Bumps in the road

Well this week was an interesting one for sure. Had a big meal planned for this weekend, and all my plans fell through once I got a surprising letter from the IRS. So, budgets got cut, and among the fluff is this weekly blog post, so I had to scale down on the recipes a bit. Doesn't mean they're not just as good, but not exactly what I had planned :) First I made french onion soup, my onions were starting to look a bit sad, so I thought I'd use them up quick as I could. It's a really cheap meal and not that difficult to make, it just takes time, so make sure you set aside a whole afternoon to get it. It really needs the time to get all the flavors working properly. The second dish I made was my grilled chicken with tomato and cucumber salad. It's so fresh, and perfect for this time of year. If you don't have a grill, consider getting a grill pan for your stove, they're rather inexpensive and they are quite wonderful :) Alright, on with the recipes!

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 medium onions, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (I used about 2 teaspoons dried)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of red wine
• 3 heaping tablespoons of flour
• 2 quarts of beef broth (you can substitute beef boullion, it won't have as great of a taste, but it'll do in a pinch)
• 1 baguette, sliced (I cheated. Used sandwich bread, pre toasted. But that's what happens when money is short)
• 1/2 pound of sliced cheese (you can use whatever you prefer, gruyere is recommended, but as it's expensive, most white cheeses will work fairly well. I used colby jack.)

Directions

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 40 minutes, checking occasionally. They should get a nice bit of a golden color. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 50 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Lay a slice of gruyere on top of the slices and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the cheese croutons on top.

Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese. 

Grilled Chicken with Cucumber and Tomato salad

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• oil as needed
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/2 small cucumber, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons finely diced onion
• 2 tablespoons finely diced cilantro (My stores haven't had cilantro recently, I substituted this cilantro spray I found. It isn't nearly as good as fresh, but it adds the flavor)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat grill over medium heat, flame, or coals. While grill heats, toss together the tomato, cucumber, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Refrigerate while you cook the chicken. Brush chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until no longer pink, about 7-8 minutes per side. Drain salsa if needed and serve over chicken. I made rice to go along with it, cause it's what we had, but it tasted really well together :) 

Enjoy!