Oniony Goodness

It's the weirdest thing. Every time that I make something with onions, I always think of my little sister. She hates onions! Why in the world would making something that so heavily features onions make me think of her? There are so many layers of onion flavor that even if she spent all evening picking out every single tiny piece of onion out of it, it would still taste like onions.

Maybe it's because she was living with me when I first came across this recipe. Or maybe it's because I can still remember watching her pick the onions from a Lipton Onion Soup mix from my mom's meatloaf when she was little (that is a task in itself since we all know how tiny those onions are). Maybe it's because I still like to give her a hard time for that very memory. Or maybe it's because I keep hoping that one day I'll make something oniony that she'll actually like. Dream big, right?

Like I said, I came across this recipe about a year ago on Brownie Points. Poppy Seed Sweet Onion Risotto features bacon and a whole lot of butter. It's comfort food at its finest and was perfect for me missing my baby sister, even if she wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. I added chicken to it and used a few more slices of bacon and absolutely no butter (I wanted it to be heartier and go further without completely killing any attempts at losing weight). One final note, neither the hubby nor I liked it as much the next day after reheating it in the microwave. the poppy seed flavor was just too overpowering, so be sure to only make as much as you'll need for one sitting (unless of course you love that taste).

Poppy Seed Sweet Onion Risotto
Recipe by Brownie Points, adapted by me

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 Tbl poppy seeds
1/2 cup white wine, plus 1 Tbl
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 Tbl butter
2 shallots, cut in thin rings
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat your broth to just under a simmer. Keep this nice and warm, not boiling, on a back burner.
2. In a small dish measure out 2 Tbs of poppy seeds and pour in enough white wine to cover. Allow the poppy seeds to soak for the duration of your risotto making.
3. In your designated risotto pan, slowly render the chopped up bacon over low heat until the bits are nice and crisped. Scoop out the bacon bits and drain on a paper bag or paper towel.
4. Add to the bacon drippings one Tbs of butter and the shallots and fry until the rings are crispy golden. Remove rings setting aside to drain.
5. Add to risotto pan and sweat the diced onion and salt. When your onion is translucent, add to the risotto pan the rice bringing heat up to med, stirring your rice almost constantly, for approximately 1-2minutes, not allowing the rice to color.
6. Now, proceed to make your risotto in the traditional style: add to your sautéed rice a good splash of white wine, and scrape up the nice cooked on bits from the bacon and shallot frying, add one ladle of your warm, backburnered broth, at a time, stirring almost constantly. When the broth has been absorbed by the rice mixture, add another ladle of broth continue ladling and stirring until the rice is just cooked all the way through, approximately 20-25 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and stir into your risotto the wine soaked poppy seeds and their bathwater, the grate parmesan cheese, and the crispy bacon bits. Top each dished portion with the crispy shallot rings and enjoy.

Gold at the End of the Rainbow

I'm a day early for St. Patrick's Day, but that's because we had Irish food last night and will be revisiting the cuisine of the Emerald Isle tomorrow night. I wanted to share this dish with you while I'm taking a break from prepping for tomorrow night's feast (hey, I told you the Irish blood lives strong in me). I've been baking a whiskey cake and getting things ready for tomorrow. My mom and college roommate will be joining the hubby and I for a feast fit for Brian Boru.

Dublin Coddle is one of those dishes that if you've never heard of it before, you're going to scratch your head trying to figure out the name. One of my coworkers asked what I was eating at lunch today, and when I told her she just stared at me like I was speaking Gaelic (and for all I know, coddle could be Gaelic). It's made with bangers and rashers, or suasage and bacon (but more like ham here in America) and also potatoes, onions, and sometimes parsely. I found the recipe in two of my Irish cookbooks and just went with the slightly simpler recipe (slicing instead of dicing, plus the other called for an apple which I didn't have), but I think the other cookbook is the more traditional version.

I wish I could have gotten better quality sausages, but what I had was still pretty good. I completely forgot the parsley and should have used more salt. This was really good though and even better the next day, especially with all my coworkers salivating and staring greedily at my lunch. On another note, these are the first pictures on my new camera. Still not the greatest pictures, but I am trying and hopefully after my class this summer it'll be much better.

Dublin Coddle
Recipe by Irish Food & Cooking

8 1/3-inch thick ham or dry-cured bacon slices (we had just some thick-cut deli ham that tasted excellent)
8 best-quality lean pork sausages
4 large onions, thinly sliced
2 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced (you know mine weren't peeled)
6 Tbl chopped parsley
Salt and ground black pepper

1. Cut the ham or bacon into large chunks and cook with the sausages in 5 cups of boiling water for 5 minutes (I just used enough water to cover the meat in a large stock pot). Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Put the meat into a large stock pot with the onions, potatoes, and parsley. Season and add just enough fo the cooking liquid to cover. Cover with a tight-fitting lid; lay a piece of buttered foil or baking parchment on top before putting on the lid (I used all of the liquid plus a little, and I only used 3 small onions so you may need more if you follow this exactly).
3. Simmer gently over a low heat for about 1 hour, or until liquid is reduced by half and all the ingredients are cooked but not mushy. Serve hot with the vegetables on top.

Le Soupe a l'Oignon avec un petit Croque Monsieur

I've been waiting since early April to tackle the soup lovingly known as French Onion Soup. I went garage sale-ing with a very dear friend, and I picked up some little white pots that I knew would be perfect for the soup. I knew that they were just going to be sitting in one of my cabinets though. You see, when the hubby was gone and my sister was living with me, I knew I would be eating it alone if I cooked it. Sweet Honey Mim is not going to like this post almost as much as she would not have liked to come home to this soup for dinner. 

I've been trying to plan our meals for every night for each week so that I don't come across the problem we had when I was in high school ("Hey mom, what's for dinner?" "I don't know. What would you like?" "I don't know. Just make something.") And on and on it would go until my mom finally made the rule of whoever asks that question will be the one responsible for making dinner. Anyway, I'd been planning on making this soup for the past week and was ecstatic to finally be putting my crocks to good use. I went searching for the perfect recipe. I was shocked to see just how many variations there are to something that is essentially pub food. I finally found three similar recipes that each had only minor variations and decided to put them together to make my own recipe.

I first turned to the Bible of French food, Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking (Hey Anne, I finally got to use the cookbook). That woman was a genius! I then pulled out my other love, Jamie Oliver and his Jamie at Home. Lastly, I turned to The Bon Appetit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild. Following Ms. Child's recipe almost completely, I added a little bit of Jamie and a touch of Barbara to come up with something my hubby and I both enjoyed. I hope you like it too...

Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee avec un petit Croque Monsieur (it just sounds cooler in French)
Recipe by Julia, Jamie, Barbara, and me

5 medium sized onions, thinly sliced (I used 3 white and 2 yellow)
3 Tbl butter (homemade...yumyum)
2-3 glugs olive oil
Handful of fresh sage leaves (I think I used about 8-10, but I didn't really count it out)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
3 Tbl flour
2 qts boiling beef stock (I used 2 - 32 oz. boxes of beef broth)
1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth (Red Bicyclette chardonnay for me)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbl cognac (or brandy cause that's what I had on hand)
Fresh baguette, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 cup coarsely chopped ham
1-2 cups freshly grated Gruyere cheese

1. Preheat broiler. Place the butter, oil, and sage leaves in a large stock pot on medium heat. Heat until butter is melted and add onions. Cover and cook the onions slowly for about 15 minutes.
2. Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in salt and sugar. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes stirring frequently, until onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown (trust me on this, don't rush this step, and don't leave the lid on; my onions never colored since I forgot the lid).
3. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes. Add the beef stock/broth and the wine. Season to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes more, skimming occasionally. Correct seasoning as needed.
4. Just before serving, stir in the cognac/brandy. Ladle into soup bowls. Place slices of baguette to cover the top of the soup. Top with a bit of the ham and gruyere, place bowls on a baking sheet, and set on the top rack under the broiler. Allow to broil for approximately 5 minutes, or until cheese is hot and bubbly. Serve with extra pieces of baguette and butter.

To toast baguette slices and make them more like croutons (yumyum), place the slices on a baking sheet inside the oven as it preheats for approximately 5 minutes. Turn the slices over and heat for another 3 minutes. You want to leave them in long enough to get crisp, not long enough to start to color. I preheated my oven to 375 first and then bumped it up to broil after I was done with the baguette only because my oven is fickle and would have just torched them.