French Onion Soup

Two things that I'm famous for while cooking. 1. Leaving something in the oven and forgetting about it until it starts smoking up the house and the fire alarm goes off. 2. Putting something in the microwave for way longer than it needs and forgetting about it so it either comes out boiling or charred (ie. I put my coffee in the micro to heat it up the other day for 5 minutes... remembered it when it had one minute left... it was boiling... i then transfered it to the freezer).

Last night, I made French Onion Soup. I cubed some very delicious bread and put it on the oven (which was on broil for the soup) for a "few minutes" to get toasty before putting it in the soup. Oops... didn't remember until I was looking for the bread to put in the soup and smelling a strange smell. Then the fire alarm went off and Nick and I rush over to wave our towels at it to make it go off. That didn't work so I yelled at Nick (yelling because it was so loud) to pull the battery out. I grabbed a pan to wave the smoke away and ended up bashing Nick in the arm while he was taking the battery out. What can I say? I like to add a little excitement to my cooking.

Since we don't waste food in this household, I used the burnt bread (as seen in the photo). It actually tasted really good to me, but I'm known for loving things burnt (Hot dogs, marshmallows, etc.).

Anyway, I found my new favorite bread side dish while making this dish (Thanks to Nick's garlic chopping talents). He chopped garlic in huge chunks (I was told never to use the word "chunk" while describing food), I buttered the bread and put the garlic on it and broiled it for about 3-5 minutes. It was soooooo good!! I think I might use olive oil next time and drizzle some over the garlic just so see what that does. So amazing, and so easy.

The soup turned out really really good too. I followed a recipe (somewhat) since I had never made it before. Only I used extra onions and not enough broth. I will definitely use more broth next time. It was more like an onion hot dish (yes you Hawaiians... I said hot dish).

Well, leftovers tonight... we'll probably lay low this week since we have the big Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, which is why we chose not to go out to eat last night (we usually go out every Friday).

French Onion Soup
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons cup unsalted butter

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 4 cups sliced onions

• 4 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth (I used vegetable broth, it was nummy)

• 1/2 cup red wine

• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

• salt and pepper to taste

• 4 slices French bread (I cubed it)

• 4 slices provolone cheese (I shredded it)
• 
  

Directions:Melt butter with olive oil in an 8 quart stock pot on medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. You may want to caramelize the onions if you like that flavor.Add broth, red wine and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.Heat the oven broiler.Ladle soup into oven safe serving bowls and place the slice of bread on top of each (bread may be broken into pieces if you prefer). Layer each slice of bread with a slice of provolone (may use other cheeses as well). Place bowls on cookie sheet and broil in the preheated oven until cheese bubbles and browns slightly.

Sole Filet with Rice and Grandpa Howard's Green Beans

We didn't have much planned so far this week (didn't go to the grocery store this weekend) so we decided to cook a Sole fish filet that we had in the freezer.

I was quite surprised when I cooked this one. I don't really like fish and I don't really like frying things either. It usually ends up burnt or gooey. But this turned out amazing! It was crisp and tasty. I did actually dip mine in ketchup, which is awful and any chef would yell at me, but it reminded me of my childhood and I wanted to dangit!

I also had it with my Grandpa Howard's garden green beans, which was pretty awesome too. I don't think the meal would be the same with regular frozen or canned or even fresh green beans. Nothing like em!!

Sole Filet
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 Sole Fillets or white fish fillets
2 eggs
2 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 cup flour
1 cup bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions: 
Place flour in shallow dish. Mix eggs and mustard in shallow dish. Place bread crumbs in shallow dish.  Dredge fish in flour, dip in egg mixture, then dip in breading. For a crispier fish, dip in egg mixture and breading twice. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When pan is hot add fish fillets  Cook for 4-6 minutes on each side or until fish is light and flaky.  Serve with brown rice and vegetables.