Gratinee a l'oignon (French Onion soup)

One of the perks of cold weather is that it is once again the season to enjoy the deliciousness that is French onion soup.

An absolute classic recipe that is best enjoyed after a day of skiing, hiking or really just plain lazy urban cocooning, it is one of the cheapest and satisfying meals I can think of!

Do try it. I promise you this will not be in vain :)

PS: on top of my regular point and shoot photography, my friend Rod came over to share some food and macro photography tips. Take a look at this!

Photographs by Rod Egret

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people, or 2 people for 2 meals)
- 1 1/2 lbs onions
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 1/3 cup AP flour
- 1 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio, but you can use Riesling or even a red; if you are using a white though, use a dry wine not sweet)
- 8 cups beef broth (you can use vegetable broth if you wish to make a vegetarian version, but if you do eat meat, beef is the way to go!)
- 1/2 stick of butter
- a sprig of thyme and a bay leaf
- a stale French baguette, or any stale bread you can slice and shape into large croutons
- PLENTY of grated Alpine Gruyere (No, you really cannot use mozzarella, jack or cheddar on this... If you cannot find Gruyere, I guess an aged Parmesan would work, but you just cannot replicate the sweet, nutty, delicious flavor of Gruyere. It is really not that much of a splurge: I got the pictured slab for about 5.50 dollars at whole foods, and only used about half of it. For real!)


RECIPE:
- in a dutch oven or deep pot, melt the butter and saute the sliced onions over medium-high heat until golden brown and lightly caramelized (about 5-7 minutes)

- add the flour and the finely chopped garlic, mix and cook for another 2 minutes over medium heat, making sure it does not stick to the bottom

- deglaze the pot with the wine, then add the beef broth, thyme and bay leaf and simmer over medium heat for another 25-30 minutes

- after 30 minutes, the soup will have thickened and reduced a little in volulme, and the onions will be very tender

- place a crouton in the bottom of an oven-proof bowl and ladle the soup over it. Add another two croutons on top and smother in grated cheese (forgot to take a picture with the cheese, sorry!)

- melt the cheese under the broiler for a few minutes and look often! The croutons are very prone to burning... ahem...

- enjoy piping hot, with a nice glass of red wine!

Fish and shrimp risotto

This is more of a what-ever-can-i-come-up-with-to-empty-the-pantry-and-the-freezer kinda mishmash recipe, but it works!

I was craving tomato rice the day I made this recipe, and since I had a TON of frozen fish (that I got for a bargain at the supermarket), I decided to incorporate this maritime ingredient into a risotto.

I made this quite a long time ago, but never really had the time to edit it into a blog entry. Since my next recipe will take another couple of days before I can post it up, I decided to tackle that one and have it ready for you for the weekend.

Hope you'll like!



INGREDIENTS (for 2 to 3 people):
- 1.5 cups arborio rice
- 1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 to 3 cups of water (use 2 and then add more if needed)
- 1/2 cup white wine
- olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, slivered
- 2 lbs of mixed fish and peeled deveined shrimp, cubed (I used frozen shrimp and fish that I thawed and drained, my personal fish mix was cod, tilapia and flounder)
- salt, pepper
- grated Parmesan cheese to taste


RECIPE:
- in a skillet, heat a glob of olive oil and saute the shallot and garlic until transparent. Do not let it brown.

- add the rice, and coat with oil. Cook for a minute or so on medium-high heat, until the rice is opaque and bright white. Do not let it brown.

- add the wine and a ladle of water, and stir until the liquid is absorbed.

- add the tomatoes and their liquid. Stir until the liquid is absorbed.

- add the rest of the water ladle by ladle, stirring until each ladle has been absorbed before adding the next one, until the rice is almost cooked through (about 25 minutes)
- when the rice is a few minutes shy of being done, add the shrimp, fish cubes, salt and pepper and cook for 5-8 minutes (or until cooked through)

- finish with a healthy dose of grated parmesan cheese

- serve hot, sprinkled with italian parsley

- Enjoy!

Mushroom risotto

Ever since I made a veal stew last fall (click here for the recipe), I was stuck with a lo-hot of frozen leftover veal stock that I had no idea how to use (aside from making yet another veal stew).

I decided to use it in place of your standard chicken stock in a mushroom risotto.

Here's the step-by-step recipe for a pretty awesome mushroom risotto, if I can say so myself ;)

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS ( about 3 servings: for 2 as a side dish, for 1 as a meal with leftovers)
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 4-5 large fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly (about 4oz)
- 1/2 oz pack of dried porcini mushrooms, broken into medium sized pieces
- 1 medium onion and 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- about 3 cups veal stock (normal ratio would call for about 1 3/4 cups,but I ended up using about 2 1/2 -or veggie broth for vegetarian option-)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- a sprig of fresh thyme, or a pinch of dried thyme
- NO salt! The cheese and stock are salted already. Better to add salt in your plate than ruin the entire dish!


RECIPE:
- saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil on medium heat until translucent about 3 minutes (do not let it brown)

- add the rice and stir for about 2 minutes, or until the rice is coated with oil and become more opaque (do not let it brown)

- add the dry porcini and wine and stir until absorbed

- add 1/2 cup of veal stock and stir until absorbed

- repeat with the rest of the stock, 1/2 cup each time, until the rice is cooked and you are satisfied with the consistency (about 20-30 minutes). If you need more liquid, add a little stock, wine or water
- add the fresh mushrooms with the last 1/2 cup of stock and let cook for a few minutes

- turn off the heat, and add the butter and cheese

- stir well until the risotto is creamy

- serve and sprinkle with a few thyme leaves

- bon app!

Mushroom and Gorgonzola veloute

The weather is getting crisp, the temperatures are dropping and the leaves are turning yellow.

Fall is here. And that means I'm in the mood for soup!

I got a really good deal for a chunk of Gorgonzola cheese today at the supermaket, and I was just scanning my fridge to find something (anything) to pair it with when I saw a bucket of button mushrooms. And then there was light! I had my soup of the day. Somehow, I was going to find a way to combine those two ingredients to create a delicious cozy automn soup :)

I immediately took to my favorite cooking tool: google. The first hit I got was this recipe which I tweaked a little. I added potatoes for fibers and creaminess instead of a white sauce base (flour and butter).

Ingredients:

- A small container of mushrooms (sliced)

- 2 small potatoes (floury, not waxy), peeled and diced

- 1 onion and 2 small cloves of garlic, diced

- 2 tbsp butter

- 1/4 cup gorgonzola, crumbled + extra for decoration

- salt, dried rosemary leaves 1/2 tsp each

- small glass of white wine

- 1/4 heavy cream

- 4 cups chicken broth

RECIPE:

Melt the butter and cook the onion and garlic until soft.

Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown.

Deglaze with white wine and reserve 1/4 cup for texture and decoration.

Add potatoes, salt, rosemary and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer covered until potatoes are fork tender.
Turn off heat and add cream and Gorgonzola. Puree with an immersion blender.

Serve with a slice of whole wheat bread. Sprinkle with reserved sliced mushrooms, crumbled cheese and liberal amounts of black pepper :)Enjoy!

When in Rome... (pun intended!)

Ever since relocating to New England, I've had a craving for clams.
Yesterday, I indulged in homemade linguine alle vongole and boy, were they satisfying!

Ingredients for 3 people (or 2 very hungry):

- 2lbs littleneck clams

- 3 cloves of garlic

- one lemon 

- red chili flakes, 1tsp  

- dry white wine, 3/4 cups (I used pinot grigio for cooking and drinking with the meal afterwards)

- non-salted butter, 3 tbsp

- chopped flat leaf parsley, to taste

- 1 lb dried linguine (spaghetti work just fine too)

- freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste








Recipe:

- start off with rinsing and cleaning the clams in a bowl of cold water several times. Discard any clam that is not closed tight. If they are open, you can tap on them and they will close. If they stay open, it means that they are already dead and potentially toxic. DO NOT eat those!

- Then cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water

- While the pasta is cooking, fry the grated garlic and chili flakes in olive oil over medium heat in a pot for a couple of minutes

 

- Add the clams and the wine combined with the lemon juice.

- Cover and let simmer over medium heat until the clams are cooked (you know they are when they open up)

- Discard any clam that did not open, just like this one here:

- Drain the cooked pasta, and add them to the clam sauce. Add the parsley and give a good toss.

- Eat hot, sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

BON APPETIT!