French Onion Soup

Alright, I know I posted a soup recipe last week, but with the official arrival of Fall and cooler weather (finally!) I decided it would be appropriate to post a savory, comfy soup recipe. This week it's homemade French Onion Soup!

This recipe is fast and easy to make, here's what I put into my soup:

- 3 Large onions (Yellow or Vidalia Onions are best, but you could use Red or White onions too)
- 2 Shallots
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon of Butter
- 1/4 cup of Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons of Brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon of Salt
- 1 Tablespoon of Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon of Cumin
- 1 Tablespoon of Thyme (fresh or dried)
- 1 bottle of Autumn Ale (your choice)
- 32 ounces of Chicken Stock
- 1 Beef Bullion cube

The first thing you have to do is caramelize all of those onions! Chop your onions into really thin strips length wise. This takes a little bit of time, but it's worth it. Chop up your garlic and shallots and throw them into a large pot with all your onions. Turn on your burner to a medium-medium high heat. Pour in your olive oil and butter and coat all your onions with the oil/butter. You can now add your salt, pepper, and cumin. Let those onions sweat for 10-15 minutes.

While the onions sweat, you can start on your next step, homemade croutons to top your soup with.

Homemade Seasoned Croutons:
- 1/2  loaf of French bread
- Olive Oil
- Salt/Pepper
- Garlic Salt

I used a loaf of french bread I had that was starting to go stale. Cut up the bread into about 1 inch chucks, places them on a baking sheet lined with foil, drizzled some olive oil over them and added my seasonings. I put them into a 400 degree over for about 5 minutes until they started to turn golden brown, I then turned on the Broiler and got them really toasted for another 2 minutes or so (until golden brown). I then set them aside to cool while I finished my soup.

After your onions are soft, you can add your brown sugar. Turn down the heat down to medium, so the sugar doesn't burn and cook the onions until they are all light brown in color and soft (almost falling apart). Now it's time to add your liquid. First pour your Autumn Ale in to deglaze the pot. You can use any beer you's like, but I used Sierra Nevada's Tumbler Brown Ale. Stir those onions around and let the pot deglaze and let the onions soak in all that Ale goodness. After about 2 minutes, you can add your Chicken stock and beef bullion cube. Stir until the beef bullion cube is dissolved and you are ready for start serving.

Pour your soup into a bowl, shred some sharp white cheddar and parmesan over the top of your soup, place as many croutons as you'd like on top of the cheese, then add some more cheese on top of your croutons. Place your bowls onto a baking sheet and pop them into your oven. Turn on your broiler and let the cheese melt (shouldn't take more than 1-2 minutes).

That is it! Perfect for a cool autumn night! Enjoy!

Leftovers Reloaded

This week's recipe is a way to get rid of all those leftover meals you had during the week and make them into something new, FAST!

So the other night I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner and I noticed the fridge was full of tupperware with the past meals we had eaten over the last week. So I got to thinking, how can I make something delicious out of these leftovers. After staring for a few minutes, it came to me. The first thing I knew I was going to make was Creamy Potato Soup with the leftover Skillet Potatoes. Here's the recipe:

Fast and Easy Creamy Potato Soup

- 1 large container of Leftover Skillet Potatoes (you could always use leftover Mashed Potatoes)
- 1 can of cream corn
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1 14oz can of Chicken Stock
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 sprig of Fresh Rosemary
- Fresh chives (for garnish)

Ok, for those of you who don't know what Skillet Potatoes are, they are a staple my mom made when I was growing up while camping (and she made them at home too, of course). They are basically potatoes, cut into medium thin slices, 1 yellow onions sliced and diced, a lil salt and pepper, put into a skillet with some canola oil and fried. SUPER easy to make and we usually have leftovers which was the case the other night when I went over to my parents house for dinner. My mom sent me home with the leftovers and they worked perfectly for this recipe. But if you didn't have Skillet potatoes in your fridge and didn't have time to make them, you could easily use leftover mashed potatoes (instant or homemade) or leftover potato au gratin.

Basically you put your leftover Potatoes, a can of cream corn, can of chicken stock, milk, salt/pepper, and fresh rosemary into a blender and mix until smooth. Pour your blended soup into a large pot and heat over medium heat until your soup is hot all the way through (my soup took about 5 minutes).

While the soup warmed up, I decided to make a Sausage Crostini to go along with the soup. SUPER fast, SUPER easy.

Sausage Crostini
- 1/2 cup of leftover Italian Sausage
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Ciabatta Bread (sliced)
- White Cheddar Cheese or Parmesan Cheese

I had a little container of Italian Sausage from making Lasagna the other night, I put the leftover sausage on top of the leftover Ciabatta bread I had from Lasagna night as well, put some diced garlic on top of the sausage, drizzled some olive oil over the top, and topped with White Cheddar Cheese. I placed the Crostini into the Toaster Oven for about 1 minute until the cheese melted and everything was warm (if you don't have a toaster oven, just turn your oven to 350 on Broil and leave them in there for about 1-2 minutes.

After your soup is warm pour it into a bowl and top with some fresh chives as a garnish and to add some flavor. That's it! The whole meal took maybe 10 minutes from start to finish. It was delicious and got rid of all the tupperware in my fridge.  Enjoy!

Irish Car Bomb Brownies

Yep, you read the title right. Irish Car Bomb Brownies.

For those of you who don't know an Irish Car Bomb, it's a drink in which you drop a shot of Bailey's (or other Irish cream) into a glass of Guinness (Irish Beer). Once dropped in, the drink must be consumed quickly because it curdles. It's a drinking contest that's very similar to a sake bomb, where you drop a shot of sake into a glass of Sapporo (japanese beer)

Now, before all you none Beer Drinkers go ahead and click off the page, hear me out. I am not a big beer drinker either. Especially such a robust tasting beer like Guinness. BUT when mixed with Chocolate and made into a brownie, it is DELICIOUS!

Ok so here is how to make the Guinness Brownies (I basically took a basic brownie recipe and modified it)

First, preheat your oven to 350 F.

Guinness Brownies
- 1 14.9 oz Guinness Draught (reduced into 1 cup of liquid)
- 1.5 cups of of dark chocolate chips (60% cacao or higher, your preference)
- 1/4 cup of butter
- 1.5 cups of white sugar
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Espresso Powder (your choice)
- 1/2 a bar of Special Dark Hershey Bar (minced into small chucks)


Pour your Guinness into a sauce pan and turn on medium high heat and reduce your beer to about 1 cup. Make sure you wisk it while it boils and skim off any excess foam that the Beer produces while boiling. Once it's done, take it off the burner and set to the side.

While the beer is reducing, take your chocolate chips and place them in a food processor and give them a few pulses. This makes the melting process happen a lot quicker. Take your ground chocolate chips and butter and melt them in a sauce pan. After they are melted into a sauce, mix in your Guinness, sugar, and salt together into your chocolate mixture. Leave on the stove on low heat while you mix your dry ingredients.

Take a bowl and wisk your Flour, Cocoa powder, Esperesso powder all together and then add your warm chocolate mixture. Once mixed, take an 8x8 pan and line the bottom with parchment paper and spray a light coating of oil on the parchment paper and sides of the pan. Pour your brownie mix into the pan and top with minced Hershey Bar pieces. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check with a toothpick. if the toothpicks comes out clean, they're done!

While your Brownies are baking, it's time to make your Bailey's Whipped Cream.

Bailey's Whipped Cream
- 1 pint of Heavy Whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup of Powder Sugar
- 1/4 cup of Bailey's Irish Cream

In a mixing bowl, pour a pint of Heavy Whipping cream and beat with a hand mixer until the cream thickens and makes peaks. Then add your powder sugar and mix until the whipped cream becomes even thicker. The add mix your Vanilla Extract and Baileys together and TA-DA!Bailey's Whipped Cream. This is a desert in itself, so you could totally make more and keep in your fridge for a couple of days and put in on your cup of coffee, you could put it on ice cream sundae, the possibilities are endless.

Once your brownies are down baking, let them cool for about 10-15 minutes. Once cooled, cut your brownies into squares. The brownie will be a little bit more on the savory side because of the Guinness. So I decided to add dust some Powder sugar over the top of the brownie and then add a dollop (or 2) of your Bailey's whipped cream on top and you are ready to dig in!

Enjoy!

Lavender Lemonade Shortbread Cookies

Hey everyone!

This week's recipe is something some people might find strange (because they may have never eaten this ingredient), but they're are really good. Lavender Lemonade Shortbread Cookies!

Most people know what Lavender smells like. It has a very unique floral scent. But also Lavender has a really unique taste. It has a very bitter minty taste. But if you mix dried Lavender buds into certain things, it can taste VERY good. You can buy it online or if you live in the modesto area like me, there are 2 local farms (Pageo Lavender Farm in Turlock and Lavender Hollow is Escalon) that sell dried lavender.  So that's what we are going to do for today's recipe! So here is what you''ll need:

- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons of dried Lavender buds (may not seem like a lot, but a little goes a LONG way)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 Tablespoon) You can always add more if you want a more lemon-y flavor
- 1/2 Tablespoon of Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup (2 sticks) of COLD butter
- 2 1/4 cups of All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of Salt

First thing first, take your flour and your dried Lavender and put it into a food processor. Blend them together until most of the lavender is mixed and pulverized into the flour. The flour takes on a slight, very very light purple color (by the way, it was also smell AMAZING).

From there, you mix the Lavender flour with the sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. From there you can start adding your wet ingredients (hold off on the butter for now). After you've added your extract, juice, and zest you can add your butter. I found it easier to chop up the butter into very small cubes. That way it blends into the dough better and faster without melting.

After everything is mixed together, place the dough into the fridge for about 30 min- 1 hour.

When the dough has finished chilling, preheat your oven to 375.

Now it's time to bake! Take a spoon and scoop a good sized portion of the dough onto the spoon. Then take the dough and roll into into a ball. Take each ball of dough and roll it in a small bowl of white sugar until the entire dough ball is covered with sugar. Place each cookie on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper that has been lightly greased.

Bake for 13- 15 minutes or until the cookies tops and bottom edges turn golden brown. Let them cool for about 10 minutes and dig in! Pour yourself a nice glass of Lemonade and enjoy your treat!

By the way, these cookies taste really good frozen. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies so if you have leftovers, stick them in the freezer and take them out as needed :)

Enjoy!!

Meatloaf and Potato and Parsnip Mash with Sauteed Garlic Spinach

Hey there!

This is Scot. I have always liked to cook/bake, but until recently I haven't really had the time or space to start experimenting making dishes. Ok so for those of you that know me, I recently moved out and I now have my own kitchen and place to cook and I also get to go to the store and buy everything myself with my own money (the less fun part of being an adult). Anyways, I decided to make a blog and start chronicling my food-ventures to share with you all who like to cook and try new stuff. My goal is to post at least 1 recipe every Friday (maybe more if I'm feeling ambitious.) So here we go here is my 1st post!

So here is my 1st meal: Meatloaf with Sweet and Spicy Glaze, Red Potato and Parsnip Mash, and Sauteed Garlic Spinach!


So started 1st with the Meatloaf (since that took the longest).

1st off preheat the oven to 375 then start making your meatloaf! Here's the recipe:

- 1- 1 1/4 LB of Ground Beef
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic
- 1 packet of Dried Onion Soup/Dip mix
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of Panko Bread Crumbs
- 1 tablespoon of Garlic Sauce
- 1/4 cup of Sweet and Spicy Glaze (recipe coming up below!)

Put everything into a mixing bowl. I personally put on some rubber gloves and mixed everything together with my hands. That way everything really gets all mixed together. Once it all got mixed together, I made it into a nice little loaf and put it in a glass baking pan that I lined with a little Olive Oil  (so it didn't stick).

After I put the loaf in the pan I put the glaze on top. Here's the recipe for the glaze:

-1 1/4 cups of Ketchup
-3/4 cup of Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 clove fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1 Tablespoon of Chipotle Tabasco

I put covered the glaze over the top of the meatloaf. I had a lot extra ao I put it to the side so people could add more to their meatloaf when it was done cooking. After I put the glaze on I then put it into the oven. I personally like my meatloaf a lil crispy on the edges so I kept it in the oven for about 45 mins or until the outside is a dark brown. But always check the center of the meatloaf to make sure it's fully cooked. It should read 155 if you use a cooking probe.

While the meatloaf cooked I made the Red Potato and Parsnip Mash. Here's how I made it:

-1 bag of Red Potatoes(about 1 pound of potatoes)
- 1 Parsnip (Peeled)
- 1 Leek
- 2 gloves fresh garlic
- 2 Tablespoons of  Salted Butter
- 1 1/2 cups of Half and Half (feel free to use Milk as a healthier option)
- 1/2 cup of Shredded Sharp White Irish Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 Tablespoon of Pepper
- Salt to taste 

First, I cut the Parsnip into smaller pieces and I halved the Red Potatoes. For those of you that don't know what a Parsnip looks like I took a picture below

If you don't know what a Parsnip is, don't be sacred. It's basically a white carrot that has the qualities of a Radish. It really goes along well with the Red Potatoes.

So I boiled the Potatoes and the Parsnips in a large pot of water on high for about 20-30 min. While that boiled, I took the Leek and cut it into smaller pieces.  I put all the pieces into a food processor along with the 2 cloves of fresh garlic with a lil drizzle of Olive Oil and blended it all together it was almost like a paste.

I then drained the potatoes and parsnips into a strainer. While I waited for the water to drain, I added the blended Leek and Garlic into the hot pot with a cube of butter and sauteed the mixture with a pinch of salt.  Once all the water had drained and they cooled a little bit I put the Potaoes and Parsnip pieces back into the same pot. I took a hand masher and mashed everything together. I personally like the skins on the Red Potatoes so I kept them on when I mashed them. Once all the big chunks were gone, I added the half and half, cheese, butter, pepper and salt and mixed it all together with a hand mixer until it was smooth. I turned the burner to low and covered it to keep it warm while the meatloaf finished baking.

After I made the Mash was done and the meatloaf had about 5 minutes left I made the final dish. The Sauteed Garlic Spinach. This is SUPER easy:

-1 lb of Baby Spinach
- Splash of Olive Oil
- 1 clove fresh Garlic
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Throw all those ingredients into a pan or wok and saute them on medium heatuntil the spinach starts to welt and become soft. Should only take about 4 minutes.

Once the meatloaf was done I let it sit for about 5-7 minutes. I then added a little more glaze to the top before I sliced it.

And that's it! Place the bowl of glaze next to the meatloaf for your guests/family to put on their meatloaf and dish up! Serves 4-5 people :)

Enjoy!