Cooking party

Yesterday was a fun day full of cooking many things. To start off everything I went over to the supermarket with Wendie and we picked up a few things to make the day in the kitchen a little bit more interesting.

First off we grabbed a whole bunch of onions so that we could begin a French onion soup. I haven't made French onion soup since my days back in culinary school. I remember being told to cut up the onions and to cook them until caramelized without burning them. Then we put the soup into a bowl, crowned with the crouton with Gruyere cheese and proceeded to eat it. I don't really remember it being anything spectacular or unique. It was a sweet oniony soup and the crouton was tasty and crunchy. Nothing to write home about though.

Fast forward to yesterday and I started cutting up the onions. After peeling two of the six onions I had tears running down my face. After chopping them up I had to take a break outside of the kitchen in order to allow my eyes a chance to catch back up and clear. Onions chopped and into the pot, I turned the burner to medium high. I found that you have to keep it higher than I originally thought because there is a ton of moisture that has to burn off. After about an hour the onions finally got color. Then we added the wine, chicken stock and beef stock and a little bit of Italian seasoning (I know, supposed to use thyme but I had none) and took a sip. Heavenly! I couldn't believe how tasty and simple it was.

I topped it with some fresh homemade bread that I toasted with some Pecorino Romano and had a bowl. It was fantastic! The onions were sweet, the broth was rich and the crouton soaked up the broth to become soft and luscious. I could make this more often for sure. In fact I think that I will.

While making up the French onion soup I made Wendie a delicious lentil and sausage soup that she enjoyed one day after surgery and asked me to make again. I made it up and it was really quite delicious as well, though she thought it was too smooth and so next time we will work on making it a little bit more chunky. It is a blended soup, which sounds wierd when you consider that there is sausage in it, but trust me when I say that it is excellent and flavorful.

We also made a turkey on the barbeque and brussel sprouts for dinner, which in the end, we didn't eat because we went to bed quickly after it came out. In all, we had a delicious day full of cooking and food.

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Fish dinner tonight

Molasses spice cookies

Well we made up my favorite Molasses Spice cookies and they are delicious.

2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

-------------------

12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup light or dark molasses

Start an oven at 375 degrees with a rack in the middle. Get two baking sheets and line with parchment paper (or spray lightly with a nonstick cooking spray).

Put all of the flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a bowl and whisk together.

In a mixing bowl combine softened butter and both the sugar and brown sugar and cream together until they turn light and creamy in color, about two or three minutes on medium. Then add the egg yolk and vanilla and combine for about 30 seconds. Then add the molasses and combine for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl to make sure it is all incorporated and then add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, scrape to make sure there is no flour remaining on the bottom or sides and mix about 20 seconds more.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon get a heaping tablespoon of dough and place in the palm of your hand to roll into a 1 1/2 inch ball and place on the baking sheet. You will place the balls about two inches apart and I typically get about 12 per sheet. Bake one sheet at a time.

To bake, place in the middle rack and cook for a total of 11 minutes per tray, rotating halfway through cooking (so 5-6 minutes per side) so that the back is in the front for even cooking. The cookies will look undercooked and that is just fine, don't overcook them! They are done when the cookies are cracked on the tops and the sides have just set. Take the tray out to start the next tray and leave the cookies on the hot tray for another five or ten minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies are soft, chewy and spicy! I love them and think you will as well.

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