French Onion Souper Food

"Plums are the new super food!"
"Eating dirt is good for you!"
These were two top headlines on the news Monday morning. Great. What if you can't get to the super market for the latest uber fruit? What if the ground is so frozen you can't even scrape up a teaspoon of dirt?
Why not try a novel approach to nutrition...like cooking from your pantry?
How about French onion soup? How about freshly baked bread and melted cheese? How about red wine? (I actually think that is a super food, or drink, that is.)
Onions...the new fabulous February food! Find them in your pantry today!
As long as you have beef broth and onions, and possibly some brandy, you can pull it off. If you happen to have vermouth, all the better. The next time you go to town, pull into Kappy's and stock up on cognac, vermouth and lots of red wine. Then go to Shaw's or Stop and Shop and get a big bag of onions, a couple of boxes of beef broth, a bag of flour and some yeast. Don't forget to get some Gruyere or other sharp cheese that melts well. Continually keep all of these ingredients in stock until the sun shines, around July fourth. Don't worry, you won't notice that it has snowed for days if you keep enough red wine in your cabinet and in your glass.



French Onion Soup (adapted to serve 2-4 people from Julia Child's "The Way to Cook")
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced onion (about 4-6 onions)
1/4 teaspoon each salt and sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 box beef broth (32 oz.), heated
4 tablespoons cognac
1/2 cup dry white French vermouth

Using a large sauce pan or pot, melt butter and olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions the cover and cook slowly until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Blend in the salt and the sugar, raise heat to moderately high, and let the onions brown, stirring frequently until they are dark walnut color, 25-30 minutes.
Sprinkle with flour and cook slowly, stirring, for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, then whisk in 1/2 of beef broth. Blend well and bring to a simmer and add the rest of the broth, cognac and vermouth. Cover loosely and simmer slowly for 1 hour adding more liquid if necessary. Correct seasoning.





Herbed French Bread
(makes 2 loaves)
5 1/2 -6 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups warm water (115-120 degrees F)
cornmeal

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, basil, thyme and salt in a stand mixer bowl. Add 2 cups warm water and beat at low speed for 1/2 minute. Beat at high speed for 3 minutes and stir in as much remaining flour as you can. Knead to stiff dough 8-10 minutes. Shape into ball. Place in greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
Punch down and divide dough in half. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll out each piece to a rectangle, roll up and shape loaves, seal well.
Place formed loaves on a greased cookie sheet. Spray with water and sprinkle with cornmeal. Make diagonal cuts across the top of the loaves. Let rise until double, about 45 minutes.
Place a pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees. Place bread on middle rack and bake for 40-45 minutes until loaves start to turn golden. Remove from oven to wire racks to cool.

To Make crostini:
Slice cooled bread on the diagonal. Brush slices with olive oil. Cover slice with grated cheese such as Gruyere and broil for 5 minutes in the oven. Serve on top of soup.

Those Were The Days...

When I was a child, I loved the illustrations of Beatrix Potter. I loved her stories, her animal characters and best of all, I loved the clothes she dressed them in. I think I received this cook book from Val, although I could be mistaken. (I'll have to check with her as her memory is so much better than mine.)I must have been about nine or ten years old when I baked "Littletown Farm Carrot Cookies" for a party in my elementary school classroom and "Little Black Rabbit's Orange-Honey Carrots" for a special family dinner Val was preparing. It surprises me as I thumb through it that this is not necessarily a cook book for a child although the illustrations would lead one to think this at first glance. However, it is a cook book for a beginner cook as the explicit directions in the recipes indicate. Even so, my mother must have had a lot of trust in me to allow me to boil water and bake at such a young age. Of course, she was always there to supervise but still allowed me to do everything from measuring, mixing, placing the dough in the oven and giving me the responsibility of properly timing as not to burn the results! Opening this slightly musty and stained cook book reminds me of the brick red colored stove and the white Formica counter top in our sunny kitchen. Mixing the stiff cookie dough by hand with an old wooden spoon and licking the bowl are memories of a simple pleasure.

LITTLETOWN FARM CARROT COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
5 carrots
3/4 cup water (more if carrots go dry)
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soft vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup golden raisins
extra shortening

Wash the carrots, scrape them with a vegetable peeler, rinse and cut them into 1/4 inch slices with a sharp knife. Measure 1 1/2 cup carrot slices and put them into a small saucepan. Add the water and a pinch of salt, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat or until the carrots are tender when you test them with the tip of a knife. Drain the cooking water and save to use in soups.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
While the carrots are cooking, put the white flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir them lightly with a fork until they are thoroughly mixed. Put the cooked carrots in another mixing bowl and mash them with fork. Add the soft shortening, butter or margarine and brown sugar and mix well. Beat in the 2 eggs.
Add the dry ingredients to the carrot mixture and stir until they are completely blended. Stir in the raisins.
Grease 2 cookie sheets with the extra shortening. Use a spoon to drop the cookie mixture onto the sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Use pot holders to take the cookie sheets from the oven. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets with a spatula and put them on wire racks to cool.
Makes 4 dozen 3-inch cookies.