Onion Soup = Comfort Food

I've recently purchased an apartment building. There are three units and one group of tenants decided to ditch me in the middle of the month and not pay their rent for that month. But that not's the worst part. The mess they left behind took about two weeks to clean up. And to mention what I had to clean up would be unappetizing on a food blog. Needless to say, I'm sick of working in that apartment and was more than happy to prepare one comfort food that is an essential on any comfort food list. Onion soup.

The way I make onion soup is pretty simple. Thinly slice about three cups of yellow onions, sweat in butter, add a clove of garlic, some thyme, about 4 cups of beef broth, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and two tablespoons of red wine vinegar or cooking sherry and that's it. Bring to boil, drop a crusty/toasted slice of baguette in each bowl, top with grated gruyère, broil and enjoy. The sweet onions coupled with the warm taste of the soup make me happy. Especially in this autumn season with the hills turning beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow. I'd even argue that soup is a cornerstone (if not the keystone) of fall season cooking. What would October be without homemade chicken noodle soup?

Along with my soup, I made a delicious panini sandwich. Between two slices of onion cheese bread, I sprinkled the remaining gruyère cheese of the onion soup, added slices of apple, mustard seed salami slices, alfalfa sprouts, and honey dijon sauce. I put the whole thing in the panini press and smooshed it down to make it all hot, thin and yummy. The result was nothing mind blowing but the simple fact of having the time to cook was enough for me.

I love to cook. I don't love cleaning and renovating apartments. Grrrr...

Veal Rolls Stuffed With Spinach & Gruyère With Rosti

Once again I can't recommend Gourmet Magazine enough. Their recipe for the veal roll and the rosti come from their travels in Switzerland. The meal is rich and would be perfect for a comfortable winter meal or, if coupled with a glass of chilled white wine and a subtle salad, it could be adapted for summer. Whenever you want to eat it, this meal is simply fantastic.

The veal scallopini is pounded thin between two sheets of plastic or, as I did, in a ziplock bag. You then spread a bit of anchovy butter on the veal (just 1 tbsp of anchovy paste mashed into 1/2 cup of butter) after having patted the scallopini dry and sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper. You then sprinkle some grated gruyère cheese leaving about and inch from the side so that once rolled the cheese will not ooze out too much. Over the cheese goes one layer of flatleaf spinach after which you roll the scallopini tightly, securing your work with a toothpick.

After preparing the rolls, simply sear in an hot ovenproof frying pan in some butter for about 4 minutes total making sure that all sides are nice and brown. Transfer rools and pan to 425 degree oven for another 5 minutes. You then remove the pan from the oven and the roll from the pan, putting foil over them to keep warm. Splash 1/3 cup dry white wine in the pan, scrape bottom to loosen those tasty little morsels and reduce sauce by half. Incorporate 2 tbsp of anchovy butter into sauce along with about 3 tbsp of fresh parsley, salt and pepper. Serve on top of rolls.

As for the rosti, the recipe is quite simple and resembles a hash brown. Bake potatoes in oven and when ready, let them cool long enough so that they are stiff enough to grate (you could also freeze the potatoes). When ready, grate potatoes and one onion, tossing these with a bit of salt and pepper - you could also add cheese or other ingredients if you like. Heat butter in a frying pan just the right size for the amount of mixture you have then dump potatoe mixture in and fry on that side till golden brown. Place a plate over the frying pan and flip rosti into it. You can add more butter here if required. Return rosti to pan so as to fry the other side. Both sides should take about 5 minutes each. Cut into slices and serve with veal rolls.

And don't forget to buy Gourmet Magazine...the recipes I try are just a tip of the iceberg!