Thursday, November 9, 2017

Beet and Quinoa Salad

We made this beet & quinoa salad
Original recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/beet-and-quinoa-salad

But, it was so bland and seemed to be missing something so badly that it doesn't even get a picture here :)  Not recommended. 

French Onion Soup

This was a fun soup to make. It was good, and better than some restaurants. The soup did take more work than we thought it would. We had made french onion soup previously but we used the slow cooker. This version worked out better. We were never able to simmer the onions completely dry after the wine addition, but it was still good, and did not have too much of a wine taste to it. We did double the recipe because we had a lot of people and this and a light salad was the only thing on the menu, but surprisingly it made so much, that we had about half left over. Four quarts of beef broth were not fitting into our dutch oven so we only used three, but that may have been for the best as it turned out just right.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/french-onion-soup-recipe2-1947434

Served

Ready to go in the oven for baking (one was without cheese)

Waiting on the cheese addition!

ready!

Look at all those onions!


Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter - 1 stick
4 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions:

1. Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes.
3. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until wine is boiled down.
4.  Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
5. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir.
6. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.
7. Add the beef broth, bring the soup to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
8.  Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

What we liked:

It was delicious!

What we didn't like:

Took longer than we thought

What Kaspian thought about it:

He ate fish sticks. 

Next time:

No need to double :) 

Potatoes Au Gratin

We wanted to make some potatoes au gratin and chose this recipe for it's simplicity and few ingredients. We probably will not make it this way again. Alona thought it was FAR too oily and greasy, while Nick thought it was just okay.
Overall, not great.

Here is the original recipe: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/potatoes-au-gratin.html

Cooked! 

Ready to cook

Ingredients:

Spray oil for the baking dish
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2-1/4 pounds), peeled and sliced very thin
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.. we used a mix of cheese 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cream, salt and pepper.
3. Lay out the potatoes in an overlapping single layer. Add some cheese and cream.
4. Repeat with additional layers. (we only got about 2 layers in our pan - this made it cook better anyways).
5. Place in the oven and bake, uncovered, for about an hour to an hour and half, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife and golden brown on top.
6. Let the dish settle and cool for about ten minutes before serving.

What we liked:

It was easy. 

What we didn't like:

It was not very good. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He did not deem it edible. 

Next time:

Different recipe