French Onion Soup

         The following french onion soup is delectable!  It is a wonderfully rich broth topped with rounds of crusty french bread and sprinkled with parmesan and swiss.  It is then placed under a hot broiler to melt and brown the cheeses.  And even though it may take a couple of hours to make, it is a really easy recipe.

French Onion Soup

• 7-8 yellow onions halved and thinly sliced (about 12 cups)
• 1 stick good butter
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 9 cups good beef stock
• 1/2 bunch of fresh thyme tied with kitchen string
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 crusty french baguette
• Freshly grated parmesan and swiss

In a large, covered dutch oven and stirring occasionally, cook the onions in the butter over medium heat for 15 minutes or until translucent.  Sprinkle in the salt and sugar, then lower the temperature;very medium-low should be just fine.  Stirring frequently, let the onions get really nicely browned and caramelized.  This will take around 30-40 minutes.

When the onions have developed their brown color, deglaze the pot with the cognac and simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Sprinkle in the flour and let the starch cook off for another couple of minutes or so.  Add the wine and simmer uncovered for another 15-20 minutes.

Now, add the stock, thyme, salt and pepper to taste.  With the pot partially covered, let the broth simmer for another 30-40 minutes.  Preheat the broiler.

Just before serving, top each bowl with rounds of french bread and sprinkle with cheese.  Place the bowls on a sheet pan and slide under the broiler for just a minute or two.  Enjoy!

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

        There is not much to say about this cake recipe.  It is a basic yellow cake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting.  I have used the creaming method here, which requires you first cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  It is delicious!

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 xl egg yolks, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 Tb + 1tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• Frosting:
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, recommended: Ghirardelli
• 4 Tb heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line two 9" round cake pans with parchment paper.  Butter and flour the pans.  Be sure to knock out the excess flour.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar over medium-speed for 5-10 minutes; until the butter is light yellow and fluffy.  Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

With the mixer still on medium speed, add the egg yolks one at a time; blending thorougly after each addition.  Scrap the bowl if needed.

With the mixer on low speed and beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternately add the flour and buttermilk in three additions.  After the last addition of the flour, scrap the bowl and add the half cup of whole milk.  Mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and place on the middle rack.  Let them bake for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the frosting, prepare a double-boiler.  Melt down the chocolate with the heavy whipping cream.  Add the vanilla extract and let cool.  Cream the butter and powdered sugar, but do not whip.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the chocolate to the butter and powdered sugar.  I like to run the mixer on low for five minutes or so just to make the frosting really creamy and smooth.

When the cakes finish baking, let them stand in the pans for about 20 minutes.  Turn out and cool completely before frosting.

Rosemary Roast Chicken

         One of my favorite dishes to make is roast chicken; it's simple, versatile, and absolutely delicious.  I have prepared it many times for close friends who never seem to tire of it.  And since the quality of a cook can be determined by this classic dish, I love making it for new dinner guests.  Yet, as uncomplicated as it is to produce a truly splendid roast chicken, it is child's play to render one utterly unpalatable.  Half the battle though is procuring the most desirable bird possible.  I usually go to the local Fresh Market for my meats, but on special occasions I will definitely go the extra mile; actually, the extra twenty-five miles.  A fresh chicken tastes nothing like the chickens available in most supermarkets, and the ones I get from East Fork Farm in Madison County, NC are wonderful!
         In this recipe, I put lemon wedges, garlic, and rosemary into the cavity of the bird to give it really great flavor.    

Rosemary Roast Chicken

• 1- 4lb. roasting chicken
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• 1.5 heads of unpeeled garlic cut through the cross-section
• A big bunch of rosemary and a reserved teaspoon
• 4 Tb butter, melted
• 2 large yellow onions, quartered
• 4 large carrots cut into 2" chunks

Preheat oven to 425°F

Rinse the chicken inside and out, then pat dry with paper towels.  Remove any pin feathers and liberally salt and pepper the cavity.  Put the lemon, garlic, and rosemary inside the chicken and tie the legs together with kitchen string.  Brush on the melted butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.

Toss the vegetables in the roasting pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Place the chicken atop the vegetables and sprinkle the reserved rosemary over the entire pan.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes.  Then without opening the oven door turn the temperature down to 400°F for another 40-50 minutes.  The internal temperature taken in the thigh should be about 165°-170˚F; the chicken is done when the juices run clear yellow.

Remove the chicken and vegetables from the pan and cover with aluminum foil for 15-20 minutes, so that juices may run back into the meat.

Chocolate Banana Loaf

          My good friends Colby and Nana have convinced me to start blogging, so here goes.  I came up with this recipe just a few days ago out of a need to use up some very ripe bananas; ones in which the peels were almost completely brown.  I had thought about making a classic banana nut bread, but as those are so often found I decided to turn up the volume by adding cocoa powder, since anything with chocolate just simply melts-in-your-mouth, right?
         Of the various types of cooking, baking seems to be one of the most difficult.  Flour, sugar, eggs, leavening agents, a form of fat (butter or oil), and often some type of an acidic ingredient are used.  Breads and cakes that do not use yeast as their leavening agent are usually termed quick breads, such as this chocolate banana loaf.  Others include, muffins, biscuits, pancakes, and scones.  For this recipe, I used the muffin method.  It is characterized by the addition of the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients; the fat used should be in liquid form too.


Chocolate Banana Loaf
Dry:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder, recommended: Hershey's
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Wet:

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, not vanilla flavoring
• 2 xl eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 very ripe banana, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Butter and flour an 8.5''x4.5''x2.5'' loaf pan.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  And pour into the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

In the same bowl, combine the vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, and eggs.  With the mixer on low speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry.  DO NOT OVER MIX, or the bread may turn out tough.  Add the sour cream and mix just until combined.  If there are lumps of flour still visible, don't worry as those will get absorb during baking.

GENTLY fold in the bananas.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.