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French onion soup is one of the great pleasures of my life; rich beefy broth, sweet soft onions, buttery bread, and gooey crusty cheese, Really, how could you not like this? It is ultimate comfort food, if you can get someone else to make it for you that is. Because if you want to make this for yourself to comfort you on a cold night or after a long day, by the time this recipe is ready you will have forgotten why you wanted to make it for yourself in the first place. Don’t let that scare you away though. All I am saying really is that this recipe requires some planning and forethought. If you can muster that up, this soup is totally worth the effort and you will be so pleased with yourself as soon as you taste that first spoonful.

This recipe comes from my good friend Tommy; that would be Thomas Keller to you all. Okay, he’s not really my friend, but this is my blog and that means that I can type anything I want and pass it off as truth. So, in imafoodblog land Tommy Keller is our friend.

I have owned the Bouchon cookbook by Thomas Keller for quite a while but Nick and I have only cooked one or two recipes from it. His recipes are not very figure friendly so I don’t have too many occasions to use the book. And when I volunteered to host Recipes to Rival for October, I did not have a particular recipe in mind. Though I had been thinking about making some real French onion soup for a few weeks, and that seemed like a perfect fall weather R2R challenge.

Bouchon and the accompanying Bouchon Cookbook features French bistro food. I don’t think you can get more French bistro than onion soup, and I know that Thomas Keller does not do anything half-assed. So I figured his recipe for onion soup would be delicious and authentic, which is exactly what I wanted to accomplish with my first attempt at this soup.

I made this soup twice. The first attempt came out wonderfully. However, I knew I could do better. The first time I made this I did not read ahead enough to see that Keller calls for homemade beef stock in his recipe and pretty much says that he would rather you use water than substitute canned stock for the homemade stuff. I was worried if I used only water the broth would not be rich enough, so I met Tommy halfway and used half water and half store bought stock. I think this compromise produced a very good end result, and I would make it this way again for sure.

But I kept thinking about the homemade beef stock. I had never made my own before, we have made plenty of chicken stock in our little kitchen, but never beef stock. So I decided that I had to make it again and go all out and make Keller’s homemade beef stock as well. I got myself some meaty leg bones from my butcher and made my very first homemade beef stock. It came out great! The aroma that wafted through our apartment as it simmered for 6 hours let me know that canned beef broth should not even be in the same category as the real stuff. The smell was amazing. I definitely won’t make it every time I need beef stock, but I will whenever beef stock will be one of the main flavors in my dish, like this soup!

The second batch of soup with the homemade stock was AMAZING. Right now it is Sunday and I finished the soup today and had a taste so I could write about it. It had a depth of flavor that the first batch lacked. I am “aging” the finished soup in the fridge until Tuesday since Keller says it gets even better if left to sit for a day or so. I did this so I could get the total full effect of what Keller expects this soup to be, and also for scheduling reasons I need a dinner on Tuesday that I can pull together really quickly. I will update the post once I have a full bowl with cheese and all. I know it’s going to be great though! I am excited to eat it.

The recipe for both the beef stock and the onion soup are after the jump, along with some process photos. Take a deep breath and tell yourself it will be worth it in the end, because this is a long one folks. It is truly not complicated, but I am not going to lie and say it’s a cinch to make. It requires some effort, tender love and care, but you will be rewarded in the end.

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Well, nowhere really.

My head just has not really been in food blog land as of late.

I have been spending a lot of free time at the gym. Nick, who used to have to harass me about getting off my butt and going to the gym, actually said to me last night that it was annoying how much time I spend there and that I need to go less! I will take that under advisement honey.

I have also been enjoying some free time shopping. I have apparently decided to singlehandedly stimulate our economy by spending all my money on clothing and shoes.

We have also had some exciting news from our family and friends recently:

One of our closest friends Dianna just got engaged to her adorable Italian boyfriend while on a trip in Italy. I couldn’t be more excited for her and for their wedding, which will most likely be in Italy!! Yay!

Nick and I also learned that we will soon become an Aunt and Uncle, so we are definitely excited about that as well. However, I don’t think that a new baby will help curb my shopping addiciton

And of course, I have been cooking. I have actually made the last 3 Craving Ellie in My Belly recipes, but just did not have the energy to take a decent picture and write a post. I feel like a bit of a slacker, so here is my attempt at redemption:

Chicken Chop Suey - this was a great choice by our one and only Healthy Hostess, Ali. I did think that the flavor of this was very similar to a lot of Ellie’s other Asian inspired recipes, but it was definitely tasty and filling. I loved the crispy baked wontons!

Tuscan Vegetable Soup - I can’t rave enough about this soup and I have to thank Pam of Lobster and Fishsticks for choosing it. It is so hearty and filled with yummy veggies. I loved that the broth has just a hint of redness from the tomatoes, and I also simmered mine with a parmigianno rind which gave it tons of flavor. I always keep my leftover cheese rinds in the fridge for things like this. I made this on Saturday night after it had literally been raining in DC nonstop for days, and it was so perfect.

And this week’s pick was Chicken & Mushroom Quesadilla and was chosen by Marthe of Culinary Delights. I have actually made these before, and they were really good. So this time I changed it up a bit, mainly to use up some stuff I already had in the fridge/freezer. I stuffed them with some leftover roasted veggies that I had on hand from roasted veggie lasagna I made the night before. I sauteed up some extra mushrooms to add to that, and I added some cooked shredded turkey to Nick’s that I had in the freezer. Topped with a generous helping of reduced fat colby/jack cheese mix, these were sooooo good, and easy. Although, I had a good laugh at Ellie’s suggested serving size of a half a quesadilla! Nick and I both had our own whole one, and it was a perfect dinner portion for me.

I also made the Allspice Crumb Muffins, which was a Tuesdays with Dorie pick a week or so ago. This was chosen by one of my Craving Ellie girls, Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table. I was so happy that she chose these because I have been eyeing them for quite a while. And I will pretty much try any muffin recipe under the sun. These got two thumbs up from me. I made some with and some without the buttery crumble topping, and both versions were delicious. I loved the surprising flavor of the allspice, this was a nice change up for me as far as muffins go. Great pick Kayte!

I am really going to try to get back into posting and reading all your blogs regularly, since it is something that I truly enjoy doing!

Later.

*I just wanted to first give a big internet hug to all of you who left me such understanding and spirit lifting comments last week. You all made me smile and it also made me appreciate this blog as an outlet and appreciate all the bloggy friends that I have made since we started this in January. So thanks, it helped. . *

I was excited for this week’s Craving Ellie in My Belly pick. I have had my eye on this one for a while. Leslie of Lethally Delicious came through with a fabulous recipe pick of Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. How could you not be excited for a grilled cheese sandwich?

Ellie jazzes up the ho hum grilled cheese by adding sweet caramelized onions and spicy pepperjack cheese, as well as some cheddar cheese and a slice of tomato. (We left out the tomato, yuck)

However, I did make some homemade tomato soup to pair with this cheesy goodness. Yes, I know. We are weirdos. We would never eat our sandwiches with a slice of tomato, but insist on eating our sandwiches with a bowl of tomato soup. Sue me.

I used some thinly sliced rye bread that I had in the freezer (getting ready for my recipe pick next week!) which worked out great. I also happened to be caramelizing onions for some French onion soup for another day when I made these sandwiches. So instead of using the red onion I just borrowed a couple forkfuls from my pot of already sweet and soft onions. I used slices of sharp cheddar and pepperjack, as Ellie calls for. Since I was not in a particularly healthful cooking mood on this day, I really piled on the cheese. It was oozing out of the center after I cut the sandwiches.

These. were. so. good. I don’t know how healthy they really are since we are using full fat cheese here, but no matter. They were good.

You can find the recipe for the grilled cheese on page 95 of The Food You Crave or at the Food Network website.

Now let’s talk about tomato soup. This is something I rarely make, especially since I am just not interested in canned soup anymore. To find a recipe I consulted my cookbooks first since I wanted to give them some action, there are some that are feeling unloved these days. I decided to try out a healthy recipe I found in EatingWell’s Comfort Foods Made Healthy: The Classic Makeovers Cookbook by Jessie Price, The Editors of EatingWell

This book has some great sounding recipes, but this was the first one I have tried. I was hesitant at first, since any recipe with the word tofu in it gives me pause. However, I recently made a dip that was thickened by silken tofu and was pleased with the results. So I decided to have some faith and try this out.

While we were grocery shopping as we approached the tofu area I said to Nick “Okay honey get ready, I am about to buy some tofu". I got this response: . It’s a big deal for us.

Long story short, the soup came out excellent. It was wonderfully thick and creamy and I would absolutely make it again. And the best part is that it really is low fat and healthy for you. It was the perfect accompaniment to the grilled cheese.

Ingenious creamy tomato soup recipe after the jump…

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Jambalaya is not something that I would normally choose to make on my own. I generally don’t like food that is overly spicy and I definitely associate hot and spicy with creole food.

However, this week’s Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe Jambalaya with Shrimp and Ham was absolutely delicious. I honestly don’t know how close to an authentic jambalaya it truly is, but we both really enjoyed it and I will be making it again for sure.

This jambalaya was pretty simple to make. There is minimal chopping, just some onions, garlic, and red & green peppers. The spice blend of paprika (I used smoked because that’s all I had), oregano, thyme, and cayenne pepper give a lot of flavor, with a bay leaf or 2 added in for good measure. I doubled all the spices except the cayenne pepper since I read some Food Network reviews that said this was a little bland. This worked out well because the flavor was great and the amount of spice was perfect for me. (I could still taste the food but my nose was running a bit while eating it)

Instead of ham I used 2 chicken sausages that I had in the freezer and I used a pound of fresh tiger shrimp. To cook the sausage I poached it until fully cooked, rested it for about 10 minutes, then sliced it and put the slices under the broiler until they were brown and crispy. All that meat and seafood added a lot of chunky heartiness to the bowl. I also used fire roasted crushed tomatoes instead of diced because I like a smoother tomato texture in things like this.

My bowl was chock full of tasty sausage, shrimp, veggies, and perfectly cooked rice (one of my favorite foods). I love a healthy meal that is hearty like this. It is great to eat something that is good for you and be so satisfied afterwards. This was even great as lunch leftovers a few days later.

This yummy jambalaya was picked by Anonymous New York. Check out her blog and the other Craving Ellie ladies to see what they thought of this.

You can find Ellie Krieger’s recipe here or on page 236 of The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life.

We are not really a gazpacho eating household. I think both of us just don’t really care for cold soup. In addition, most gazpacho’s are tomato based and we do not like tomatoes when they are uncooked and so tomatoey.

However, this week’s Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe is a white (or really, green) gazpacho. This is definitely not something that I would have picked out on my own, and to tell the truth I wasn’t too keen on making it. Though I do feel some responsibility to do the Craving Ellie recipe each week, provided that I have the time to do it, so I decided to halve this recipe and try it out.

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Confused by the title? Me too. Let’s take this one step at a time. Homemade chicken stock and broth is one of most versatile ingredients one will come in contact with in day to day cooking. Not only is it great for a quick batch of soup when somebody has a wittle bewwy ache, but equally good for deglazing pans for sauces, for cooking veggies and rice, and tasty even on its own. Back to the title - why, pray-tell did I name this post “How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock Broth Recipe?” Mostly because I am an attention whore. See, I cleverly named the post so that people searching for “how to make” and “recipe” find a match for both chicken “stock” and “broth.” Pretty sneaky, no? You should see what I do when I flop a nut straight UTG (read: Texas Hold’em). But there is even a more compelling reason, you see…

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This week’s Craving Ellie in my Belly is Lamb Stew with Orange and was chosen by Farah of Confessions of a Novice Baker.

We are lamb lovers so I was happy to see this recipe picked, though you could absolutely substitute a stew cut of beef in this meal. This turned out to be a hearty comforting Sunday night meal. I used a butterflied leg of lamb from the butcher. I kept closely to Ellie’s ingredient list for this recipe, except that I left out the mint because I didn’t have any. I am also quite proud of myself for so successfully supreming an orange for this recipe.

However, I did change the process a bit. I seared my lamb cubes, but I then removed them from the pan and sautéed the vegetables separately. Then I added the cumin to coat the veg and deglazed the pan with the red wine before adding the remainder of the ingredients. This is the way I generally cook a pot roast and I think it makes sense to do it with a stew as well.

My stew cooked for almost 2 hours and the lamb was super tender. This was the first time I had beans in a stew and I was surprised at how they were buttery and tender without getting mushy. I served it with crunchy oven roasted potatoes. We loved this stew and I would definitely make it again. This was a great recipe picked by a wonderful blogger! Thanks Farah (and Ellie )

Now, on to the issue of the consommé. A consommé is nothing more than a soup made from clarified stock. It sounds fancy and daunting, but it is really quite a simple process if you remember some basics about stock making.

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OK, OK. I know you’ve never heard of Minestra Con Le Cozze E Salsiccia, neither did I until I did a literal translation of the ingredients into Italian. I’ve always thought of this soup as an Italian soup because the inspiration for creating it came from Italian wedding soup. They share some common characteristics: both are made with greens like kale (or escarole or spinach), and they both contain ground pork - meatballs in the IWS case and sausage (as the name suggests) in this case. No aspect of assembling this soup requires a level of culinary aptitude beyond being able to use a knife and the stove, but do allocate an appropriate amount of time, about 2 hours (with probably 15 minutes of hands-on time) to make it.

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