Food : French Onion Soup & Homemade Bread

my first bread attempt

London is super-cold at the moment & recently I've been making lots of soups & stews.

I've also been making fresh bread.

Maybe because it's such an essential & basic food, there's something very gratifying & lovely about making your own bread.

This appears to be a foolproof & delicious recipe which has worked every time for me. 

Both of the recipes below are so simple so I thought I would share them....
a first for me, I never thought I'd be sharing recipes on my blog :)

If you've never made bread before, this is the recipe for you!

The bread recipe I use is incredibly quick, easy & tasty & is from Tana Ramsay's book

"Tana's Kitchen Secrets"

Easy Handmade White Bread
840g (1lb 13oz) strong white flour
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
sunflower oil for the bowl 

Add all ingredients to an electric mixer with a dough hook (I use my Kitchenaid).
Stir in 500ml/18 fl oz of tepid water & mix to a soft dough.
Knead for 5 mins or turn it on to a floured surface & knead for 10-15 minutes.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, seal with clingfilm or a damp cloth.
Leave in a warm place to rise for 1.5-2 hours until doubled in size.
Place the dough on a floured surface & knead again for 5-10 minutes.

This mix makes two loaves - shape the dough into the shape of your choices....
I usually make a plaited bread (using 3 strands of dough plaited together....this is v easy),
but I've also made small rolls and a round loaf.
Dust your bread with a small amount of flour & place in the middle of a cold oven : 180C/350F/GasMark4 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips
Smaller loaves may require a slightly shorter baking time.
If you are not sure that your bread is cooked, tap it on the bottom - I was told that a cooked loaf should sound hollow. I have found this to be accurate :)
The above recipe uses white flour....I have also used wholemeal & granary flours.

Possibly my favourite soup is a French Onion recipe given to me by my French/Italian cookery teacher...another super-easy & quick recipe which is absolutely delicious.

French Onion Soup photo via Pinterest

50gr butter

750gr Onions finely sliced

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

40gr plain flour

1.5 litres of beef or chicken stock

250ml white wine

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of thyme

12 slices of baguette (stale if you have some)

100gr finely grated gruyere cheese

Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and add the onion.

2. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes, or until the onion is deep golden brown and beginning to caramelize

3. Add the garlic and flour and stir continuously for 2 minutes.

4. Gradually blend in 1 litre of the stock and the wine, stirring all the time and bring to the boil. 

Add more of the stock if the soup seems too thick.

5. Add the bay leaf and thyme and season.

6. Cover the pan and simmer for 25 minutes. 

Remove the bay leaf and thyme and check the seasoning.

7. Toast the slices of baguette, then divide among six warmed soup bowls and pour the soup over the top.

8. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and serve.

Ina's wings

Man food was the theme on New Year's Day, numbing football on all day so we tried Ina's chicken wings from her Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook, released in 2002.

 I say "we" because husband needed to separate the wings which I find disgusting, that is the most time consuming part of making wings at home. Homemade wings are so much better than sports bars because they are not deep fried. I usually bake them but Ina's recipe calls for broiling them for 8 minutes or so on each side. So much faster and the broiling creates beautiful caramelization. I added much more Frank's hot sauce than her recipe calls for, the only change I made. The men loved Ina's wings, very moist and succulent! After flipping through several of her cookbooks yesterday, she has a ton of man food recipes. This will make husband and son happy as I venture through Ina's cookbooks this year. 

resolutions

Have you thought about your new year's resolutions? I have started to jot down a few, some trivial and some meaningful. A fun one I have decided on is to cook my way though some of my favorite cookbooks in 2013. 

For the last few years, I have been a creative cook, creating meals from what needs to be used in the fridge or freezer, not thinking to go to my cookbook collection. When reorganizing the shelf the other day, I realized that so many of them are being ignored.

This year, I will try to get through most of Ina Garten's cookbooks. I love Ina's recipes (and her pretty homes). Her recipes are always delicious and her cookbooks are filled with beautiful photography. I have used her first one, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook the most, bought it years ago when it first came out. It is full of bookmarks and stains.

I will blog about my journey through Ina's books, a la Julie and Julia and post about any yummy discoveries here and there. What are some of your resolutions this year?

  Happy New Year!