French Onion Soup

The Date: 13 December 2011

The Occasion: A leftover recipe from Soup Week. I love French Onion Soup. Always order it at restaurants. I thought it'd be neat to have a version I could make at home. I tried this cheater version (cheating because it uses condensed French Onion Soup) and loved the result.

The Recipe: From Taste of Home's 2011 Annual Recipes cookbook.

How it Went:
Pete thought it was good enough to make for an appetizer for guests! I thought it was easy and tasted as good as any diner's version.

What You Need:
onions
butter
sugar
flour
beef broth
condensed French Onion Soup
croutons
swiss cheese

Your Turn:
Slice up 5-6 medium yellow onions. I guess you could use fewer of a larger variety of onion. The recipe did not specify type.


Melt 3-4 T of butter in the bottom of a soup pot. Saute onions until tender.

When tender, add 1/4 C sugar.

Stir and let caramelize just a bit. 

When lightly browned, add 2 T flour and mix well. 

Now add 

• 2 cans (or 29 oz) beef broth
• 2 C water
• 2 cans condensed French Onion Soup

Bring to a boil, then let simmer about 10 minutes. 

Add 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese.  

Add croutons and a slice of swiss cheese to each bowlful.

Yummy!

Caramelized Onion Apple Tarts

The Date: 6 November 2011

The Occasion: MomMom and PopPop's birthday celebration. I volunteered to do appetizers.

The Recipe: From RealSimple's website.

How it Went:
These are simple, yet just barely elegant. Some people seem to be a little put off by the concept of these tarts (apples and onions?), but once they're brave enough to taste one, they're hooked. I find them an easy appetizer that can be made ahead of time and transported fairly easily. If you're making them at home, they're also quite good warm, just out of the oven.

What You Need:
frozen puff pastry
onions
apples
olive oil
salt
pepper
sour cream

Your Turn:
Your puff pastry needs to be thawed. This is easy to overlook and then, when it's time to assemble the tarts to bake them, you'll pull the box out of the freezer only to realize you have to either wait 20 minutes for thawing, or zap the pastries in the microwave, which just seems wrong for something so delicate. So - be sure to pull your puff pastries out of the freezer before you start making your tart toppings. You need both sheets from one package of puff pastry (17.5 oz), found in the freezer section of your grocery store.

Heat about 2 T of olive oil in a medium skillet.

Cook 2 onions, chopped, in the oil about 15 minutes, until soft and golden brown.

Stir in 2 Gala apples, chopped, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook about 2 minutes, just until tender.

Place each sheet of puff pastry on a cookie sheet. Prick all over with a fork.

Spread each pastry with a 1/4 C sour cream (1/2 C sour cream in all), leaving a 1/2 inch border all the way around.

Divide the onion and apple mixture and spread half the mixture on each pastry.

I also made these tarts for Easter last year.

Bake about 30 minutes until pastry is crisp and browned. Cut each pastry into 16 squares.

To travel with this appetizer, let the pastry cool somewhat, then cut it into squares, and layer the squares between parchment paper or waxed paper in a large tupperware or ceramic container. Transfer to a platter when you reach your destination.