Sunday Soups - French Onion

Let me start off by saying that I will never be a food blogger. Living in a dark, basement apartment with an itty-bitty kitchen isn't exactly conducive to taking the beautiful and enticing photos seen on sites like this, this and this.

However, I do really love to cook, and with the arrival of fall, soups are the perfect compliment to the cool, crisp evenings.

French Onion soup has been a long time favorite of mine, but for reason I had never attempted to make it.  However, Justin was sick recently, and I really wasn't feeling the traditional "you're-sick -chicken-noodle", so I decided to try my hand at the rich, hearty, classic French Onion.

After owning these crocks for three years, they have finally found their true calling

I pulled my favorite ingredients from a plethora of different recipes, and really came up with a winner.  In fact, Justin proclaimed it to be the "best french onion soup he's ever had".  That's pretty big time.

When chopping onions, one needs the handy-dandy "Onion Goggles" - they even match my outfit!

Ingredients (6 servings) 

• 3/4 a stick of unsalted butter
• 5 LARGE onions, sliced (I used a combination of yellow, white and sweet)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 teaspoon dried, diced rosemary 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts low sodium beef broth
• 1 loaf of your favorite hearty bread (I used an asagio loaf)
• 6 slices of provolone cheese
• grated parmigianno reggiano cheese

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and pepper. Cook on medium low heat until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 45 minutes. 

Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.

During the last ten minutes, tear up your bread into bite size pieces and arrange on a cookie sheet. Broil until brown and crusty.

Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with your croutons. Sprinkle with parmigianno reggiano and place one slice of provolone on top. Place back in the oven and broil on low until the cheese is bubbly and brown. 

Serve and enjoy!

PS: It's even better the next day, but be warned that the broth thickens up considerably overnight, so you may need to add more stock to liquefy it a bit. 

Teasing Dogs...

is fun, isn't it??

DC Noodles

This weekend fall came.  At points, when it was rainy and windy, it even felt like it was flirting a little bit with winter.

After a long and cold weekend of dancing, traveling and drinking a bit too much at my friend from college's wedding, the last thing I wanted to do was come home and cook.  I was practically dreaming about a big, steaming bowl of asian-style noodles, but wasn't too sure where to get them with the surprising lack of a Pho place on U Street.

After some thought and some Yelp research, we decided to check out DC Noodles (14th & U). The reviews were consistently good (not great), with the main complaint being the high prices.

Justin and I settled into a table towards the back of this narrow and slightly noisy restaurant before ordering Pad Thai for him and egg noodles in a spicy broth with crispy and soft tofu for me.  The menu had some inventive items (pumpkin empanadas!) that may have to be tried the next time around.

Noodles in a spicy soup

Our server was very friendly and efficient - he came over to apologize for a long wait before we even noticed that it had been a while. Our food came shortly after, and neither of us were disappointed.

Justin's Pad Thai had the perfect level of heat (he asked for spicy) and a unique, almost charred flavor that I couldn't quite place, but really enjoyed.  My noodles were spicy without being painful and had a wonderful, rich, peanuty flavor to them.  The bean sprouts and chucks of peanut in the soup added a perfect crunch to a very hearty soup.  I enjoyed the tofu, but I think I would try the chicken next time. 

Our bill came to $24 (with no alcoholic beverages), and since I had enough leftover for lunch the next day, I consider that a pretty good deal.  I know it's not as thrifty as your standard noodle joint, but DC Noodles brings a bit more style to your dining experience than can be found at some cheap noodle places. 

DC Noodles was reasonably priced, had friendly service, a cozy atmosphere, and yummy, satisfying food. Not to mention it is only two blocks from our place, making it the perfect place to hit up on a cold winter night.  I definitely look forward to repeat visit.