Menu-Plan Monday, January 5

Wow, it’s already 2009! As you all have noticed, I’ve fallen off of the menu-plan wagon.  One of my new year’s resolutions is to get back to planning and blogging.

It looks like Gluten Free Goodness is hosting this week’s menu-swap.  She has been in charge of organizing it lately. (Look here for info.)

The week’s “ingredient” isn’t so much an ingredient as a type of dish: SOUP!  Perfect for the cold, rainy days that we have been having here lately.  Also, a bit lighter fare after all of the holiday eating we did. My husband’s favorite soup is French Onion, and I recently got Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” I made my soup on Sunday since it takes a couple of hours. See my pictures and post below.  (I also eat soup most days for lunch during the winter – very easy for work.)

Menu for the Week of Sunday January 4

Sunday:
French Onion Soup
French Bread
Salad

Monday:
Salmon
Home-fried potatoes
Asparagus

Tuesday:
Out to Dinner

Wednesday:
Steak Fajitas
with all the fixin’s

Thursday:
Lamb (shoulder) Chops
Mashed Potatoes
Peas

Friday:
don’t know yet

 

SOUPE A L’OIGNON
(Onion Soup)
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child
For 6-8 Servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. or about 5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp gf flour
2 quarts boiling brown stock, beef bouillon, or 1 quart boiling water and
1 quart stock or bouillon
1/2 cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp cognac
Rounds of hard-toasted French Bread (Croutes)
1-2 cups grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook the onions slowly with the butter and oil in a covered, heavy-bottomed saucepan, for about 15 minutes.

Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in salt and sugar. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.

Off the heat, blend in the boiling liquid. Add the wine, and season to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes or more, skimming occasionally.
(*at this point, set aside, uncovered until ready to serve; then reheat to a simmer.)

Just before serving, stir in the cognac. Pour into a soup tureen or soup cups over the rounds of bread and pass the cheese separately.

For the Croutes, I used my recipe for gluten-free french bread. Then I toasted it with a little olive oil. I had always seen French Onion soup with the bread on top, with the cheese melted over it, so that’s how we did it.