French Onion Soup

Bon jour. Je m'appelle French Onion Soup.

Aaaaand that's about the extent of my French.

Looks delicious, n'est-ce pas?

Oui. Tres delicious.

(That means very delicious in French!)

On a serious note, though, there's really nothing that a cup of French Onion can't solve.

And yes, I do realize I've now posted two soup recipes in a row. But if you can't talk about soup during autumn, when the heck are you supposed to do it?

These are individual portions of French Onion soup. I used four individual souffle (more French!) cups, which are oven-safe, because you have to broil the cheese over the top to get a real, French-y Onion-y soup thing going on.

Make sure whatever serving bowls you use are oven-safe. Otherwise, your oven will enjoy the delicious soup you've made, and you will weep tears of regret.

Plus, it will make a giant mess to clean up, and no one wants that.

French Onion Soup

1/2 stick of butter

2 TBSP flour

3 yellow onions, halved and sliced thinly

4 cups beef stock or broth

2 cups chicken stock or broth

1 cup water

Salt to taste

In a large pot, melt butter and heat until foaming. Add sliced onions and cook on medium until onions are browning, about 20-30 minutes. Add the flour, stir onions well to incorporate. Add 1 TBSP of cold water to unstick any onions from the bottom of the pan, then add the stocks and full cup of water. Raise heat and boil for about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to simmer until ready to serve.

To serve: 

Thick slices of baguette bread (small enough to fit inside your serving bowls)

Sliced provolone cheese

French onion soup

Preheat oven broiler to high.

Ladle soup into oven-safe serving bowls. Add one slice of baguette to each bowl and top with one slice of provolone cheese.

Transfer all bowls to one sheet pan, place pan directly under broiler and allow cheese to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Watch it carefully! Remove pan from broiler and plate individual bowls (they will be hotter than sin itself.)Bon appetit!

Bison Chili: because it's fall, ya'll.

Bison Chili

I feel so autumnal lately.

Which is really just me saying, "Thank holy jeebus it's not hot anymore."

Now that it's cooler, we can eat chili.

Chili just screams football season, fall leaves, Halloween.

And over time, I've slowly adjusted my recipe so that this is a really great chili recipe.

If my husband had his way, this chili would have zero beans. But I can't eat Texas chili, unless it's on a hot dog. I definitely don't enjoy meat-only chili in a bowl. So I've compromised with him, and this recipe has an extremely low meat to bean ratio.

(Like 4 to 1, seriously.)

This recipe can be made without the bison meat, no problem. But there's an added dimension that bison brings to the chili, which is really really fantastic.

Happy autumn, everyone. And may I just say, it's about freakin time.

Bison Chilli

This recipe makes a ton of chilli. It freezes well!

12 oz package of ground bison meat

(1) 12 oz. ribeye, cut into 1" cubes and fat trimmed/removed

2 lbs. lean ground beef

1 large can pinto beans, drained

1 can chopped tomatoes with onion

1 small can tomato paste

4-5 cups water

2 boxes of Wicks Fowler 2-alarm chili seasoning mix

Worcestershire sauce

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of salt

Toppings: shredded cheese, Greek yogurt, chopped onions, sliced avocados

In a skillet, brown all the meat in batches, remove meat with slotted spoon and place in a large stock pot. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and all the seasonings from the 2 packages of chili mix except for the masa flour packets and one packet of chili pepper. Add water, stir well to mix the tomato paste and seasonings. Water should cover the meat about an inch from the top of the meat. Heat on medium-high til boiling, reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, mix in masa flour, stir well to incorporate flour. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire, pinchh of sugar and salt (only if necessary). Keep on low heat until ready to serve.



Portobello Mushroom Pita

Portobello Mushroom Pita







Well, hello there, portobello mushroom.

You're looking lovely tonight.

Any plans for tonight? No?

How about you, me, and a little Mediterranean aioli?

I realize I'm getting fresh.

And I can't promise that I'll keep my hands to myself.

I understand you might need to take a few minutes to get ready.

I'll just warm the pita bread while I wait.

Wow! You really know how to accessorize. Is that balsamic?

So chic.

So delicious.

We must do this again, soon.

(Like tomorrow.)

I'm smitten with portobello mushrooms.

Deep, deep smit.

Portobello Mushroom Pita



1 pocketless pita, toasted and warm

1 portobello mushroom cap, scraped out (remove the black gills) and sliced

1 TBSP Mediterranean Aioli (recipe follows)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Olive oil to saute the mushroom 

kosher salt

Red onion rings

Fresh lettuce, shredded or torn

*Optional: feta crumbles, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes

In a large saucepan, heat a good amount (about 1/4 cup) of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the mushroom and add a big pinch of kosher salt. Saute the mushroom, tossing quickly, for 2 minutes. Turn on the hood vent fan. Add the balsamic vinegar (it will fume a bit)and toss the mushroom throughout the balsamic. Remove mushroom to a plate.

Build the pita: Warm pita bread, Mediterranean aioli, mushrooms, toppings. Also, get about five napkins. You'll need them.

Mediterranean Aioli

(makes a lot, so you can keep in the fridge for a few days)

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup light mayo

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 TBSP chopped garlic

1/2 tsp each: cumin, dried oregano, red chili powder

dash of Sriaccha rooster sauce

Salt to taste

Mix it up. Adjust with lemon juice, rooster sauce (if you like it spicy) and salt to taste. Smear on everything, dip asparagus in it, whatever you want. It won't last as long.

Banana & Chocolate Chip Cupcakes...or Muffins?

Banana & Chocolate Chip Cuppins

When is cupcake not a cupcake?

When it's a muffin?

Um, no. Let's go ahead and agree that the only difference between cupcakes and muffins is the icing.

Sure, some say it's "this much flour" to "that much shortening" but, come on. Let's be serious.

A cupcake is a portable cake.

A muffin is a portable cake you eat for breakfast.

You tell me where the distinction lies, eh?

Honestly, I was going to ice these cupcakes. But I got lazy.

And family's been coming into town, so more of these have been eaten without icing than if I had actually had time to make a buttercream.

Ok. So, let's start calling these "cuppins." I toyed with "muffcake," but I think we all see why that name got scrapped. 

Let's try to observe some decency, shall we?

I adapted this recipe from an old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook that used to belong to my grandmother, from 1982. It's full of cheesy, hokey recipes like ambrosia salad, and contains way too many recipes for green goddess dressing. 

But this banana cake recipe looked intriguing, and more importantly, I had all the ingredients on hand. The consistency is fantastic. It looks like banana bread, but has a light, fluffy cakey-ness. 

Hooray Cuppins!

Banana & Chocolate Chip Cuppins

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens NEW Cookbook, 1982

Makes 12 full-sized plus 16 mini-cuppins

2 1/2 cups cake flour (or all-purpose flour)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line muffin pans. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. With a hand mixer on low, mix in bananas and oil. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and mix on medium for two minutes, until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and portion out to muffin pans, filling 2/3 of the way. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a pierced fork comes out clean. Ice or frost after cooling, but then remember, now it's a cupcake.