What are you Cooking the week of February 23, 2020?

[Mike Nolan]

I probably won't be doing a lot of cooking today, but I'm gearing up to make a big pot of French onion soup tomorrow.

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[Joan Simpson]

We had hamburger steaks with sauteed onions and french fries.When I do my onions I always cook them in microwave for a couple minutes with a pat of butter and salt and pepper to soften them ,that's the way the cooks at Shoney's always did,then throw them on the grill with the patty for a few minutes,time the hamburger was done the onions are soft.

[BakerAunt]

That sounds delicious, Joan!

On Sunday, I made another batch of yogurt.

For Sunday dinner, I made Salmon and Couscous, using Penzey’s Mural Seasonings. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[Mike Nolan]

Grilled onions are great on hot dogs. There used to be a hot dog place near us in Evanston that had about 18 different toppings. I talked them into selling me a dog with everything--hold the hot dog, and it wound up going on the menu.

[Joan Simpson]

That hot dog minus the hot dog sounds good Mike.I love hot dogs that's what I had for breakfast today slaw dog.

[Mike Nolan]

I checked the Poochies website, they've cut back on the number of toppings they offer, but still offer 9 of them, including grilled onions.

And speaking of onions, the house smells heavily of them today, as I have 7 pounds of onions in the oven caramelizing for tonight's French onion soup.

[RiversideLen]

I made a pork roast yesterday. Leftovers today.

Mike, you have to have a hot dog or at least some bacon under all those toppings!

[Mike Nolan]

The problem was they had so many toppings at the time that they wouldn't all fit on the bun, so I though--why not have one with JUST the toppings? It had chili so it wasn't totally meatless. It was pretty darned good, too, but a bit sloppy to eat.

[Joan Simpson]

I love the smell of those onions,I know that soup will be so good,yum.

We got out and cleaned the yard today.My husband did the mowing and I picked up pine cones that was a job but we got it done and it sure looks so much better.That old John Deere is 19 years old and still running.After he did the cutting he put the bagger on and vacuumed over where it piled up.He said he was scared he'd never be able to do that again but so far he's tired as I am too.Now only picking up some sticks in one spot he didn't mow and weed eating.Pollen here is awful and has been for a month already.

I was going to have rotisserie chicken last night but he wanted another round of hamburger steaks and fries so that was easy,good and a quick 30 minutes and done.

[BakerAunt]

Joan, it's great that your husband is not only eating well again but able to tackle chores again.

[Joan Simpson]

BakerAunt blessings from above.

[Italiancook]

Ah, here's the thread where Mike says he's caramelizing onions in the oven. How do you do that, Mike?

[Mike Nolan]

It's fairly easy, just time-consuming.

I cut the onions into slices (not rings) for soup, then put them in my 12 quart stock pot with a stick of butter. (You need some fat to coat the onions, this is basically a sauteeing process.) 7 pounds of sliced onions fills the pot to about 3/4 full at first, though it cooks down to just a few inches. I know from past experience I can get 10 pounds in this pot, though, and probably more if I compacted them, but that makes stirring them harder.

The oven was at 350 and there was a lid on. I stirred them every now and then, generally every 30-45 minutes. It took about 6 hours for them to caramelize. You can do it faster on the stove, but you're more likely to burn them.

Once the onions were caramelized, I added the chicken stock, which I started heating about 45 minutes earlier. A little sherry, some salt and pepper, and they're ready to go in the soup bowl, generally with some stale bread and cheese, so they go under the broiler long enough to melt the cheese and get a few brown spots.

Most restaurant make French onion soup with beef stock, but it is probably more accurate historically to make it with chicken stock, because only the gentry had much access to beef. IMHO the chicken stock does a better job of pairing with the onions without trying to dominate them. (Most restaurants put in way too much salt, too. My rule for most foods is if it tastes salty, you put in too much.)

[Joan Simpson]

That French onion soup sounds awesome,yum!

Tonight we had the rest of the rotisserie chicken,left over beans and potatoes and cabbage,I had left over squash so I made squash casserole out of that,yay all left overs are gone!

[BakerAunt]

I never tried making onion soup at home, but I do recall eating some wonderful ones in restaurants. I would always order it if I had the chance.

On Tuesday, we have had a heavy wet snow of about an inch. It seems to be alleviating. We had a cozy dinner with a chicken roasted atop cut-up red potatoes and small carrots, tossed with olive oil and rosemary sprinkled on top. I rubbed the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled with poultry seasoning and sweet curry. It’s the same technique I used a few weeks ago. This time, after the chicken was finished, I let the vegetables roast for an additional 15 minutes, which caramelized them nicely. It’s not a recipe to use for a crispy skin, but we’re not eating the skin these days. We had microwaved fresh broccoli as well.

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