French Onion Soup

I'm a little late on this post, but as promised, I'm sharing the French Onion Soup recipe I used last week. I adapted the recipe from allrecipes.com.  This recipe was easy and the soup was fantastic!! It makes a mild, somewhat sweet broth, not quite as dark as a traditional Onion Soup. We loved it, as it reminded us of the French Onion soup at one of our favorite little French Restaurants in NYC, Parigot, located in SoHo.

The ingredients I used include:
4 Tablespoons butter                                
1 teaspoon salt                                          
2 large red onions, thinly sliced                
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced          
48 oz organic chicken broth                      
14 oz organic beef broth                            
1/2 cup red wine                                      
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce          
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
 salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 thick slices French or Italian bread
8 slices Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced, room temp
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese, room temp
4 pinches paprika



First, melt the butter in a large pot over med-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. (I used a mandolin to slice my onions thin enough). Cook 35 minutes until the onions caramelize and form somewhat of a syrup, continue to stir.





Next, mix in the chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and worcestershire sauce. Bundle the fresh herbs, the parsley, thyme and bay leaf, together with twine and place in the pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, continuing to stir. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce heat to low, add vinegar as well as salt and pepper. Cover and simmer while bread is prepared.





Preheat broiler. Arranged bread slices on a baking sheet and broil for three minutes, turning once, until toasted on both sides. Remove from heat, leaving broiler on.



Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each 2/3 full with soup and top with a slice of toasted bread.



Thinly slice Gruyere cheese and place on top of toasted bread. Sprinkle 1/4 of the asiago over it. Sprinkle each with paprika.



Broil for 5 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve hot.



My crocks are small, so there was quite a bit of soup left over. I toasted extra slices of bread and stored them in an airtight container for the next day. I reheated the soup, placed the toast on top and added the cheese. I then placed them under the broiler and it made for an awesome lunch the next day! I hope you give it a try!!

have a fantastic weekend!
xo, tish

Homemade Granola Bars

A few weeks ago, I was searching for a healthier after-school snack I could make for my girls. I came across several recipes for homemade granola bars. I settled on this one for a couple reasons. First, they were no-bake (I was a bit short on time), second, I liked the honey in the recipe and lastly, I had all the ingredients on hand. 

The recipe I used I found on Lauren's Latest. I didn't have mini chocolate chips, so I crushed regular-sized chocolate chips in their place. I suppose I could have used them as is, but I prefer smaller pieces of chocolate to larger. 

No-Bake Homemade Granola Bars    Yields 10-12 bars 

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups QUICK-COOKING oats (not rolled oats)

1 cup crispy rice cereal

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

In a large bowl, stir together the oats and rice cereal. Set aside. In a small saucepan, melt butter, honey and brown sugar over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan (12 x 8 x 1) and press bars to about 3/4-inch thickness. Press them down well so they stick together. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over top and press down lightly. Cool to room temperature for two hours or until chocolate chips are set before cutting the bars. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container. 




Everyone here loved them. The bars even made for a good out-the-door-no-time-for-breakfast breakfast. 

xo, 
tish

Our St. Patrick's Day

Our St. Patrick's day was cold and snowy, but since we are Irish here, we couldn't let the day go by without celebrating a bit. We found the best place to start was in the kitchen. 

A week ago, Gina at Kleinworth & Co. posted beautiful photos the of Irish Soda bread she baked and the recipe she used. I thought it was something I would do some day, and even pinned it on Pinterest. But she really caught my attention when she told me it took her only about 35 minutes from start to finish! That did it for me.  

The recipe is so easy, uses minimal ingredients that most people have in their kitchen routinely, and truly didn't take long at all. The loaf was absolutely beautiful when it was all done. It looked rustic and like it came right from the bakery. And ... it tasted as good as it looked! We enjoyed it with a hearty potato soup for dinner and then toasted it the next morning for breakfast. I added a little butter and a spot of honey to mine. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw my toasted bread this week. If not, you can see it here. 







We also had to have a little St. Patty's Day treat. So we decided to make our own Shamrock Shakes. This too was very simple. I did a brief internet search and found several variations. We opted for a more traditional shake. 

Shamrock Shakes

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon peppermint (or mint) extract

10 drops green food coloring

Blend all ingredients together for two minutes. 

Enjoy! 

We sure did! :) 

(And yes, you must wear green on St. Patty's day. Morgan is sporting her Dublin shirt my husband brought us when he visited Ireland with his dad in 2010. While there, they spent some time in County Clare, the region of Ireland where their family is from.) 

Hope you all had a great weekend and a fun St. Patty's Day. 

Happy WW! 

tish

Raspberry Sour Cream Tart

50mm, f/2.8, 1/60, iso 3200. 
Levels adjusted in Photoshop CS5 and enhanced with Greater than Gatsby's One Click Perfect Color action. 
Vintage Frames 22 by The CoffeeShop Blog. 
Paperclip and Sticky Tape by Fuzzimo


This is easily one of my very favorite dessert recipes. I recently made this for my daughter's middle school teacher appreciation luncheon. It always seems to be a favorite wherever I take it. As a matter of fact, any time I make it, I have to make two. My girls tell me I'm not allowed to make it for someone else without also making one to keep at home. 

The tart is easy to make and always gives a beautiful presentation. I adapted the recipe from Bon Appetit. 

Raspberry Sour Cream Tart 
For the crust: 
8 graham crackers, coarsely broken
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling and Topping:
6 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 pint containers raspberries
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Crust:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, grind graham crackers and sugar until coarse crumbs form. Add butter, process until evenly moistened. Press firmly up bottom and sides of a 9" tart pan with removable bottom. Bake until firm, about 8 minutes. Cool. 

Filling/Topping: 
Using mixer, beat together sour cream, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread filling in cooled crust. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours. (Can be made a day ahead, cover and keep chilled). Arrange berries over filling. Whisk jam in small bowl to loose consistency. Drizzle over berries. Serve immediately or chill up to 3 hours. 

This certainly doesn't last long around our house! I hope you give it a try. 

hugs, 
tish