Thursdays Are For Cooking….

Well, it’s the “dead of winter” and while the mayhem in the streets has wound down to late evening street shootings on Chicago’s South  Side, and news that the so-called administrations in various states are serving the indigent and homeless better by letting them flourish in alleys, dark corners and on the sidewalks of major cities such as New York City and Lost Angels, (yeah, pun intended), the rest of us can apparently just shut up and get on with things.

The more they try to tighten their grip….

While prices are going up on various categories of items, from what appears to be some kind of dullard experiment in finding out how patient the General Public can be, as I indicated a week ago there are many, many container ships waiting on all coastal areas to unload. But while that makes no sense, we can assuage our annoyances by trying out some good, healthy food, made on the cheap, and happily stuff ourselves while the Idjits of The Swamp natter on and on. Theirs is a tale told by idiots, signifying nothing. (Sorry, Will, couldn’t resist.)

So my first item is onion soup, hence the lovely purple onion surrounded by garlic buddies in the photo.

Onion Soup classic recipe:

The subject is soup. Soup – the stuff that Immortals dream of.

Well, they just wish they could cook as well as mortals, which is why the Immortals always show up with an empty bowl and a spoon and that sad look in their eyes.

Soup of any kind is good. Onion, beef-based veggie, chicken noodles w/veggies (and I do mean noodles!), cream of potato, cream of mushroom.

So here’s a good and simple recipe for Onion Soup:

One onion per person

Beef broth

Salt, pepper, thyme and oregano, plus a bay leaf or two

Red or white wine is optional, but you do want to make soup, not get stewed, so be gentle with the wine.

Kleenex

Croutons, sliced baguette and cheese (Swiss, gouda, mozzarella – all good!)

Peel the onion the easy way: cut it in half, pull off the skin and outer layer. Slice each half on the mandolin if you have one; if not, then just do a coarse chop.

Put the onion into a pot, add the beef broth to cover. How much beef broth? How hungry are you? One 28 ounce box of broth should suffice for a couple of servings. If you want a lot of onion soup (yes, please!!!), add more. The broth and sliced or diced onion cook together, so that the onion can weep tears into the broth to season it, and the broth can throw thyme and oregano at the onion to comfort it. Salt and pepper are to taste, always, and you can throw in a bay leaf if you like.

It is okay to cook the onions to a softened state before you put them into the pot. That’s a personal choice. But it’s also okay to just simmer them slowly in the beef broth without sautéing them first. If you want this for lunch, start after breakfast. If you want it for dinner, start after lunch. Very slow simmer, lowest temp or flame on the burner, put a lid on the pot to keep the broth in the pot. Yes, you are allowed to peek and test the flavor levels.

The croutons you can buy already toasted and ready to use. The baguette slices go on the top of the onion soup, with the cheese (sliced or shredded, your choice) on top of the baguette. To get the nice browning, 1 to 2 minutes in the broiler at 375F to 400F with the door open, or bake it at 375F  for 3 to 5 minutes in the oven, on a tray. Or if you’re in a hurry, a judicious approach with a blowtorch may work as well.

The Kleenex is for when you peel the onions the hard way instead of ripping the outermost layer and skin off the bulb, or for when you’re trying to slice them across the bulb by hand. Use a kitchen slicing thingy.

Get more onions now.

Second, and meant as a follow-up to the soup, is a nice casserole.

Cheesey Bacon Penne:

2 cups of uncooked penne pasta

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon of black pepper

2 cups of 2% milk

3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, divided

½ of crumbled cooked bacon

Directions:

– Cook the pasta according to package directions.

– Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute the garlic in butter for 1 minute.

– Stir in the flour and pepper until smooth, gradually add milk.

– Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, until thickened.

– Reduce heat, stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese until melted. Remove from heat.

– Drain the pasta: add pasta and 1/3 cup of bacon to cheese sauce.

– Transfer to a greased 2-quart baking dish.

– Cover and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

– Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.

– Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted.

And for afters? What could be better than apple pie with vanilla ice cream and hot drinks?

 

 

Category: Cooking, Economy