Christmas

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Filled Bellies and Happy Souls

Well, my boys came and went safely, and my worrying is on the shelf for a while.
The dinner was yummy (if I do say so myself, but I had some help from my patient husband.)
The onion soup is quite easy, and I’ve broken it down into steps.

First, peel and slice four yellow onions. If you have a slicing blade in a food processor, it goes quickly. Just a hint: burn a candle while you’re working with onions and your eyes won’t tear.

Once the onions are sliced, melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large pan, and ‘sweat’ the onions until they’re translucent, soft, and golden.
(You can do this in some slow cookers, but we like to use liners in ours to cut down on the mess, and the caramelizing doesn’t work.)


While the onions are cooking, add a teaspoon of diced garlic, a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, and a half-teaspoon of pepper.


Pour the onions into the crockpot, and add 2 containers of beef broth. (I like my own, but I have to make some more – a separate event!) Add a half-cup of red wine and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.




Let it simmer for six hours on low or four on high.


In the end, spoon the soup into crocks. Cut a French baguette into ¾ inch slices, pile them with grated gruyere or Swiss cheese, and heat the slices in the oven. Place them on the top of the soup and serve.




We had steak, homemade ranch potatoes, and a salad with the soup.

For dessert I made a quick and easy one:

Mix 1 ½ cups of flour with ¾ cup butter and ¾ cup chopped pecans. (You can add ¾ cup sugar, but I think the other ingredients sweeten it.) Press into a 13x9 inch baking dish. It’s okay if it’s lumpy.










Bake at 350° for 15 minutes and cool completely in the fridge.

Mix 8 oz. cream cheese with 8 oz. Cool Whip. Spread the smooth mixture over the cooled crust.

Spread a layer of chocolate pudding on top. I didn’t feel like making my own, so I used a tub of Kozy Shack© chocolate. The amount here doesn’t matter.

Then spread more Cool Whip on top. I usually sprinkle with a mixture of chocolate shavings and ground pecans, but I opted for rainbow jimmies instead.



Everything was delish – and I sent home plastic containers of leftovers with the boys.

Peace,
Muff


4 comments:

  1. Everything looks and sounds so delish!! I love French onion soup and I never make it!! I am curious about the potatoes, maybe you could share that recipe or share a link from Pinterest, if it came from there. Potatoes are my weakness!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll write about the potatoes in my post. Easy, peasy!!

      Delete
  2. And I love that you shared stap by step pictures!! It's not easy but so fun for the reader!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My problem is that I get involved and forget to take pictures sometimes.

      Delete