French Onion Soup

The other day we went to the local markets and picked up a big bag of onions for 2 dollars. KISA thought French Onion Soup would be a good idea, I so I found this recipe at Taste.com.au. It looked simple enough, just needed time. So I got out My Precious and the mandolin and got started. It was sublime. It takes ages to do the onions but worth every second for the flavour. No wonder onions are my favourite vegetable. Yes, they truly are.

Here Tis,

Serves 6. (Yeah right!) Try 4

60g butter

2 tablespoons oil

1kg brown onions, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin, saves time and tears and fingertips)

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons plain flour

4 cups beef stock (I used a 1 litre tetra pak of beef stock, continental I think)

Heat butter and oil in a heavy based saucepan or dutch oven over a medium low heat till sizzling. Add onions and 1 teaspoon salt.

Cook uncovered, stirring often for 45 to 50 minutes until onions are very soft. Don't let them catch. This is the PIA bit. But they taste bloody fantastic just as is by the time they are done.

Stir in the sugar and cook, stirring a lot for 10 minutes until onions caramelise. Again watch they don't catch, they will be a lovely brown colour by now.

Add flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.

Add stock and 2 cups of water. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes to combine flavours.

This is supposed to be served with slices of baguette with melted swiss cheese on top. I just made a toasted cheese sandwich and we had it on the side.

SO. SO. GOOD!

Nigella's Salad dressing

I saw this on Nigella the other week. This is very yummy, I tried it out and we both liked it. I used Tasmanian Leatherwood honey which has a strong flavour, I would suggest a milder one though.

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
125 ml oil
Shake up in a bottle to emulsify, spoon onto salad.

Would like to try this with pure maple syrup too, let me know if you do!

Chicken and Corn Noodle Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 tbs oil
few drops sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 cups chicken stock (home made best)
2 tsp Massel Chicken Stock powder
1 440g tin creamed corn
1 slab 2 minute noodles
chicken meat, cooked leftovers, maybe 2 cups worth, 1/2 BBQ chicken or 4 drumsticks etc

Fry onion and garlic in oils for 5 minutes or so, add stock, bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Add corn and chicken and noodles, simmer 5 minutes.
This is very hearty and will feed 4 generously.

If you like you can use the 2 minute noodle flavourings instead of the Massell stock powder. I have unflavoured noodles on hand usually. If you don't have much chicken, drizzle a couple of beaten eggs into the hot soup will stirring, to boost the protein.

Mongolian Lamb

This one is for KISA's sister. I am sending her a few packet mixes of this stuff as she likes it. But they won't last long and this recipe is the one we use now and tastes just as good.

So D, hope you like it. Get your resident chef to make it for you.

500g lamb strips
2 onions, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced

Marinade:
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon crushed garlic

Sauce:
2 tablespoons water
1 tablesoon chilli sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
1/2 teaspoon chopped or crushed ginger

Combine the marinade ingredients, add lamb, mix, and allow to sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Like any stir fry, prepare all your ingredients and have them ready to go on the bench before you start.
Heat a wok or fry pan, add a couple tablespoons of oil, and fry the onions and red pepper.
Add meat and stir fry till just done.
Add sauce ingredients and warm through.
Serve over rice or noodles.

LLandrindod Chicken

So called because I made this up here in Llandrindod Wells.

2 small onions, chopped
4 rashers bacon, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
6 or 7 mushrooms, sliced
1 tbs oil
6 chicken thigh fillets, diced
1/2 cup white wine Caroline left on the bench
2 cups chicken stock (OXO)
2 tbs flour
150 ml single cream
Fry onions, bacon, mushrooms and pepper in oil till soft and tender. Add the chicken and brown with the veges and bacon. Add the wine and the chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Mix the flour with some water to make a smooth paste and add to the chicken stirring in quickly till it thickends the sauce. Add cream and keep warm. Serve with mashed potato, or mix with cooked pasta, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in the oven. I would use maybe 3 cups raw pasta boiled and a good cup of grated cheese.

Cauliflower and Bacon Soup

1 tbs oil

2 small onions, chopped

4 rashers bacon, chopped

1 head cauliflower, chopped

1 cup white wine

4 cups chicken stock (OXO)

300ml of single cream



Fry the onions and bacon in the oil till soft and bacon is cooked. Add the cauliflower and the wine, stir a little then add the stock, cover and cook till cauliflower is soft.Blend soup using a stick blender or a food processor, add cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you leave out the bacon it has a lovely creamy texture. You could add fried bacon after blending.

Sara Douglass's Lamb Shanks

I used to hang out on a forum online a few years ago and one of the other posters was Sara Douglass, famous Australian author. She is into domesticity and cooking too. Anyway we were all exchanging crock pot recipes and she posted this one. I have made it a couple of times and adapted it a bit to reduce the grease factor. There is a very similar one at Taste.com.au so not sure which one came first. But since I originally got it from Sara I am sticking to the above title. I have tweaked it a bit and this is the final version.

Start the day before you want to eat this, unless your arteries need clogging up.

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 or 5 or 6 lamb shanks, frenched (this means they have cut off the knobby end bone and it helps them fit in the dish better. Coles sell them frenched. Some lamb shanks look like they came off a dinosaur, so choose smallish ones. One per person is plenty usually, depends on how many you are feeding)
about 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken stock, home made is best but bought ok, low salt though.
1 cup of red wine, drinkable stuff
1 jar of cranberry sauce, whole berry
3 or 4 rosemary sprigs, leave whole so you can fish them out later
1 to 2 tablespoons garlic butter, I use the bought stuff, you could just use regular butter and crushed garlic
2 to 3 tablespoons flour or more depending on how much juice you end up with

Heat a frypan, add the oil, and brown off the shanks about 3 to 4 minutes each side, turning till brown all round. Place in a big casserole dish. Mix together the stock, red wine and cranberry sauce and pour over shanks. Bake, covered in oven at 180 C for an hour and a half.

Remove from oven, remove shanks to a plate and cover with cling film and put in the fridge. Pour sauce into another container and refrigerate, preferably overnight.

Next day, peel off the layer of fat from the sauce. It should look like white chocolate. Discard this, because that's where the resemblance ends, and fish out the rosemary stalks. Microwave the bowl till the jelly like sauce has warmed up and it is liquidy again. Measure the sauce, it should be around 3 cups or so. (I have a big pryrex measuring jug which I use instead of the bowl, they are worth every cent)

In a saucepan, melt the garlic butter and add flour and cook for about a minute. I allow about a level tablespoon of flour per cup of sauce maximum for a thick sauce, maybe err a little on the less side, since it will be cooked for another hour yet. Pour in the warmed sauce and whisk till it comes to a boil and thickens.

Put the shanks back in the (now clean of course) casserole dish aand pour over the thickened sauce. Put in a 150C oven for an hour maybe an hour and a half but watch for over browning. The meat should be just about falling off the bone and fork tender.

Serve over mashed potato with a green veg. This is just yummy.
You could also do this in a slow cooker. I have also done the first stage in a pressure cooker.