Rainy days = yummy soup!

The weather around here has been kind of funky. The old "April showers bring May flowers" seems to have extended a week beyond. Besides the weather, we've had a few cases of closed up, sore throat, sniffly nosed blahs. In an attempt to remedy both of these, I decided to make T and myself some French Onion Soup. I read numerous recipes before deciding on my own mash-up way to go about concocting some soup. Fortunately, my research paid off and T even commented that my version was "just like you get in restaurants!"

French Onion Soup Recipe:

You'll need:
1 32oz box beef broth (low sodium is fine)
1 package shredded mozzarella cheese
1 baguette (day old is fine)
1.5-2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 T dried thyme
Worcestershire sauce (phewf that was fun to spell!)
4 oven-safe bowls for serving

How to make it:
1) Chop the onions into 1/4" strips. We bought some great little ones at the Farmer's Market 5 in a ziplock bag for $1.
2) In a medium sized pot, melt the butter and add the thyme to season it as it melts.
3) Set your oven shelf to the lower/middle level and preheat the broiler to low.
4) Add the onion pieces to the pot, stirring regularly until the onions are just about translucent. Meanwhile, slice the baguette into 1/2" slices.
5) Pour in the red wine, a splash of the Worcestershire sauce and the crumbs from the baguette.
6) Add the entire box of beef broth to the onions and let simmer for 20 minutes (a little longer is ok), stir regularly to keep the onions from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
7) Cover a cookie sheet with a SilPat or tinfoil and arrange your four bowls on top.
8) Evenly ladle soup into the bowls. Arrange slices of baguette on top, in one layer. Do not push the slices into the soup to soak them; this will happen in the oven.
9) Sprinkle mozzarella over the bread (and off the sides of the bowls, if you like).
10) Place the whole cookie sheet with bowls on top in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the pieces on the bowl edges are browned.
11) Serve and enjoy - but be careful - the bowls are super hot!

*Photo from: http://www.displayit-info.com/food/dinner2.html

Sick day

I'm back in Blogland! Yep, sick again. The same thing I had before, but I went to the doctor earlier this time. Hopefully, that means that I'll get better sooner! Actually, it better mean that I am healthier sooner, because now is not the time to be sick!

I've got 2 parties at work this week, (one of which I am helping to organize), the Downtown Holiday Market and Celebration of Mrs. Wiechelt's Life this weekend. Then next week is the home stretch to Winter Break which means I have to get cracking on the babies' presents! At least I think I have finally decided on what to make for them.

I have had a hard time concentrating recently. I think it has been the excitement for Thanksgiving and now the winter holidays coupled with the overwhelming sadness and unfortunate surprise of Karen's death. It was really a reality check for me; things don't just keep going so that you can go to bed and wake up tomorrow. She always encouraged everyone to enjoy life the way it is and savor every moment (and every bite of chocolate). I need to work on that.

In the meantime, I'll share a recipe I made up all on my own! This dashi based soup is great for the freezing cold days we've been having. It's filling, warm, healthy and delicious! Even T agrees and is willing to have it for lunch the next day. :)

Ingredients:
3 T Dashi soup base (available in most Asian food stores; look for one with no MSG or where MSG is at least towards the end of the ingredient list; this can be substituted with chicken broth)
4-5 cups water (depends on how much soup you want, you can always add more)
1 lb. pea shoots (tou-miao in Mandarin Chinese)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup sliced kamoboko fish cake
1 cup firm tofu
1 lb. somen noodles

1. Wash the pea shoots very throroughly (there are often little teeny bugs). Peel off the leaves and discard the stems.
2. Heat the water on medium high heat, it doesn't need to be boiling and stir in the dashi to dissolve. It will look like miso soup broth.
3. When the water is hot, add the noodles and pea shoot leaves.
4. While the noodles and leaves are softening, slice the tofu and fish cake. I like to cut them small, but still arge enough to be picked up easily with chopsticks.
5. Add the celery, fish cake and tofu.
6. When everything is heated through, serve and enjoy!

For extra deliciousity, T and I enjoyed this "fruit salad" as our dessert after our soup for lunch today:

1 apple, diced
1 pear, diced
1/2 a pomegranate's worth of seeds