Soup for the French (and Americans)

My wonderful wife enrolled me in the "Knife Skills" class at the local Culinary Center. I'm thinking she wanted to protect my digits. Sure, I learned a lot about chopping veggies, but I also got a wicked recipe for French Onion Soup. I'm not a FOS fan, but this one (after a few tweaks) had me sold.

Fantastic French Onion Soup

Ingredients:
4 medium yellow onions (thinly sliced and quarted)
4 cloves of garlic
Thyme - 3 fresh sprigs (finely chopped)
1/2 cup white wine
1 quart beef broth
4 tbsp butter (divided)
1 tbsp flour
½ tsp black pepper

French bread
Gruyere Cheese

Melt the butter in a stockpot or large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and pepper to taste. Cook the onions for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp butter for about a minute. Add the white wine and stir while simmering for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour beef broth into pot and season with a 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes.

In serving size crocks, pour soup and top with French bread sliced to 1/2" thickness. Top with 2 to 3 tablespoons shredded Gruyere cheese, and place in 350 degree oven for 12 - 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Brined and Fried - The only way to go!

After years of “settling” for the traditional oven roasted turkey, a few years ago we finally tried two well-known tricks for the perfect tasty and juicy bird. The first is to fry the turkey. I won’t go in to detail on that here for simple liability reasons, but there are many great resources on how to do this safely. The #1 tip is not to overfill the fryer with oil so it spills over to the flame when you drop the bird into the boiling oil. If that happens, bad things will surely follow.

Instead, I’ll pass along my tried and true brine recipe. You can tweak this to your taste, or you can pick up a brine packet and add it to salt water. But the key is to get turkey in to a briny overnight bath. Do this, and you’ll get a truly tasty and juicy turkey!

Brine Ingredients:

* 1 gallon vegetable stock

* 1 cup kosher salt

* 1/2 cup light brown sugar

* 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

* 2 teaspoons candied ginger

* 3 springs rosemary

* 3 springs sage

* 3 springs thyme

* 1 gallon heavily iced water

Tools required:

* 5 gallon bucket and lid

* hammer

In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, and candied ginger over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the salt and brown sugar is fully dissolved, add the rosemary, sage, and thyme and from the heat. Allow the brine to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until ready to use.

At least 8 hours, and up to 15 hours in advance, combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. After removing the innards, drop the thawed turkey breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh the bird down to make sure it is fully covered. Using the hammer, seal the lid on the bucket, and set in a cool area for 8 to 12 hours. If possible, flip the turkey once through the brining process.

About 1 hour prior to cooking, remove the turkey from the bucket, drain the water from the cavity, and pat dry. Allow the turkey some time to fully dry and approach room temperature prior to placing in the fryer or oven.