Rustic Lyonnais Onion & Lardons Layered Soup

This charming baked soup evokes a rustic French kitchen with its slow caramelized onions, and the kind of earthy, unapologetic rich aromas perfuming the hearthside. It feels “authentic,” a culinary story, a lineage.

Number of portions, 7 servings

Serving size ~350 g

Calories per serving ~445 kcal

Speed: Slow

Experienced cook (active time) 50–55 min

Novice cook (active time) 60–75 min

Total elapsed time 2–2.5 hours

4 oz fatty bacon cut into lardons

6 small onions (2lbs), thin sliced

1 to 2 sprigs thyme, minced

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

⅓ cup white wine

3½ cups rich beef broth

8oz very thin slices of day-old/stale bread

7 to 8oz Parmesan cheese, sliced thin

¼ + cup cream 

CROUTONS

2 slices of crusty bread (about 1 cup)

2 Tbsps butter

1. Render the fat from the lardons in a saucepan over medium heat until they are evenly golden. 
2. Remove the rendered lardons and set aside.
3. Drain all but 2 Tbsps. of the fat. 
4. Slowly cook the onion in the fat, until it turns a deep brown and is falling apart - all the sweetness of the onion will come out at this point. If using a cast iron or stainless steel pan (recommended), a 'fond' will start to develop as the sugars in the onion begin to caramelize and stick to the pan. Don't avoid this stage, but enter it joyfully - this is where your flavour will come from.
5. Add the thyme, mixing it in.
6. Season with the salt and pepper
7. Stir in the wine and cook down for a few minutes.
8. Add the broth. Scrape up all that wonderful fond and continue simmering for about 30 minutes.
9. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
10. In an oven-ready pot or earthenware casserole dish, make consecutive layers of: 
• thinly sliced bread
• thinly sliced Parmesan
• 1 Tbsp of cream
• some of the bacon
• and repeat, continuing with another bread layer, until the casserole is half full.
11. Last but not least, pour the onions and their stock over all this. 
12. Bake in the oven, covered, for 1 hour.

CROUTONS

1. Cube the bread to make croutons.
2. Over medium heat melt the 2 Tbsps. of butter in a small pan (level of butter should be 1/4 inch) and allow it to heat up completely so that when a cube of bread is put in, it will quietly sizzle.
3. Add the bread cubes and fry, stirring constantly so they brown evenly, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes. 
4. Burns easily!
5. With a slotted spoon remove the croutons. You can use any leftover fat as the base of your next cooking project.
6. When the casserole is baked, remove the dish from the oven, sprinkle the croutons on top and return to the oven to broil until the top is gently bubbling and the croutons nestled in.

Leftover Pasta Casserole

Whenever I can, since this recipe has come into my life, I try to make too much pasta when cooking other recipes. So far, no matter what I make, the Herbes de Provence just elevate the whole thing. Such a creamy, unctuous, delicious concoction that helps reduce waste. I keep a container in my freezer I add little bits of leftover pasta and blam! When I have 32oz, into the oven it goes to make this little wonder. There may be combinations of pasta recipes that won't work together, but I haven't found it yet. If the leftover pasta is overly milk, like a Pasta con Aglio et Olio, you can add a TBSP or 2 of marinara sauce or of pesto and that should do the trick.

Number of portions: 6 servings
Serving size: ~310 g
Calories per serving: ~490 kcal
Speed: Everyday Dish
Experienced cook (active time): 25–30 min
Novice cook (active time): 35–45 min
Total elapsed time: 55–65 min
LHSS Score: 3.7 / 10

32oz/900g leftover pasta (if using dry pasta, dry-to-cooked is roughly 1:2) 

1/4 cup (2oz/58gr) butter

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup (30g) flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided (80+80)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided (20+20g)

1 tsp herbs de Provence

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp Salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

(if using plain pasta, add 2 Tbsps. to 1/4 cup tomato sauce or something else)

Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a gratin dish.
2. Cook the pasta; drain and set aside. If you have leftover pasta to use, see NOTE
3. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the flour until smooth.
4. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth and milk, stirring until smooth. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened. Reduce heat and add half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Season with herbs de Provence, nutmeg, salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Combine the sauce with the cooked linguine and toss to coat well. Transfer the pasta to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with fresh parsley for garnish.
7. Serve with a green salad.

NOTE: If you have leftover pasta, weigh it to subtract that amount from the dry pasta you'll cook to make up the difference, if needed. 1lb dry pasta = 455g, while 114g pasta = 4oz. Once cooked, this amount of pasta turns into 910g (2lbs), 228g (8oz).

Table d'hôte #3

I found this by accident, with no idea I had ever saved it. I made this when Ben and I were first together, living in the West End, and I'd invited Barry over for dinner. The star of the meal was the Rotoli. The original recipe link I had saved was on a laptop that had been stolen when our apartment was robbed, and some 16 years later I am almost positive I managed to find the same recipe I'd used, after years of wondering and intermittent searching.

Starter - Cream of Cilantro Soup

Main - Chicken Parmesan

Side - Rotoli-di-pasta

Dessert - Berry Fool (look at Experimental)

Thumbprint Cookies

Cookies like these feel like the kindness and indulgence of my grandmother. I can't remember if she ever made cookies like these, but the story is more powerful than the reality. Browning the bottom of the cookie is really important to the flavor, otherwise the cookie just tastes like dough - in writing this, I realize that this is perhaps attractive to some people, but I prefer that toasted, browned butter flavor that seems to accentuate the buttery-ness of the cookie.

Makes about 20 x 1oz balls

¾ cup (6oz/169gr) butter, softened

½ cup (4oz/115g)white sugar

2 egg yolks

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

approximately ½ cup fruit preserves, any flavor, and/or soft caramel

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. 
2. Wrap and put in the refrigerator and rest for one hour or up to 72 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets (do not use parchment paper which prevents, in my oven at least, for browning on the bottom). Use your thumb or an instrument of similar size to press down in the middle of the ball of dough to make a well in the center of each cookie. I use the teaspoon measuring spoon to make the indentations. Fill the hole with 1 teaspoon of preserves.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Aloo Sabzi (Potato curry)

I've started draining the oil that separates on my natural peanut butter to use in recipes. The taste is a bit pronounced, but in this recipe it just becomes part of the rich and layered flavouring.

6 servings

160 calories per serving

Quick

Experienced cook: ~30 minutes

Novice cook: ~45–50 minutes

3 Tbsp. peanut oil (or any cooking oil)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 pinch asaphoetida

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger root, grated

1 onion (6oz/170gr) sliced

3 potatoes (24oz), cubed (peeled or unpeeled)

½ tsp turmeric powder

¾ tsp red curry powder (Kashmiri blend is good)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder 

1 tsp garam masala

1 + ½ tsp Salt 

¼ cup cilantro, chopped 

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom wide shallow pan, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
2. Once the seeds pop, add the asaphoetida, ginger, garlic and onions along with 1 tsp salt.
3. Sauté on medium heat until the onions start to soften.
4. Add the potatoes to the pan and cook until fork tender. Add a few Tbsps. of water when it starts to stick.
5. Add all dry spices and salt and gently toss until all the potatoes are evenly coated with the spices. 
6. Cook for 2-4 minutes more, covered, to allow the spices to flavor the potato.
7. Serve immediate with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top.

Table d'hôte #2

I have made this combination many, many times. Generally all the savory dishes are served buffet style for diners to combine into burritos, but each element can also stand on its own, with the ensalada as the starter, the refried beans as the main, and the rice an tortilla shells as the sides.

Starter - Ensalada de col

Main - Refried Beans

Side - Red Rice and Flour Tortillas

Dessert - Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Tart

Poudre Douce Spice Mix

Poudre Douce is a spice mix used in Medieval and Renaissance cookery and is a blend that varies from cook to cook. This is my version. It's used in apple desserts to very good effect.

3 Tbsps. ginger

2 Tbsps. sugar

1 1/2 Tbsps. cinnamon

1 tsp clove

1 tsp nutmeg

1. Mix together and keep in a jar.