Wednesday

Cajun Skillet Beans

This recipe is from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook - page 167

1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 celery stalks (1 cup chopped)
2 red bell peppers
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of salt
14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 15-15 oz cans of black beans (recipe calls for black eyed peas)

Chopped scallions
Grated cheddar cheese

In a large (wide) saucepan (that has a cover), sauté the onions and garlic in the oil on medium heat.
Chop the celery and bell peppers, and add them to the pan.
Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the thyme, basil, oregano, salt, black pepper, and cayenne.
Cover and And cook for 5 minutes, until the onions are golden, stirring once or twice.
Add the tomatoes, honey, and mustard and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
Add the beans, cover, and stir occasionally until thoroughly heated (about 10 minutes for canned beans.

Serve with scallions and cheese on top.
Be sure to warn folks it's hot (temperature), those tomatoes really hold the heat!

8 oz serving: 200 calories, 10.2 g protein, 4.5 g fat, 31.7 g carbohydrate, 143 mg sodium, 0 cholesterol







Monday

Gruyere and Carmelized Shallot Fondue

A great fondue recipe with the addition of carmelized shallots. A great way to ring in the new year!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cups thinly sliced shallots (about 6 ounces)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups (or more) dry white wine
14 ounces grated Gruy(re cheese (about 3 1/2 cups packed)
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
1 sourdough baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes - or any other dipping treats like apples, broccoli

Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add thinly sliced shallots and sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low; sprinkle shallots with sugar, salt and pepper. Sauté until shallots are caramelized, about 15 minutes. Transfer shallots to small bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups wine to skillet; boil 1 minute.

Pour wine into heavy medium saucepan; set over medium-low heat. Toss cheese with flour in medium bowl to coat. Add half of caramelized shallots to wine; add cheese mixture by handfuls, stirring until cheese melts and is smooth before adding more. Thin with more wine if mixture is too thick. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Transfer cheese mixture to fondue pot. Set pot over candle or canned heat burner. Top fondue with remaining caramelized shallots. Serve with bread cubes.

From Epicurious.com

Sunday

French Onion Soup

This recipe for French onion soup is from Cook's Illustrated and is one of Seth's favorites.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Table salt
2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper
1small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
8ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

INSTRUCTIONS
For the soup:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.
Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume).

Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)

Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons: While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400-degree oven until bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To serve: Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.