French Onion Soup

So I had to have a try at French Onion Soup.  It is one of my favorite soups with the crusty bread and melted cheese, yum.  The boys in my house thought it was pretty good (Tristan had 3 bowls), but didn't really think a vegetable soup should be considered a meal.  They are really meat and potatoes guys. 

1/4 c. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cups sliced onions*
4-10.5 oz. cans beef broth
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
6 slices French bread
6 slices provolone cheese
Shredded Swiss cheese

Melt butter with olive oil in a dutch oven or stockpot on medium heat.  Add onions and stir often until tender and translucent (this took approx. 30 minutes).  After onions are done cooking, add broth, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.  Simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

At this point the recipe calls for you to heat your oven boiler.  Ladle soup into 6 oven safe serving bowls and place one slice of bread on top of each bowl (I would suggest toasting the bread or using day old).  On top of bread place a slice of provolone and some shredded Swiss cheese.  Place bowls on cookie sheet and broil until cheese bubbles and browns.

Well, I did not have any fancy soup bowls.  So I just took out a cookie sheet lined with foil and placed my 6 slices of bread on it.  Then I put the cheese on the bread and cooked it in a 450 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes and served it along side of the soup. 

*I used 5 good sized onions.  There is definitely some play room in the amount of broth and onions used.  Onions when cooked shrink considerably.

Blueberry Sauce

So I picked up a big pack of blueberries at Sam's Club.  Got them home and was disappointed at how soft they were.  So much for snacking on them!  The only thing these blueberries will be good for is baking.  So I found this recipe and it is YUMMY!  I was hoping to use it on pancakes or french toast, but since I already had supper made they will become ice cream topping.

1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 c. water
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, gradually add water.  Add blueberries, bring to a boil over medium heat stirring frequently until thickend.  Serve warm over french toast, pancakes, waffles or ice cream.

Farmer's Delight

Thought I would share what we are having for supper tonight.  This is a recipe that my family really likes and it is super simple.  Hope your family will like it too.

7 oz. noodles, cooked

1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 can creamed corn

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

Mix this all together and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Jean's (Cindy's) Super Nacho Dip

I think everyone in the office looks forward to Thursday for "Treat Day", unless maybe it is your "Treat Day".  Today, Cindy, my co-worker brought in fresh out of the oven sticky rolls and this AWESOME Super Nacho Dip.  Although, she realized that this had been handed down from her mother, Jean Trotter.  I think we all enjoyed it, and I heard it was reheated in the afternoon and enjoyed again.  So here it is...

Brown 1 lb. of hamburger, 1 onion (finely chopped) and a 4 oz. can chopped green chiles (we both agreed it could maybe have used more).  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Drain.
In a 9x13 pan, arrange layers: first, a 1 lb. can of refried beans; then the hamburger mixture; next, 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese; next, 2 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese.  Pour over all 8 oz. mild taco sauce.  Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  Serve warm with chips, sliced black olives and sour cream on the side.

No wonder it was so good, there is ONLY 4 c. of cheese on top!!! 

Baked Potato Skins

Well, I was all excited about the supper I was going to make tonight.  We were going to have our New Year's meal.  I had picked up a chunk of prime rib and was going to have baked potato skins with it instead of the traditional baked potatoes.  I mistakingly took the prime rib out of the oven too early.  It is now back in the oven.  So we had an appetizer of baked potato skins instead of a side dish.  Here is our favorite recipe for baked potato skins.  Decided to blog it while waiting on the main course

Bake as many potatoes as you want to use.  Let cool and half or quarter.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Scoop out the pulp, leaving ¼ inch of potato on the skin.  Brush both sides with melted butter and season with salt and pepper.  Place on pan skin side up and bake for 15 minutes.  Flip over and put cheese and bacon on and cook for 5 minutes more.  Serve with sour cream.

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!