French Onion Soup with bay leaf and thyme

In a surprise move, Mr. Spice went to the winter farmer’s market and brought home three onions. We add onions to nearly every dinner, so that was fine, but with company anticipated over the weekend, I decided to try my hand at French onion soup. I’ve had some good ones, while others have been watery and bland, so I searched on-line to learn how to caramelize the onions in a slow cooker. Thankfully, I found both recipes on the same blog!

http://www.theyummylife.com/Caramelized_Onions

I made half the recipe, and should have measured only half the olive oil (no adverse effects, just a touch too much oil in the soup). I didn’t realize the entire house would smell of raw and cooking onions for hours, but the results were worth it.

http://www.theyummylife.com/French_Onion_Soup

The flavor was lovely and I’ll definitely make the recipe again. Imagine having those onions on hand for garnish in other dishes!

The thyme stems were so well dried that the leaves fell off before a bundle could be tied, so here they are loose.

I didn’t take a final photo because I tore up slices of bread and melted the cheese by microwave instead of broiler (note to self: need larger ramekins!). Thank you for respecting photo copyrights.

Bread Pudding

With leftover finger rolls after a large meal, I decided to make bread pudding for the first time. I made many substitutions to a recipe in a Weight Watchers cookbook. The ingredients I used:

4 cups of 1-inch cubes of bread (for a healthier version, use whole-grain bread)

1 ripe pear, chopped

1 cup of frozen mixed fruit (blueberries, strawberries, etc.)

½ cup sugar

¾ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

3 cups of milk (I used 1 cup of skim, 1 cup of almond milk, and 1 cup of chocolate milk)

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp chocolate extract

5 TBSP maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I used a 9x13 baking dish because I don’t have the 9x11 size called for. During baking, the pan is supposed to rest in another (larger) pan of water. I also didn’t have another pan larger than the 9x13 so I used a cookie sheet with raised edges. If you have a baking dish that fits into another dish, use that. I didn’t want to use a smaller dish for the bread pudding to fit inside the 9x13 pan because I’d tried that before with a breakfast casserole and found that the deeper dish resulted in a well-done top and an under-done center.

Spray baking dish and put bread squares into pan. Add layer of fruit(s). In a large bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add milk, eggs, and extract(s). The original did not suggest the different types of milk and used only vanilla extract (2 tsp). Pour over the bread and fruit. Press down gently on the bread so it can absorb the milk mixture. Cover with foil and let it sit for 30 minutes. Bake inside another dish with water half-way up the sides for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake about 30 more minutes, until the top looks puffy and is very gently browned.

I learned that soft white bread doesn’t need as much liquid as the whole grain bread originally called for in the recipe, so next time I’d reduce the amount of milk or maple syrup (if using white bread). I also could have warmed up the frozen fruit and drained off liquids from the thawing process. The flavor was great, and the chocolate came through very mildly, so next time I’ll add some chocolate chips! The dark berries released their colored juices into the bread pudding- it didn't look very attractive in the end, so here is a summer photo for those in wintry climates now!

Chestnut soup with nutmeg

I had chestnut soup for the first time in Germany 5 years ago, and was immediately intrigued. It was made with venison, which I don’t remember having had before, and the depth of flavor was just wonderful. I searched for a recipe and found several, but didn’t try any until the Boston Globe printed Adam Ried’s recipe in 2008. I couldn’t locate it anywhere online to post here, but I still have that page in my recipe ringbinder!

The first time I made this soup, I boiled the whole, raw chestnuts and peeled the inner and outer layers around the nut meat, then decided “never again”. Every year since, I’ve used jarred or vacuum packed chestnuts, preferring the flavor of the jarred (pre-peeled) chestnuts.

The recipe does not call for any meat, which is fine with me, since I usually serve it as an appetizer before a meal with meat choices. I’ve always omitted the 1 TBSP brandy called for, but feel free to add some to yours. The use of an immersion blender makes the job much easier than in an upright blender.

Melt 1 TBSP butter at medium heat, add 2 chopped leeks, 1 chopped pear, and ½ tsp. salt. Stir, cook about 2 minutes, then reduce heat, cover pan, and continue to cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 4 cups chicken broth, 1 jar (14.8 oz) roasted chestnuts* and bring to a boil. [*reserve 5 chestnuts for garnish, chopping finely]. Lower heat and simmer 30 minutes. Puree the mixture, then add ½ cup half-and-half, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Heat through, and serve with a garnish of chopped chestnuts. The soup can be frozen for later without any ill effects before adding the half-and-half.

Stuffing Breakfast Muffins with Sage and Thyme

What to do with leftover, rather bland, store-bought (dry, from a bag) cornbread stuffing? Toss? Google some recipes and see what others have created? Ding!

http://www.kitchen-concoctions.com/2012/11/website-wednesday-leftover-stuffing.html

I decided to give this “concoction” a try, as it looked brilliant!

Here is my adaptation:
Whisk together 5 regular eggs and 1/4 cup liquid egg substitute, 1/3 cup half-and-half, and salt/pepper to taste (may need very little if using pre-spiced stuffing). Stir in 2 cups leftover prepared stuffing, and 1/2 cup leftover vegetables (I used corn and tomatoes). If the stuffing does not already have spices in it, add 1/4 teaspoon each of sage and thyme. If the stuffing recipe does not include meat, add 1 cup of chopped leftover ham or turkey.

The extra ingredients resulted in a longer bake time, 20 minutes at 400 degrees. That's steam rising from the "muffin", and you can see that I used muffin liners. Do you have any creative ways of re-serving stuffing?

Mac 'n' cheese with dry mustard

For so many years, it was easy and fun to prepare “mac’n’cheese” out of a box. The slight cardboard flavor was overruled by the tremendous ease of boiling and either squeezing the tube of fake cheese or stirring in the powdered "cheese"!

Home-made recipes seemed to include lots of cheeses and more complicated steps that I “didn’t have time for” until this healthier gem was printed:

http://www.oprah.com/food/Simple-Recipes-You-Can-Memorize-Go-To-Recipes/14

I made only slight modifications, by using fat free milk and sour cream, and adding onions and garlic. I’m grateful (pun intended) to the genius who marketed pre-shredded carrots to grocery stores. The first time I made the recipe, I hand grated them, got tired and used the blender blade to shred more, and finally decided that from here on out I’ll get the nifty bag of mass produced carrot shreds.

The dry mustard was a welcome and creative ingredient, adding depth of flavor. I used one bag of cheddar cheese and another cup of a pre-combined mix of cheeses (either "Mexican" or "Italian"). Positive reviews all around!

This last photo was before baking...forgot to take an "after" picture! The 9x13 pan was a double batch for a crowd. Do you have a favorite home made mac'n'cheese recipe that you can share?

More mushrooms and photography

I still haven't figured out where my affection for mushrooms comes from, but I really like to photograph any type, and consume edible fungi!

In preparation for a multi-mushroom dish (above). Crawling around outside in search of a great fungus portrait is also fun:

Starting to think about the next garden crop, months away yet, and realized that the least photogenic cat hasn't made his blog debut yet (he usually looks grumpy on film even when he's purring in real life):

They love to nibble on grass while safely attached to a harness and leash...

And finally, I send you New Year's well wishes, in case you are not on an island right now...ok, even if you are!

Yep, snapped that one (and all blog photos) myself, thanks for respecting copyright!

Polenta with Italian Seasoning

I’ve never cooked with polenta before, and appreciated the encouragement from http://blog.alisontauber.com (no polenta recipe there, just a shout out). When I first filled up the new & larger spice rack nearly a year ago, I found a bottle of “Italian Seasonin”. I suspected that it contained basil, oregano, thyme, maybe a few other spices. Truth be told, I though “hmmm, I’m preparing dishes with each of those separately, why would I want all my meals to taste the same by using the combined version?” Well, tonight was the right time to try the pre-mixed seasoning! I couldn’t find the piece of paper where I wrote down Alison’s directions, so I cobbled together the best of my recollection…

4 cups water, 1 ½ cups dry polenta, 1 bullion cube (I used chicken)- alert: this takes only about 5 minutes to cook- I got the “instant” polenta.

A bunch of vegetables, either roasted or sautéed – I used mushrooms, onion, garlic, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, and the very last of the garden tomato minis that had been ripening in a paper bag since the end of October. PLUS…drum roll…Italian Seasoning, along with salt and pepper.

Spread a layer of cooked polenta in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer vegetables and any protein you like (could use hamburger meat or ground turkey, cooked)- I used fake steak from the freezer section of the grocery store. Add shredded cheese. Cover with another layer of polenta. Bake until the top is light brown…I once again forgot to look at the clock when I put it in the over at 350 degrees. But the time will vary anyway depending on the size of the dish you use. The vegetables released more liquid as the casserole baked, leaving the lower layer of polenta a bit soggy, which may or may not have been alleviated by baking longer or using a larger baking dish with a thinner layer to get crispy.

Do you have a favorite polenta dish?

I didn’t know that a seafood cooking class I would take after preparing this dish would include polenta with shrimp! And bacon!! Yummy…will make that again for sure.