pot, cook onions, thyme, bay leaves, salt, olive oil and butter over moderate heat, for about 45 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are a deep caramel color. Add flour and stir, cook for about 1 minute. Stir in wine and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, water, and black pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When ready to serve, toast baguette slices. Preheat broiler. Remove bay leaves and thyme stems from soup. Ladle soup into oven-safe crocks or bowls. Top with toasted baguette slice, then grated gruyere, then grated parmesan. Broil until cheese bubbles and turns light golden brown.

NOTE: If you don’t have oven-safe crocks, you can make cheesy croutons. Place toasted baguette slices on a baking pan, top with both cheeses. Broil until cheese bubbles and turns light golden brown. Place one cheesy crouton on top of each bowl of soup.

Helpful Tips:
1. This recipe is best taken slow, so make sure to take your time in all the steps of the recipe.
2. In the crocks, make sure to leave enough room for the bread and cheese.
3. If you don’t have oven safe crocks, put the Baguettes with Cheese on a baking sheet and heat them in the oven, then add it to the soup.

I didn't cook the onions as long as the recipe (my pot was starting to get too much brown stuff on the bottom) and I don't have oven safe crocks. But let me tell you this was delicious and worth the crying I did slicing 2 pounds of onions.

C is for Craft

While Whitney was home for spring break, we had to make a craft. It has to be easy to make and not cost too much. I had seen this one on The Chew on Clinton's Craft Corner and it looked just like what we could handle.

All of the supplies could be found at a hobby store and the home improvement store.

Ink Dye Coasters

You need this to make them

White tiles (88 cents each)
Rubbing alcohol (in my bathroom so free)
Alcohol ink ($9.99 for three colors)
Sealant spray ($6.00)
Felt circles ($2.99)

Clean the surface of tile with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. Do not remove all the alcohol, you need it for the next step.

Drip the ink on the tile in random fashion. You can overlap colors. The amount of alcohol you have on the tile will determine the amount of spread your ink will have.

Let the ink dry completely. Then spray with sealant if you want. Put felt circles on the bottom so the tiles won't scrape furniture when being used.

That's it. Each coaster will be different which makes this a neat craft. You can paint the sides of the coaster to cover up runs and the white part of the tile. I would recommend this because ours look a little sloppy.








This was a fun craft to make. We hardly used any ink so we will be able to make lots of these. I see Christmas presents in the future.

Meatloaf - The Chew Way

I decided that comfort food was needed on the weekend. Normally when I make meatloaf I just wing it with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But I wanted to try something new and went with a recipe from The Chew.

Carla Hall's Meatloaf
Recipe courtesy of The Chew

1/3 cup Milk
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 small onion (grated)
1/4 cup grated carrots
2 eggs
1/3 cup prepared horseradish (I left this out)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon hot sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, mix breadcrumbs and milk until breadcrumbs are coated. To bowl add the remaining ingredients and mix until combines.

Pack mixture into a 9- by 5-inch oval loaf in a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish or pan. Bake until the loaf has an internal temperature of 155°F, 60 to 75 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This was super flavorful and actually a little too moist. The grated onion and carrot had a lot of water so I think that made the mixture loose. I usually cook my meatloaf on a cooling rack on a sheet pan so the fat can drip out of it. The meatloaf was so loose that it sunk through the rack. Next time I will try and add more breadcrumbs.

Eggs with Sweet Potato/Apple Pancakes

As many of you have gathered, I'm obsessed with The Chew on ABC. I've had the cookbook since November and hadn't made anything. Partly because I'm afraid to bend the pages too much since Michael Symon autographed it. But he said use it to cook, so cook I did.

The first recipe I made was actually from Daphne Oz. Normally I wouldn't have made something of hers but she used sweet potatoes and I'm trying to expand what I use them for. Plus I thought this would be easy to make and Dan would eat it.

Eggs with Sweet Potato and Apple Pancakes
Recipe courtesy of The Chew

Ingredients

5 fresh eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 sweet potato peeled and grated
1/2 onion grated
1/2 apple grated
1 carrot grated
2 egg whites lightly beaten
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a pan lightly poach eggs.

In a medium-sized skillet heat 1/3 cup olive oil to medium-high heat.

Grate the sweet potatoes, onion, apple and carrot. Ring out the shavings in a cheese cloth or paper towel (this is to ensure the pancakes won't be soggy). Then in a large bowl, place shredded sweet potatoes, grated onion, grated apple, grated carrot, 2 egg whites and 1/4 cup flour. Then add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix well.

In a medium-sized skillet, Combine and drop: enough batter into hot oil to make 2 1/2-3 inch pancakes. Add more oil, as needed, and fry cakes in batches until golden on each side.

I wasn't sure what size of any of the vegetables to use. I used half of a Fuji apple since I like those. I also used a smallish onion and my sweet potato was medium large. I made three pancakes the first night and then the second day I cooked up the rest for lunch.

This was really nice. I decided that I didn't even need the egg to complete the dish.

Now it is time for me to tackle some more recipes from this cookbook.

My Date with Chefs

I'm in Washington, D.C. for a work conference. I got here early to go to a test review course and saw on my twitter feed that said my favorite celebrity chefs, Carla Hall and Michael Symon were going to be at a food convention here on Sunday. On a lark I checked out the tickets and when I found one in row eight I jumped and bought a ticket. I also go an autographed copy of either of their books plus admission to the convention center.

I got there early and started sampling all the food that was there. I saw where Michael Symon was autographing books. I went over just to take his picture (I know very geeky) and then I found out if you bought any of his books you could get an autograph and photo. Woohoo. I was sold. So I bought The Chew cookbook and got in line which wasn't long at all.







He was very nice.

Later I went to the cooking demo. I've loved Carla from her first season on Top Chef and I watch The Chew every day. The camaraderie you see on tv is really true. The two of them were so great together.













Sorry for the quality but it was no flash photography and I had the camera guy right in front.

Needless to say I loved my day. My autographed copy of Carla Hall's book is going to ship to me. They got held up in NYC from Sandy and since they don't come out until Tuesday they just couldn't just go to a store to get them.

So two autograph books and photo with a chef. Not bad for a work trip!

The October Version of TV Reviews

So most of the shows have started up (except for Nashville, that's tonight). Because I don't have anything else to talk about and I'm sure you are waiting for my opinions on the fall season, here you go.

Scripted Shows

Revenge - AWESOME! Only two episodes into the year and I am counting the days until the next one. That's always a good sign. If you haven't seen this, think GOOD night time soap opera. Because it really is one.

Person of Interest - I was worried second season wouldn't start off well but I was wrong. Another great show if you need something to watch. It makes you think and has just enough based on reality to make you wonder if there is something out there like the machine.

Glee - Worried about this one. Although the last episode was redeeming it is now off for a month because of baseball. If it continues like the last episode great. If not, I may have to pass.

Once Upon A Time - yes a new entry to my normal watching. Whitney got me watching it and it comes on right before Revenge. If I miss one, it would be ok, but they sure have some great costumes and scenery in Fairy Tale Land.


Unscripted Shows (In Other Words Reality TV)

Project Runway - season almost over. I'm on Team Christopher or Melissa for the win. After this is over they are having another All Stars which I won't watch. Although our local contestant (Kayne Gillespie) is on it.

Amazing Race - this one gets DVR'd and I watch it when I can. I hate the food roadblocks and please make them do something. While the bull racing was fun to watch this week all the racers had to do was ride on the back of a motorcycle that someone else was driving. BORING.

Dancing with the Stars - I tried to watch this since it was All-stars and I'm a sucker for that. But this week's results show that continues to have the crappy dancers staying on (yes I'm talking to you Kirstie and Bristol) have ruined the show. Bye Bye Bye.

Top Chef - about to start new season. Yes I'll be watching.


Daytime TV

The Chew - yes I DVR this every day so I can watch it when I get home. I skip a lot of it but there is great chemistry among the hosts (except for Mario who I'm not sure why he is there). I've never cooked any of their dishes but I enjoy them. Clinton Kelly, Carla Hall and Michael Symon can come visit me any day.