I don’t know how you feel about French onion soup.

Honestly, sometimes I don’t know how *I* feel about French onion soup. It can be delicious. Warming, rich, sweet and savory all at once. Sometimes it’s hugely disappointing. Flat, overly sweet, only passable because of the cheesy bread on top.

Generally speaking, the ingredients are pretty cheap. Onions, stock made from leftover bones. A few herbs or spices. So maybe it’s a lack of love, or an over-reliance on bad ingredients that has made so many French onion soups lackluster.

It’s easy to understand why you wouldn’t bother making it at home. It takes an age to caramelize onions, and there’s no point in making it with beef stock if it’s not real stock. (No cubes… seriously.)

But I’m going to turn it all upside down. I offer you my totally-not-traditional French onion soup made with chicken (!) stock and roasted (!!) onions. (If you don’t believe me on the chicken stock, what about Serious Eats?)

After comparing the taste of lovingly (read: impatiently) caramelized onions versus casually roasted onions, I can tell you there are differences. But they’re not deal-breakers, especially if you would rather make a soup without staring at onions cooking for an hour. The roasting takes the same amount of time, but it’s hands off. You could even boil a quick chicken stock while you wait.

So while this cold weather hangs around at the party for too long, why not make yourself a steamy pot of cheaty French onion soup, and think about all that effort you didn’t spend on it?

4 portions

French onion soup

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On the Counter

For the soup
• 900 g onion
• 1.5 L (6 cups) chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 tbsp olive oil (separated)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 100mL dry (NOT sweet) vermouth (You can substitute this with 3x as much dry white wine)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the cheese toast
• 1 slice of crusty baguette or sourdough bread per person
• 25g (1 oz) of freshly grated gruyere cheese per person

What to Do

For the soup
• Remove the outer layer of onion skin from each onion, keeping just the inner layer of papery skin. Cut off the pointy top of the onions so that just a small amount of onion is visible. Keep the root side on.
• Place the onions in a baking sheet, cut side up. Drizzle each onion with a total of 1 tbsp olive oil and top with a small knob of butter.
• Roast for an hour at 150C (300F)
• Let the onions cool slightly, then peel and slice them from pole to pole into thin strips.
• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt 1 teaspoon butter over medium heat.
• Fry the onions on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add wine/vermouth. Raise the heat to high, and let it bubble away until almost all the liquid has evaporated. This should take 5 or 10 minutes (depending if you used vermouth or wine), but keep an eye on it.
• Add the chicken stock, thyme, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce. Give it a good stir.
• Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat so that the soup is just simmering. Cook uncovered, until some of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Taste it to be sure it's as flavorful as you want. Stir in a pinch or two of salt if needed.
• PS: Don't forget to fish out the bay leaves.
For the cheesy bread
• If you're using slightly stale bread, don't worry about the next step.
• Lightly toast the bread slices under the grill (broiler). Turn once to ensure both sides are just crisp.
• Ladle soup into your bowls.
• If you have oven-safe soup bowls or big ramekins, put the bread slices on top and generously sprinkle the cheese on top. Carefully transfer the bowls to a rimmed baking sheet and put it all under the grill.
• Melt the cheese until it's bubbly and lightly golden.
• If you don't have oven safe bowls, sprinkle the cheese on top of your toast slices, and put them back under the grill (broiler) until bubbly and lightly golden. Transfer them on top of the soup bowls.

7.8.1.2

16

https://www.onmykitchencounter.com/2016/03/21/french-onion-soup/

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to the BBC Good Food Eat Well show in London, thanks to LexusUK. It was the first year that BBC has put on an event specifically about healthy eating. It was an interesting day, and better than I expected, though there were even more mushy brown “energy” bars and recipe box delivery services than I could have imagined.

Some of the highlights included trying some amazing hot and cold smoked anchovies from The Fickle Fish, and catching up with Riverford Organics, who I’m already a customer of and pretty much love.

The top moment, though, was getting to spend some time with Gizzi Erskine. If you don’t know her, went from working in a body-piercing shop to becoming a TV chef, and such an interesting person to talk to. For a cooking demonstration, she made a Chicken and Orzo soup that I said I just had to write about on my blog. Obviously it didn’t occur to me to get a photo with her – I think I still need some practice with selfie-ing.

And, with a head cold brewing this week, I could think of nothing more comforting and delicious than a rich, tomatoey chicken soup. Once you start making it, the promise of what’s to come is almost too much to bear. I might be guilty of picking the crispy browned chicken skin off and snacking on it…

I mean look at that browning… how could I resist?

I made a few adjustments to suit my taste and seasonality, like cutting down on the lemon and orzo portions and using canned tomatoes instead of fresh. (There is no way I’m going to find good tomatoes in March.) Check out the original recipe if you want to compare!

Serves: 4 (or 6 if you want smaller portions)

On the Counter

1 liter chicken stock
1 liter filtered water
150g (5.25 oz) orzo pasta (or white rice for a gluten free option)
1 medium free range chicken, cut into 8/10 pieces, or 8 thighs and drumsticks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 400ml (14.5 oz) can of tomatoes, pureed
2 tbsp olive oil
A few sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
Pinch of dried red pepper flakes
2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves or regular spinach, chopped
Small bunch of flat leaf parsley, desemmed and chopped
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt
Black pepper

What to Do

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat until it’s shimmering.

While the oil’s heating, season the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and black pepper.

Fry the chicken, skin-side down to start, in batches until browned on both sides, about 4-5 minutes each side until the skin is brown and toasty. If it’s sticking to the pan, it’s not ready yet.

Take them out of the pan and set the chicken aside.

Lower the heat and add the onion, sauteeing for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until they’re soft. Add in garlic and red pepper flakes and sautee for another minute.

Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, making sure that there are no big chunks. Turn the heat up to medium-high.

Pour in the chicken stock and filtered water and then add the chicken and thyme.

Cook for 25 minutes, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by 1cm.

Remove the chicken. and leave it for a few minutes to cool. Pull the chicken off the bone and shred it. Add the chicken back into the soup, along with orzo. Cook for another 10-11 minutes, stirring frequently so the orzo doesn’t stick.  Add the spinach, and stir it in until it wilts. Add the parsley, lemon juice and zest. Serve!

This also makes great leftovers!

This was the second-to-last meal of an unofficial challenge that I embarked on for two weeks in a rather long term between paychecks. It’s been two years and I still have trouble getting used to monthly (or sometimes once every 5 weeks) money.

The challenge I set myself was to go without shopping at the supermarket or going to a restaurant, but rather make all my meals from food I already had at home. (I did take some liberties on the weekends, when the gentleman was kind enough to shop for us both.)

While it was really nice to save the money those two weeks, I wouldn’t say that I did it t prove a point, except to myself about the amount of food that goes forgotten in my kitchen.

This was a pretty great use of things that I’d had hanging around my kitchen and uses a lot of staples. You could go without the red pepper (though I quite liked it) and possibly without the cream cheese, if you were feeling really desperate. It was a filling, really flavorful stew. Plus, it freezes well!

I made it healthier by ditching the cream, lowering the dairy and using processed corn kernels and a bit of flour to thicken it.

Serves: 4

On The Counter

1.5 cups whole corn kernels
1.5 cups corn kernels, run through a food processor
1 shallot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
1.5 cups milk
3 tbsp cream cheese
3 cups warm vegetable stock/bouillon in boiling water
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil or butter
salt to taste

What to Do

In a large soup pot on low heat, saute the garlic and shallot in butter/oil, until shallots are soft. Add in bell pepper and cook for another 5 minutes, or until pepper is no longer crunchy. Sprinkle on 1/2 tsp salt and stir.

Add in flour, and mix until it starts to look like pastry dough. Whisk in vegetable stock and milk, until combined. Sprinkle parsley and cilantro.

In small spoonfuls, add in cream cheese and whisk to combine. Add in pureed and whole corn and cayenne pepper, if using. Add salt to taste. Heat for another 10 minutes, until heated through.

Serve!

I don’t normally have anything with this, as it’s rich and filling on its own, but if you really want a side, a  bit of crusty whole wheat baguette would probably do it justice.

Last week, I shared my recipe for chicken soup, my first choice for sick days. But, as these things go, I soon shared the love with my gentleman. A combination of guilt and a desire for more broth in my life led to this vegan-friendly soup.

According to the many articles I’ve read about this, while there’s no direct veggie response to the mysterious powers of chicken soup, miso is a healthy powerhouse and a flavorful alternative.

I think this would be pretty delicious as a more Asian-inspired soup with some different ingredients, but I wanted something that worked like chicken soup without the chicken. It certainly wouldn’t fool anyone in a taste test, but it’s delicious on its own, if I do say so myself!

The gentleman ended up getting over his cold quicker than I did – so maybe there is more to say about the healing power of miso.

Notes on miso: If you’re intent on a vegan/vegetarian soup, make sure to avoid anything with “dashi” in it, or anything with niboshi or bonito, as they’re both fish products. Also, for those on a gluten-free diet, unless you’re sure you have a soybean or rice-only miso, I would avoid it.

Serves: 4

On The Counter

6 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium-sized parsnip, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 teaspoons ginger, about 1 thumb, chopped finely or grated
2 scallions/green onions, sliced
5 tbsp (74 mL) yellow miso paste

What to Do

In soup pot, heat olive oil until shimmering. Sautee ginger, onion and garlic over low heat until onion is transparent. 

Bring vegetables and water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. 

In a small separate bowl, combine miso paste with 1/2 cup (120 mL) of broth. Swirl together with chopsticks or equivalent until combined. 

Mix miso liquid with soup and ladle into bowls. Garnish with green onions and serve! 

While not very traditional, I picked up a loaf of jalapeno bread as a side for this.

Lately in my office, everyone has been sick. Some, more than once. I’m not sure exactly why these germs keep floating around, but I know we aren’t the only ones suffering.

Growing up in the States, chicken noodle soup was always the first thing my mom gave me when I came down with a cold. Now that I live in the UK, I have found myself surprised at how hard it can be to find chicken noodle soup in restaurants and even supermarkets. And while I am quite rarely craving soup from a can, when you can barely function well enough to get home, it can be a real lifesaver.

While this soup isn’t going to replace the convenience of a canned soup, it is pretty delicious and warming. It’s also a very nice peace offering if you happen to pass someone else your germs. In my case, I had to make myself the chicken noodle soup and then pull together a vegetable miso soup for the meat-free gentleman, but that is another blog post.

One of my favorite things about this soup is that it doesn’t take hours to make, and it doesn’t require all that much effort for the flavor you get. Cooking the veggies in broth will help rejuvenate a store-bought broth.

Serves: 4-6

On the Counter

1 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast (not breast pieces), or 3 pieces of chicken thigh
1.5 quarts chicken stock (homemade or store-bought)
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, cut into half
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 large parsnip
2 sprigs parsley, plus 2 tbsp chopped
1/4 pound tagliatelle or egg noodles, broken in half (remove for gluten-free)
1 sprig fresh dill, chopped (optional)

What to Do

Roughly chop half of each vegetable (except the garlic), and neatly dice the other half. Reserve the neatly diced vegetables.

In a large soup pot, combine the chicken stock and chicken. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that rises to the top, then lower to a simmer. Skim any remaining foam, then add roughly-chopped onion, carrot, celery, parsnip and garlic. 

Simmer for 30 minutes.

Then, remove the chicken and place it on a plate to cool. Strain the broth to remove the vegetables, and discard them. They have done their part. 

Return the broth to the heat, salt to taste. Add the remaining neatly-diced vegetables, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. 

Meanwhile, start the noodles in a pot of salted boiling water, and cook until tender, just past al dente. 

Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, separate it from the skin and bones, and shred it to bite-sized pieces. Place in a small bowl with some broth to keep it from drying out. 

After the vegetables soften, add the cooked noodles and chicken. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the fresh chopped parsley and dill if using. 

I prefer serving this with a warm, crusty piece of bread topped with butter and herbs, when not too sick to enjoy such things. Dessert: A mug of ginger, honey and lemon tea.

Apologies for the iPhone photos – it’s hard to convince yourself to take proper pictures when you’re not feeling well!