Dorie's Cheese Topped Onion Soup alla Kathleen

Dorie’s Cheese Topped Onion Soup

The biggest requirement to cooking this dish, according to Dorie, is patience in cooking the onions.  Well, I was patient, very patient, as I stood over my porcelain coated cast iron dutch oven, trying to mentally (sometimes verbally) coax the Vidalia onions (my onion of choice in cooking)  to caramelize.  Well, after 90 minutes of hoping and stirring, even brazenly raising the heat to risk a burn, they remained their pale selves so I got them drunk with wine, then flooded them with the chicken broth before pouring them into the sourdough bread bowls.  The shoulders of the bowls took the brunt of the broiler heat with a little of a 3^rd degree burn before removing them.

The flavors were delish with the onions in their bath of wine wine and the nuttiness of the Emmanthal (spelling wrong here) cheese.  The bread bowl was fun to rip apart, sopped with the broth of the soup. 

Husband always finds the positive in every dish, said it was good.  Son wouldn’t touch onion soup on any day, and Nephew said it was a B-, due to the paleness of onions and wanted more broth than onions (I admit I didn’t put the required 8 cups, but about 5). I enjoyed the flavors if nothing else.

What I would do differently next time:  I would use a skillet to cook the onions and tease the caramelizing action.  I think my onions just sweated to death in my dutch oven.

Long Time, No Post

But's that's just me and my life.  I play with my hobbies as time and interest dictate.  The interest is always there, but it seems that there are peaks and valleys.  With my FFwD, I've been in the valley.  It doesn't help that every other Thursday night is Mah Jongg night so that wrecks havoc on the cooking schedule.  Do it Wednesday you say?  Well, that's one of two evenings I'm slated to attend my exercise class (hey, you gotta do what you can when you are 50 + 1!). 

So the cookbook has been staring at me from the bottom shelf of my coffee table, looking unloved as a thin film of dust sits on the cover.  But I've missed it and you all.  So I spent alittle time on the Dorie site seeing what's been cooking (pardon the pun) and I see lots of good stuff.  Like the cheesy onion soup coming up for February 24th.  As timing would have it, the 23rd is Mah Jongg night...

So I've decided that on Mah Jongg nights, I will cook on Friday nights and post on Saturday.  The March choices look great, wow, four are ties!

Here in southern New Jersey we've been without a winter this year, except in name only.  I am not complaining!  We've still a month to go, but I plan on getting out into the garden this weekend for some cleaning up.  I've ordered Espoma for veggies, tomatoes, bulbs, and plants.  Gotta get things ready for growing and eating.

Wishing all a very happy, healthy 2012!

Kathleen