Tag: Food for thought

Food for Thought: Chicken Soup for the Soul

We have entered the darkest time of the year — the time when it seems winter will NEVER END. This soup will help you get through, I promise. It is a tangy, bright riff on traditional chicken soup. Make it on a Sunday and have it for lunch all week.  Let it simmer as you write. Sip it as you read over what you’ve written. Muse on revisions as you dunk in a hearty piece of toast and let flavorful broth drip off.

Let this soup nourish you.

Miranda’s Chicken Soup

(serves 4)

  • Meat pulled from a roasted chicken carcass (I often use the dark meat.  You can roast your own chicken, or you can buy one from the store and pull the meat off that. Use as much or little as you like, but probably not less than 1 cup and not more than 2 1/2).
  • Poulet glace gold demi glace (about 2 Tbs) – this is a jellied reduction of chicken stock, available at most grocery stores
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 a large onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3-4 stalks celery, diced
  • 2-4 carrots diced (depending on size)
  • 2-3 Tbs chives, minced
  • 1 Tbs butter + flour (just shy of 1/4 a cup), for a roux
  • Curry powder (about 2 tsp)
  • Fresh lemon juice (to taste)
  • Salt & pepper

Roast a whole chicken (or buy a pre-roasted one) and pull the meat from the bone. Save as much (or as little) as you like for this soup.

In a large stockpot, heat olive oil (about 2 tbs) over medium heat. Add the onions and saute (do not brown). Add the garlic, celery & carrots and lightly saute till just warm.  Add 5-6 cups of water and sufficient poulet glace gold to flavor and darken the broth (I usually start with about 2 tbs).  Bring to a low simmer (do not boil).

Meanwhile, prepare a roux in a separate pan and cook until beginning to lightly brown and become fragrant (this means: melt your butter, then add flour and whisk, stirring as it bubbles and cooks). Add stock from the soup pan and whisk to bring to a nice, creamy consistency.  Add curry powder and salt to taste.  Incorporate the thinned roux mixture back into the soup (this will give the soup a nice body without making it actually thick).

Add the chicken meat to the soup and continue to simmer on low heat.  Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Finally, when the soup is as you like it, add the fresh chives.

This keeps (and freezes) well, so you can have it for lunches all week. I like to toast a piece of whole grain wheat bread to dip in the hot soup.

Bon appetit!

Food for Thought: Boozy Pecan Pie

This recipe is my traditional Thanksgiving dessert, but it would make an equally good finish to any meal of note during the holiday season.

When you cook it, you think of roaring fires and big glasses of aged liquor and regrets about notches on your belt.  And the house smells of sugar, butter, and bourbon for hours.  And you tell yourself it’s not so bad because at least it’s got nuts in it, and nuts are good for you, aren’t they?

Another plus to this pecan pie is that it takes a rather long time, but good chunks of that long time are “waiting time” — or, as I like to call them here on Comedy or Tragedy, “writing time”.

Boozy Pecan Pie

serves 4-6 (with seconds)

For the pie shell:

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 Tbs granulated sugar
  • 1 stick, plus 4 Tbs unsalted butter, cold & cut into small cubes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup ice cold water

Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt.  Add the cubed butter and rub together with your fingertips until the dough becomes moist and takes on the consistency of small, soft peas.  Add the water a little bit at a time, mixing with a fork.  The dough will be very sticky.  Mold and kneed it together into a ball, working it until the butter and flour are well incorporated.  Press the dough into a disk and wrap it in saran wrap.  Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.

While you’re waiting for the dough to firm up in the fridge, pull out your laptop and get writing.  Do a sprint and see how many words you can net in 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take the dough out of the fridge.  If it is still too soft, put it back in for another 15 minutes or so.  When it’s firm, using a rolling pin, roll it out on a floured surface (tip: because this dough is very heavy in butter, and therefore rather sticky, I like to roll it out on a layer of plastic wrap, for easy transport into the pie pan).  Roll the dough to a thickness of no more than 1/8 of an inch.  Place the rolled crust into a pie pan and crimp the edges (leave a high edge, as the crust will shrink as you bake it).  Put the entire pie shell in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

…and there you go – another 30 minute writing sprint.  Go!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line the pie shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake for 25 minutes, then remove parchment and weights and bake an additional 12 minutes until the crust is lightly browned.  While the crust is baking, begin preparing the filling:

For the filling:

  • 1 1/2 cups of lightly toasted pecans (to toast the pecans: place them in a baking pan in a 350 oven for about 12 minutes)
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar (loosely packed)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 3 Tbs whole milk
  • 2 Tbs flour
  • 1/2 a fresh vanilla bean – seeds scraped
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbs of good quality bourbon (I’ve also used Scotch Whiskey in a pinch)
  • 4 large eggs

In a saucepan, mix all the butter, all the sugars, the corn syrup, the milk, the flour, the vanilla bean (and scraped seeds) and the salt together over medium heat.  Keep stirring until the mixture just comes to a boil.  Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.  Carefully add the bourbon (mixture may bubble – stir carefully).  As the sugar mixture is cooling, beat the eggs in a heat proof bowl.  Carefully (gradually) add the hot sugar mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly.  Fish out the vanilla bean and discard it.

Once the pie crust is out of the oven, layer the toasted pecans on the bottom of the shell.  Then pour the filling over the nuts.  You may have excess filling.  Bake the pie at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the filling is just set.

While the pie is baking, return to your laptop and write, write, write.  If the insanely good smells filling the house aren’t inspiration enough, I don’t know what is.

Once the pie is done, let it cool on a rack.  Leave the pie covered with foil at room temperature until serving (can be made 1 day ahead of time).  Whip up some fresh cream (maybe with a bit of sugar and a splash of bourbon) for serving.  Oh, and prepare a new notch on your belt buckle.

Bon appetit, and happy writing!

Food for Thought: Butternut Squash Soup

Fall is officially here, and so is squash season.

I, personally, can think of no more soul-satisfying meal than a hot, creamy bowl of butternut squash soup on a chilly fall day.  Best of all, the bulk of the work in making this soup it is waiting for the squash to roast.  All that downtime is perfect for getting a little writing done.

So…get cooking, and writing!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon and Crispy Sage

serves 4

2 large butternut squashes, cut in half lengthwise and cored (or, 2-3 cups cubed butternut squash)

8 large strips of smokey bacon

1 bunch fresh sage leaves

Olive oil (3-4 Tbs)

Maple syrup (3-4 Tbs)

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt

1/4 cup Heavy cream

4 Tbs Mascarpone or Creme Fraiche

Instructions:

After cutting the squash lengthwise and scooping out the seeds and stringy pulp, rub the exposed flesh with olive oil, sprinkle with cayenne pepper (just a tiny bit!) and salt, and drizzle with maple syrup.  Place the squash on a roasting sheet or in a roasting pan and lay 1 strip of bacon on each of the squash (reserve the other 4 strips).  Roast for 1 hour in a 400 degree oven, or until the squash is fork tender.  If using cubed squash, toss the squash in a oven-proof dish with the olive oil, cayenne, salt, and maple syrup and lay all the bacon on top of the squash.  Roast as directed.

While the squash roasts, fire up your laptop, open your current WIP and get to work.  The delicious smells wafting from the the kitchen should inspire you 🙂

Once the squash is tender, scoop out the flesh, discard the bacon strips, and puree the squash and any juices in a blender.  Add a little water as needed.  The final result should be a very smooth, very thick (think baby-food consistency) puree.  Transfer the puree to a pot and bring to a low simmer, adding water, salt, the heavy cream, and maple syrup as needed to adjust the thickness (my preference is for a thick soup that coats the spoon but is pourable) and seasoning.  If the soup tastes a little flat, more salt is probably needed.

Meanwhile, cut the remaining bacon into a fine dice (quick tip: freeze the remaining bacon strips — they are easier to cut if frozen) and fry them until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pan, but reserve the drippings.  Coarsely chop the sage leaves and fry them in the reserved bacon fat until they are crispy as well.  Drain the fried sage and bacon on paper towels and set aside.

Once the soup is the desired consistency and flavor, spoon it into serving bowls.  Top each bowl with a dollop of either mascarpone (for a creamy/sweeter flavor) or creme fraiche (for a tangier flavor) and sprinkle with a little of the fried sage and bacon.

Bon appetit!…and happy writing 🙂

Food for thought: Granola

Homemade granola may be the perfect food — sweet, salty, crunchy, fruity, and healthy (though not, alas, low calorie).  It’s also relatively simple to prepare, more a concept than a recipe.

This is nourish-the-writer-brain food and makes a saliva-inducing start to the day or a good energy boost in the afternoon.

My favorite kind of granola (and the “recipe” I share here) is one with lots of seeds and nuts in it.  I don’t give quantities because this is a fluid recipe — add as much or as little of your favorite ingredients.  You will need access to a good bulk-food section or health food store for some ingredients.

Start with an assortment of seeds and nuts – I use pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, and cashews – but you can add or omit whatever you like.  Mix in proportions that prioritize your favorites.

Mix the seeds and nuts with oats and puffed rice to give the granola some body.

Prepare a dressing of 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 tbs good quality maple syrup, 1/4 cup honey, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.  Whisk this together and pour it over the nut, seed, and grain mixture.  Stir well to coat everything.  If you’ve really made a big batch of granola, you might need to double the dressing.  The mixture should be damp, but not dripping.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Turn the granola mixture out onto baking sheets, spreading thinly and evenly.  Bake the granola for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until well toasted, crispy and golden.  It’s important to set a timer and stir regularly so the toasting is even and nothing burns.  Use the time between stirs for writing sprints on your current novel or short story project.

Once the granola is well toasted, turn it all into a large bowl and mix with the dried fruit of your choice.  I usually include dried cranberries and dried golden raisins, but you can put in whatever you prefer.

If you have the strength, it’s best to let the granola cool before diving in…but if you can’t wait, I won’t tell 😉

The best way to serve this granola is on top of some good plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey.

Bon appetit!

Food for Thought: Lemon Tart

It’s a rainy spring Sunday and I’ve decided there’s no better way to embrace my inner-sunshine than to bake a simple, gorgeous lemon tart.

The work involved is minimal for such a sumptuous and impressive desert.  Best of all, you can fill the hour or so you’ll need to wait before eating the tart with some writing time.

The tart recipe I offer here is one I learned at a cooking class in Nice, France.  It riffs on a traditional lemon tart by adding local olive oil to both the crust and filling (Nice olives produce a light, mild oil that pairs well with the tart lemons).  While this may sound strange, it only imparts the faintest essence of olive oil to the taste and gives the crust a cookie-quality and the filling a silkiness that’s the stuff of dreams.  Trust me 🙂

Lemon Tart with Olive Oil (serves 4)

First, you need to make a pastry crust.  This sounds intimidating, but the crust here is very resilient and hard to mess up.  Start by cutting 1/4 cup of cold unsalted butter into pieces.  Place them in a bowl and sift 1/4 cup powdered confectioners sugar over them.  Add 1 1/2 TBS of finely ground macadamia nuts (or almonds, if you prefer).  You can pulverize the nuts in a baggie with a mallet, or use a nut/spice grinder.  To this, add 1/4 tsp sea salt and sift in 2 TBS of flour (you’ll need 3/4 cup flour in total, so measure out the full amount and then sift in just 2 TBS of it).

Work this mixture with a pastry paddle, a spoon, or your fingers.  The goal is to get the dry ingredients well integrated into the butter.  Don’t worry if it looks a mess.  Once it’s mixed, sift the rest of the flour in and add 1 egg yolk (separate and discard the white) and 3 1/2 TBS olive oil (if you can’t get an AOC Nice oil, select something light and mild).  Mix this all together with a fork.  It’ll be quite wet.  You may even want to put the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to stiffen the dough up before you work it into the tart pan.

Plop that dough out into the tart pan (you’ll need a 9 1/2 inch one with a removable bottom) and, using your fingers, work it until it thinly covers the entire bottom and sides.  You want this to be thin – such that you can almost see the tart pan through the dough.  Pay special attention to the corners.  The dough on the sides will sink slightly while the tart bakes, so make sure you get the corners extra thin to start.  If the dough gets too soft to work with, just toss the whole thing in the fridge a few minutes to firm it up.  Scrap the excess dough off and discard.

Bake the tart shell in the oven at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Watch it carefully near the end so it doesn’t burn.  You want a nice, golden brown color.  Set the shell aside to cool while you prepare the filling.

For the filling, begin with 3 plump lemons.  Roll them on the counter before you juice them (this helps release the goodness within).  Squeeze the juice into a bowl, discarding any seeds.  Before cutting and juicing the final lemon, use a microplane grater to zest 1 lemon.  You can add the zest right into the bowl with the juice.

In a small pot, crack 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks (separated from the whites; whites discarded).  Whisk these together with 3/4 cup of granulated sugar.  Whisk in the lemon juice and lemon zest and sift 2 tsp of cornstarch over the mixture.  Whisk the entire mixture over medium low heat until it thickens.  The idea is to keep whisking constantly so the lemon curd aerates.  Once the mixture is fairly thick, remove it from the heat and whisk in 4 TBS of unsalted butter.  Then whisk in 2 TBS olive oil, the same type you used for the crust.

Pour this mixture into the cooled tart shell and put in the fridge for at least an hour to set and cool.  Rather than drive yourself crazy waiting to cut into the tart and devour it whole, take this time to sit down and write.  The tart, after all, will be your reward for a good word count 🙂

After you’ve achieved at least a couple hundred words, or can wait no longer, whip a little lightly sweetened cream.  Cut the tart and serve with a dollop of cream.

Happy writing and eating!

Food for Thought: World’s Best Lasagna

Yes, seriously.  This recipe produces the world’s best lasagna.  Try it.  I dare you. 

Okay.  It’s a sleepy Saturday and you’ve got a dilemma.  There’s writing to get done, but you’ve also got people coming over for dinner.  This is the perfect dish to prepare because it allows time to write (about an hour and a half while the ragu is reducing to a melty puddle of animal goodness) and results in a soul satisfying meal.

This recipe is loosely adapted from Mario Batali’s cookbook “Molto Italiano” and is in the style of a Lasagna al Forno.

Serves 6. Total cooking time about 2 1/2 – 3 hours (but worth every second, I swear!).

Ingredients
For the ragu
1 lb of Italian sausage, removed from the casting
4 oz of pancetta, finely diced
1/2 lbs of ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large rib of celery, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1/2 cup of tomato paste
12 oz of diced tomatoes in their juices
1/2 cup of whole milk
1/2 cup of water (or white wine)
1 tsp of fresh thyme
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

To make the ragu: pour about 1 Tbs olive oil in a large pot and heat on medium high. Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and saute until translucent but not brown (about 5 minutes). Increase heat to high. Add the sausage, pancetta, and ground beef. Stir and break up clumps with your spoon until the meat is browned. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water (or wine), and milk. Stir well to incorporate. Add the thyme. Bring the mixture to a low boil and then cover and reduce heat. Let the ragu simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour and a half. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings by adding salt and pepper as needed.

While the ragu cooks, sneak to your office and get some writing done!

For the bechamel sauce
5 Tbs of butter
1/4 cup of flour
3 cups of whole milk (2% may be substituted, but do not use skim)
grated nutmeg & salt to taste
2 Tbs of mascarpone cheese

To make the bechamel: in a clean pot, melt the butter and wait until it bubbles/sizzles slightly. Add the flour and stir while it bubbles and sizzles to cook the roux. Add the milk, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Cook the mixture over medium to medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and bubbles. Add grated nutmeg and salt to taste. Whisk in the mascarpone.

For the noodles
1 package of dried Lasagna noodles
fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese (do NOT substitute pre-grated cheese!!!).

To cook the noodles: bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook 4 lasagna noodles at a time, about 4 minutes each to par-cook.

To assemble the lasagna: layer the ragu, noodles, bechamel, and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano in a large, oven-safe casserole dish. Begin with a thin layer of ragu (enough to just cover the bottom of the dish). Layer noodles (one noodle thick) atop the ragu. Add another layer of ragu (a good, thick portion so that the noodles no longer show through.) Atop the ragu, add a layer of bechamel sauce. Atop the bechamel, add a layer of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and a sprinkle of sea salt. Repeat this process until the dish is nearly full. Be sure not to skimp on the layers of ragu and bechamel; the idea is to create a thick, gooey layer between each noodle. You should wind up with only about 3 layers of noodles. The final, top layer should be bechamel sauce with plenty of parmigiano grated atop it and sprinkled with sea salt.

Place the lasagna into a preheated 375 degree oven and cook until the dish is bubbling and the cheese on top is beginning to brown (about 45 minutes). Any exposed pasta edges should be crisp. After removing from the oven, let the lasagna rest about 10 minutes (if you can bear it). Serve with wine (to cut the richness) and a simple salad.

Bon appetit!

Food for Thought: Homemade Pizza

Second in my “food for thought” series, I offer a recipe and instructions (that even the most timid cook can follow) to prepare delicious homemade pizza.  For this recipe, the dough (though easy to assemble) takes an hour to rise  —  the perfect amount of time for a quick session of writing or editing!

HOMEMADE PIZZA

serves 2 (recipe can be easily doubled or trebled). allow 2 hours for start to finish preparation

The first thing to do is make your dough.

Everyone seems so intimidated by the idea of making homemade pizza dough, but its honestly incredibly easy.

Step 1: preheat your oven about as high as it will go – 475 is good.  If you have a pizza stone, be sure it’s in the oven heating up too.  You want the oven preheating for at least an hour to get good and hot.

Step 2: get out a nice, large mixing bowl and put 1/2 cup of hot water in it.  Sprinkle 1/2 a package of active dry yeast onto the water and let it sit until dissolved (a few minutes).  Swirl to incorporate the yeast and water.  Then add 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 cup flour, and 1 tbs olive oil.  Using a large, wooden spatula (or other favorite stirring device), stir these ingredients until wet, shiny, and smooth.  Gradually incorporate another 1 cup of flour.  The mixture should grow denser but still remain sticky and pliable.  Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and kneed 2-3 minutes, adding additional flour as needed to keep the mass of dough soft and stretchy.

Spill a bit more olive oil back into your dirty mixing bowl, drop in the ball of dough, turning to coat, then cover it up with a towel and leave it in a warm spot (perhaps near your preheating oven) for 1 hour to rise.

While the dough is rising, go write!

Step 3: peek at the dough.  It should have doubled in size.  Punch it down and give it a few turns on the floured work surface to get it pliable again.  Get out a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkle it with a little flour, and roll the dough out on top of the parchment.  I like to curl the edges of the dough up a bit so the sauce doesn’t run out.  Easy!  Now you’re ready for toppings. 

Step 4: Sauce.  You can buy pre-made pizza sauce.  It’s fine.  You can also make your own very easily.  Run open a can of tomato sauce and pour it into a saucepot (I like to do this while the dough is rising).  Add some olive oil, salt, a tsp of sugar, and assorted dried herbs: oregano, basil, fennel seeds, and crushed red pepper.  Stir it up over medium heat.  Taste it.  Adjust to your liking.  Boom.  Done.

Spoon sauce onto the rolled dough and spread it around with the back of a spoon.  I like a thin but not pathetic coating.  If you like a lot of sauce, then put on a lot of sauce.  It’s your pizza!

Step 5: Toppings.  Okay, gospel from me to you:  buffalo mozzarella.  Use this stuff.  It’s like a present from god, I swear.  Way better than regular mozzarella (though the later will certainly work if you can’t get your hands on buffalo mozzarella).  Slice off some pieces of the mozzarella (you’ll need about 1 large ball per pizza) and space them out across the dough (they’ll expand a little as they melt).  As for the rest of the toppings, the sky is the limit.

My favorite combination is Speck (smoked prosciutto), little dribs of pesto, and caramelized onions (for the latter, save a bit of the reduced onions from your French Onion Soup preparations).  Artichoke hearts and goat cheese are a nice combination.  So are spicy Italian sausage crumbles and onions (and red pepper!).  When you’ve finished topping the pizza, be sure to grate a layer of fresh Parmesan cheese on top, sprinkle with kosher salt, fresh thyme leaves, and grind with fresh pepper.

Step 6: Baking.  If you’re using a pizza stone, you’ll need a pizza peel to transfer the pizza on parchment into the oven.  These items might seem like expensive, specialty goods…but once you become addicted to making pizza, you’ll want to do it all the time and having a stone & peel will be a good investment. 

While a pizza stone is the best way to end up with a crispy crust, if you don’t own one, you can use a regular pizza pan or cookie sheet just as well.  Carefully slide the parchment onto the pizza pan/sheet and put it in the oven.  You should cook the pizza at a very hot temperature (at least 400, 475 is better) for 14-16 minutes to allow the crust to get crispy and everything on top to get bubbling and awesome.

You can eat the pizza with a salad, but really…pizza stands alone in its awesomeness and needs no accompaniment.

Bon Appetit – and please let me know if you try the recipe!

Food for Thought: French Onion Soup

Every labor requires proper sustenance and nourishment.  Writing is no exception.  Cooking and writing, in fact, share many qualities in common:  understanding and breaking rules, developing things (flavor, characters), creativity, inspiration, starting with good ingredients, and the need for practice and time to achieve a quality product.

Before I knew I loved to write, I knew I loved to cook.  The conjuration of something complex and soul-satisfying out of disparate ingredients, and the way food brings people together, nourishing so much more than just our bodies, has always given me a deep, abiding sense of pleasure.

When we write, fueling ourselves mentally and physically is important.  Many, though, are intimidated by the kitchen and it’s mysteries.  In an effort at demystification, I’ve decided to share the occasional recipe (with pictures and instructions) here on the blog.

To kick off my “food for thought” series, I thought I’d start with one of my favorites:  French Onion Soup.  This recipe takes a lot of time, but very little active involvement; the stove does most of the work for you.  As such, it’s a great dish to prepare while you’re attempting a writing marathon on a sleepy weekend afternoon.

FRENCH ONION SOUP (recipe adapted from Thomas Keller’s BOUCHON cookbook)

Serves 4.  Allow 4-6 hours for preparation.

Begin with a bunch of nice, juicy onions.  I usually use 3-4, depending on their size.  Some people swear by red onions, others white.  I like a mix.  Be sure to grab sweet ones if they’re available (Walla Wallas, for instance).  But, really, any nice looking onions will do.

Step 1: Slice your onions.  There are a couple of tricks to keep in mind here.  First, the sharper your knife, the less you’ll cry :).  Cut cleanly and quickly for minimum tears.  Still, this part requires a little fortitude, because if your onions are fresh, they are sure as hell going to make you cry.  I start by cutting off the ends and peeling the onions.  Then slice the onion in half and use the ribs as a cutting guide (cut down along the ribs for slices of even thickness).  This is important when browning (if the slices are all different thicknesses, the onions will brown unevenly).

Once your onions are ready to go, you’ll want to begin the long, slow task of reducing them to a caramely puddle of goodness.

Step 2: melt 4 TBS unsalted butter in a large, heavy skillet along with 1 TBS fresh thyme leaves.  Use medium-low heat.  Add the onions and about 2 TSP kosher salt.  I find tongs helpful for gently tossing the onions with the melted butter, thyme, and salt.  Let this cook uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Prepare a paper lid for the skillet using parchment paper.  Cut a piece of parchment large enough to cover the entire surface of the skillet.  Fold it in half, and then in half again, and snip off the corner.  When unfolded, this will create a small, centrally located hole from which steam can escape.  Place the parchment lid over the onions in the skillet and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting.

Cook the onions, covered, for 3-4 hours.  Every 20 minutes or so, remove the lid and gently stir the onions, making sure they don’t brown too quickly.  The idea here is make sure that the onions caramelize naturally, reducing down, giving up their liquids, and concentrating their sugars.  Meanwhile, go write.  Let the onions do their thing.

Eventually, they should begin to look something like this:

See, dark and gorgeous.

Be sure to keep cooking them down until they are nice and caramelized — if they reduce into a gooey puddle, so much the better!  The dark color is what’s going to give your soup all that lovely, umani flavor.

Okay, so, now you’ve gotten your onions browned and your house has started to attract the attention of hungry neighbors.  You’re almost there!

Step 3:  Increase the heat on your skillet to medium and sprinkle 1 TBS flour on the onions.  Using your tongs, or a spatula, saute the onions with the flour for about 3-5 minutes (to allow the flour to cook).  Then add 1 cup water to the skillet, scraping up the browned bits from the pan and creating a base broth.  Once you’ve captured all the flavorful morsels from the skillet bottom, begin adding water until your skillet is more or less full (you’ll want about 6-8 cups water total).  At this point you’ll also need to add 3-4 TBS demi glace.

You may notice I’m giving you lots of approximations.  Unless you’re baking, cooking is as much art as science.  Taste.  Look.  Smell.  Use your judgement.  I trust you.  Add as much demi glace as you think you need for a flavorful broth.

Demi glace can be purchased at most grocery stores and is, essentially, reduced stock.  You can use chicken, veal, or beef to equally delicious effect.  I like the “More than Gourmet” brand.

Let the demi glace melt into the liquid and stir gently to incorporate everything together.  Also add 2 TSP fresh thyme and 8 whole peppercorns.  Bring the whole mixture to a boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer.  Let the soup cook for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry together.  Season to taste with more salt.  You’ll probably need at least 2-3 TSP, if not more.  Don’t be shy.  Salt enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.  Sort of like magic.  A splash of balsamic vinegar can also be used to bring out a little more sweet, tart flavor in the broth.  Acids, like vinegar, are often an important addition near the end of cooking a savory dish.  Add at your discretion.

Remove the soup from the heat and let sit in the skillet until cool.  As awesome as this soup is when freshly made, it’s actually even better if you can wait a day.  If you have this sort of restraint, go ahead and put the soup in the fridge and chill it overnight.  If not, proceed immediately to Step 4…

Step 4:  Prepare croutons and slice your cheese.  For the croutons, start with a French baguette.  In this case, day old is better than fresh.  Slice it into 3/4 inch rounds and dip each round in olive oil (both sides).  Sprinkle the rounds with salt.  Put them on a cookie sheet and broil them until they are a light golden brown on both sides.  Watch these babies carefully, as it’s easy to forget about them and end up with charcoal and a screaming fire alarm 🙂

For the cheese, you can use the classic, Comte.  This is a lovely, mild, Swiss cheese.  You can also use Gruyere, a stronger flavored cheese that is otherwise quite similar to Comte.  You’ll want good, thick slices of cheese to cover the entire top of the bowl, so be sure to get sufficient cheese.

Slice your cheese about 1/4 inch thick, as seen here:

Step 5:  Gently reheat your onion broth.  When it is warm, but not boiling hot, pour about 1 1/2 – 2 cups into each bowl (you’ll want sturdy, ceramic, oven-safe bowls for this).  Get a 3:1 ratio of broth to onions in each bowl — there’s nothing worse than soup that has too many onions and not enough liquid.  Top each bowl with croutons (try to cover the top completely) and then layer cheese on top of the croutons.  Sprinkle with salt and a few leaves of fresh thyme.

Place your bowls under the broiler and broil until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.  Again, you must watch carefully, as you don’t want to burn the cheese or any bits of crouton peeking through.

Remove from the oven (careful! this stuff is hot!) and serve with a nice salad (frisee or Boston bibb with bacon & croutons is a nice accompaniment).

Well, alrighty!  I sure hope you like the recipe  — and please be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions, or any favorite recipes of your own to share.

Bon Appetit!

ps. the last time I made this soup, I got 2,255 words written while the onions were browning.  Consider the gauntlet thrown!