French Onion Soup

This soup takes a while to make, mostly because it takes some time to finely slice all those onions! Honestly, I usually give this about three hours from when I start on it until when I plan on serving. But the classic taste and comforting, homey air to it make this one totally worth it. Try it on a cold day with a good glass of wine to keep you company while you chop and stir.



French Onion Soup

4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 large yellow cooking onion, thinly sliced (if you need a larger amount of soup, you can use two yellow onions, or even add another red onion. Don't add another sweet onion if you can help it, though)
48 fl oz. chicken stock (this is about one and a half boxes of Kitchen Staples stock, which is what I use)
32 oz beef stock (one box of the Kitchen Staples stock)
1 cup red wine (You can get creative here a little. Half red wine and half sherry is a tasty mix, for example)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1 large (or 2 small) bay leaf
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
8 slices French or Italian bread
8 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese slices, room temperature (Jarlsburg also works in the absence of gruyere)
1 rind of Gruyere or Swiss (optional)
1/2 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese, room temperature


Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt and all onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized to a deep brown and are almost syrupy. This may take 45 minutes or even up to an hour and a quarter or so. Be patient. It's good advice to let the layer of onions on the bottom of the pan brown just a little bit (not burn, just caramelize), then stir the whole thing so that a different layer is on the bottom, etc. Continue caramelizing and stirring until your onions taste sweet when you sample them, and are a uniform medium brown. A good rule of thumb for the first few times making the soup is: if you think the onions are done, give them another fifteen minutes. Don't pull them off too early, they'll generally reach another level of caramelized goodness after your first instinct might be that they're finished. 

Mix chicken stock, beef stock, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into the pot with the onions. Add parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Simmer over medium-high heat until the stock is reduced to about 1/2 of what you started with. This doesn't need to be a precise process, so just eyeball it. Reduce the heat to low, mix in the vinegar*, taste it after it's been simmering for at least ten minutes, then season to taste with salt and pepper. If you're using the rind of Gruyere or Swiss, add that to the soup now. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.

* Today's chemistry lesson via soup: salt is added to the initial caramelization process to help get all those sugars in the onions caramelizing. Sugars in the onions are also why we don't use sweet onions for all of the yellow onion content: their heavy sugar content would make the soup taste strangely sweet compared to the traditional french onion flavour. Vinegar is added because red onions have a tendency to turn somewhat grey-ish when caramelized and then added to soup (the same chemicals that make them red in the first place degrade with heat to a less appealing grey instead of brown) and the acid in the vinegar prevents this process from occurring, thus keeping your soup a nice warm brown colour. So don't neglect the salt just because you're worried about cholesterol (though I recommend that Kitchen Basics makes unsalted stocks, which are great for this), and don't neglect the vinegar. They're both in the recipe for chemistry reasons and will make your life easier when you're building your soup here.

Toast bread slices. If you're using a toaster oven or broiler to do this, turn the bread once so that it's toasted on all sides. Cut four of the bread slices into crouton-sized cubes, and serve in a small bowl to be added to the soup. Reserve the other four slices whole to be served alongside the soup. Arrange Gruyere slices and mozzarella in bowls so that diners can top their soup with them at the table.

Serve soup, bread, croutons, and cheeses while soup is still very hot. If you used the Gruyere or Swiss rind in the soup, remove rind before serving. Encourage diners to add croutons, and both cheeses to the soup before eating, then use the whole bread slice for sopping.

Serves 4-5. 

Chickpea, Artichoke, and Chicken Salad

My dad informed me that he'd never eaten chickpeas or artichoke hearts before I tried this variation on a chickpea-artichoke salad, but we both agreed we liked this simple, easy meal. It requires very little effort to prepare, but the flavors are wonderful.



Chickpea, Artichoke, and Chicken Salad

6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided (less if you're using non-stick pans)
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1 16-oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I recommend Bush's as a brand; they seem to produce consistently good quality and don't have the annoying tinned taste of some other brands)
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (one for each person you intend to serve)
1/4 cup chicken stock
Pepper
Garlic salt or chicken rub (optional)
1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds (seasonal alternative: pumpkin seeds)

In a large frypan, toast almonds (or pumpkin seeds, if you're using those) over medium heat until lightly browned. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp of the olive oil, lemon juice, basil, oregano, garlic and salt. Set aside.

In the same large frypan, heat another 1 Tbsp oil. Add the chickpeas and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until they are all golden brown (this takes about 10 minutes). Add to the bowl.

Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp oil in the pan and add the artichoke hearts, cut side down. Cook until they are browned, flipping over only once or twice to avoid breaking them up. Add them to the bowl as well.

While the artichokes are heating, in a separate pan, heat 1 Tbsp oil over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with pepper, and with garlic salt or chicken rub if desired. Place seasoned side down in the oil, then season the other side. Flip the chicken once the first side obtains a nice sear, and continue cooking. When the second side has seared as well, turn down the heat to medium and add the chicken stock to the pan. Cover and continue to cook at medium heat while you finish the artichokes and mix the salad.

Add the almonds to the salad and toss gently (try to avoid breaking up the artichokes), reserving a few of the almonds to serve as topping for people to add at the table. Slice the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and spread atop salad. Serve while still warm.

Serves 2-3 as a main dish.