Cooking With Romeo » Appetizers & Hors d’oeuvres

Fabulous French Onion Soup

Romeo — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:39:03 +0000

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Fabulous French Onion Soup

This is, by far, the most delicious French onion soup I have ever tasted. I merged two recipes in the style of Martha Stewart and Paula Deen to come up with the absolute best French Onion Soup in the world. I kid you not, this is the best you will ever have, if you adhere to a few key steps.

Two details of importance, when making GREAT French onion soup: (1) Slow cooking the onions for about an hour and a half on very low heat. This will really mellow the onions and bring out amazing flavors. (2) Use imported Gruyere Cheese. Imported Gruyere is a bit pricey compared to some other cheeses (I recently paid about $19.00 per pound). You need about a half pound of cheese, which would cost around $10.00. I know, some of you will cringe at that, but really this soup is amazing and well worth it. Make it as a special treat. But promise me, that at least once, you will use the imported Gruyere (from France), just to treat yourself. And I will promise that you will LOVE it.

Just this weekend, I made this soup for my parents who both agreed: It was the BEST French Onion Soup they ever had!!!

Recipe: Absolute Best French Onion Soup

Summary: Absolute Best French Onion Soup

Ingredients

2 LB Yellow Onions, quartered and sliced into thin strips.
4 Tbsp Butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tbsp all-purpose-flour
1/2 Cup Dry White Wine (I used an inexpensive bottle of Pinot Grigio)
3 Cups Beef Broth, homemade or store bought (I used College Inn brand Bold Stock Sirloin beef broth – and it was just delicious!)
2 teasponns chopped fresh thyme
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 Small French Baguette, sliced crosswise and into 1/2 inch pieces.
8 ounces (about 3 cups) of imported Gruyere Cheese, shredded. (My Food Processor has a shredding blade that works wonderfully on cheeses).
Note: You will need oven safe ceramic bowls to later heat the soup under the broiler. You can find these at most gourmet cooking stores or at amazon.com (search for french onion crocks)

Instructions

In a large pot (dutch oven or every day pan) melt butter, and then add sliced onions to the melted butter.
Spread onions evenly in the bottom of pan. Continue cooking onions slowly, on low heat for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until onions caramelize nicely. Do not stir too often, or onions will not caramelize. Slow cooking is an important process of making great French Onion soup, as it will mellow and sweeten the onion, releasing great flavors.
While onions are cooking, place bread slices on a baking sheet and toast in the oven, until crunchy but not burnt.
Sprinkle flour over cooked onions and mix well.
Add wine, beef broth, and chopped thyme to the onions, and turn heat up to medium-low. Bring to simmer, then cook partially covered for 30 minutes.
Salt and pepper to taste, if needed (Remember that depending on what type of broth you used, you may not need additional salt and pepper).
Using a ladle, fill your oven safe crocks (bowls or mugs) with onion soup, almost to the top.
Add a few pieces of the toasted, sliced baguette bread into each crock of soup, pushing the bread down in the soup so that the soup rises to the top of the crock and the bread slightly peeks out of the top.
Sprinkle shredded Gruyere cheese over the onion soup and toasted bread. Be generous with the cheese. The best part of French Onion Soup is when there is so much cheese it bubbles and melts over the sides of the bowl.
Place your filled soup crocks on a baking dish, and place them in the oven, under the Broiler for 5 to 7 minutes. Keep your eye on the cheese. Soup is done when the cheese is fully melted, bubling and beginning to brown. Be careful to not burn the bread or cheese, as the broiler works fast.

CulinaryTradition: French

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Zippy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Romeo — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:54:24 +0000

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus With A Spicy Kick

Hummus is a delicious spread made from chick peas and spices. I love serving hummus with crackers of baked pita bread chips when I have guests. It is not only delicious but it also is a nice way to have a healthier snack option for some of your guests that are watching their diets. There are many variations of Hummus, such as plain and garlic. This is a tasty recipe for a spicy roasted red pepper hummus, perfect as a snack food, or even in a sandwich!

Recipe: Zippy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Summary: Spicy hummus with roasted red peppers.

Ingredients

One 15 ounce can of Chick Peas
One 4 ounce jar of roasted red peppers
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons prepared Tahini ( Or make your own: Tahini is a paste made from toasted sesame seeds crushed into a flour, oil, lemon/lime juice and seasonings. You can usually find this in a Indian or Middle Eastern markets)
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped.

Instructions

In a food processor, puree the red peppers, chick peas, tahini, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt, garlic and cumin. Puree using pulse setting on food processor for long pulses until well blended and smooth. In between pulses, open food processor and scrape sides of processor to ensure proper mixing.
Once puree is well blended and smooth, transfer into a serving dish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let flavors blend.
To serve, let Hummus first stand until at room temperature. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with baked pita bread or crackers. Humus will keep for up to 3 days in refrigerator.

CulinaryTradition: Indian (Northern)

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Sassy Deviled Eggs

Romeo — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 04:25:31 +0000

Sassy Deviled Eggs – Recipe

Deviled Eggs are a spring time party favorite. It’s also a great way to use up all of those eggs after the Easter Holiday.

There are many different recipes for Deviled Eggs available. These Sassy Deviled Eggs are my absolute favorite Deviled Egg of all time.

This recipe calls for 12 eggs (24 Deviled Eggs), but it can easily be halved or quarted to fit your needs.

Ingredients:

12 Eggs
6 Tablespoons of Helman’s Mayonnaise (I have to stand firm here – Helman’s mayo is the only mayonnaise allowed in my kitchen
3 Tablespoons minced onions
4 Tablespoons of sweet pickle relish
4 Teaspoons horseradish (normally found in the dairy isle at the supermarket)
2 Teaspoons of dijon or spicy mustard.
1/4 Teaspoon of salt
1/2 Teaspoon of black pepper
Paprika to sprinkle on top for decoration.

Directions:

First, boil 12 eggs. Because many recipes will call for Hard Boiled Eggs, I have created a separate recipe for Hard Boiled Eggs – Made Easy. If you would like to know the secret to making the perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, please read that recipe.
Once your boiled eggs are cooled and peeled, cut them in half (the long way)

Gently hold and massage the 1/2 egg to loosen the yolk from the white and drop the yolks into a mixing bowl. Place the empty white part on a plate to fill later.

Once all of the yolks are in a bowl, you are ready to begin making your Sassy Deviled Egg Filing. Start by taking a regular fork and mushing up all of the egg yolks into a fine yellow powder.

Then add the onion, relish, horseradish, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to the egg yolks and mix well with a fork.

Using a table spoon, spoon out the deviled egg mixture and heap into the egg whites. You can also use a plastic bag with a corner cut open, to make a smoother filled deviled egg. But, I prefer the natural look of the filling being spooned. I like my deviled eggs with character!

Sprinkle the tops of your deviled eggs with a small amount of paprika.

Now, pop em in your mouth and enjoy those Sassy Deviled Eggs!

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