French Onion Soup

This traditional French soup is sure to warm your soul on a cold winter (wait- isn't it still Fall?!) night. It is especially good when you use beef stock left over from a Rosh Hashanah brisket. Onions appear in almost everything I cook, but usually as part of the chorus. So here is a masterpiece solo for everyone's favorite chemical-warfare inclined vegetable.

7 medium yellow onions (sliced thin)
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
2 quarts beef stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt
Pepper
Bread
Gruyere cheese (grated)

Melt the butter and oil together in a huge saucepan (at least 4 quarts). Cook onions over low heat in the covered saucepan for 15-20 minutes, until they start to sweat. Uncover and raise heat to medium. Add salt and sugar and cook for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and golden brown. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for another 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, set your beef stock to boil. When the stock is boiling and the onions are ready, combine the two off heat. Add the wine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer partially covered for 40 minutes or more.

Pour into soup bowls, float bread or croutons on top, and sprinkle with grated gruyere cheese. Broil just until cheese is melted and starting to brown. Bon appétit!

Kale with Pancetta and Cannellini Beans

Now for something a little more seasonal. We all know kale rocks because it's so healthy, but this dish is also really delicious. I swear.

2 slices pancetta (chopped into cubes)
1 1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 bunch of kale (roughly chopped)
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans
Salt

Microwave the chopped pancetta for 3 minutes, until pancetta is crispy. Drain the drippings. Set aside.

In a very large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook a minute or two more. Stir in the chopped greens. Add salt to taste, but be conservative as the kale will wilt down considerably and absorb a lot of flavor. Cover the pan partially and let cook until greens begin to wilt. Stir in the pancetta and cannellini. Partially cover again and cook for another 5 minutes. The dish is ready when the kale is nice and tender.

Fig Tart with Caramelized Onions, Rosemary, and Stilton

So long sweet summer. As my final farewell to the season of the sun I wanted to eat figs one last time before they disappear for a while. When I saw this recipe in the times I knew immediately I had to try it. Already too late in the season for the ubiquitous Black Mission Fig, I had to use the less sweet, but still delightful Kadota Fig. This tart turned out amazingly, and has served as the impetus for my new found affection for puff pastry (freezer variety - not making my own... yet). Look forward to more puff pastry treats in the future.

2 Tablespoons butter (unsalted)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions (halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced)
2 sprigs rosemary (more for garnish)
Pinch of sugar
1 teaspoons good balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Flour for dusting
3/4 pound puff pastry dough
1 pint (3/4 pound) fresh figs (stemmed and cut in half lengthwise)
1 1/2 ounces (6 Tablespoons) Stilton cheese (crumbled)
2 Tablespoons pine nuts
Good quality honey for drizzling (optional)

Preheat oven the 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Start by melting together the butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onions, rosemary, and a pinch of sugar to the skillet. Cook until onions are limp and golden brown, about 40 minutes. Add the vinegar and stir well.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Add the onions to this mixture.

Line an 11x17 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry dough until it is a 9x12 inch rectangle. Transfer pastry onto baking sheet.

Use a fork to spread the onion mixture evenly over the pastry, leaving a one inch border. Let excess egg remain in bowl as it will get used later. Arrange the figs, cut-side up, on top of onion mixture. Scatter cheese and pine nuts on top of everything. Use a pastry brush to paint the egg mixture onto the edges. Gently fold the edges over to give the tart a lip. Brush the lip with more egg mixture.


Bake about 25-30 minutes, until pastry has puffed up and turned slightly golden. Sprinkle with some more rosemary needles and drizzle with good honey, if desired.

I served mine warm right out of the oven, but I think it would be good at room temperature also. Three cheers for stilton, figs, and puff pastry. Yeah.

Thai Red Curry

This is probably my favorite thing to make (and eat), and I make it more regularly than anything else. It's taken this long to get it on the interweb because I never seem to get a good photo of it. At this point, I surrender. I'll post some photos now, and maybe update at a later time if I ever do capture it appropriately. So, for now, here it is - the legendary Thai red curry!

1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
Olive oil
1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
2 Tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Chili paste (or chili oil)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1 lime
4 chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
Vegetables (cut into bite size pieces)
Rice
Basil

What makes this recipe so awesome is that it's very flexible. All of the ingredients for the sauce are really to taste, so proportions are not set in stone. Different curry pastes can be very different (especially in the hotness-factor), so add slowly and taste your way to the best flavor. I usually use chicken, but any meat/seafood/tofu would work. Also, all sorts of vegetables are good in this dish. Some of my favorites are broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, red peppers, string beans, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms. Whatever you can find. Get creative!


Okay. Start by sauteing the onions and garlic in olive oil in a wok until translucent. Add the coconut milk and let everything warm together. Slowly add the curry paste until you reach a flavor that you like. Next add fish sauce, stir everything together and let it simmer for a few moments. Add chicken and let everything simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir dish and let simmer another 10 minutes. Add sugar and chili paste to sauce until desired flavor is achieved. Next add vegetables. Let everything simmer together until vegetables are cooked. The longer everything simmers, the thicker the sauce will get. If the sauce gets too thick, add some more water. Keep in mind that the vegetables will release a lot of water once they start cooking, so wait to add any water until after veggies have been added.
A few minutes before finishing, grate some fresh ginger into the wok. Stir to incorporate. Immediately before serving squeeze lime juice over curry and tear some fresh basil on top. Serve over rice. And there you have it!

Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Spinach, and Blue Cheese

Blue cheese and spinach are two of my favorite foods to begin with. So combining them with caramelized onions and tossing them over some pasta makes for a most delicious union of some of my favorite flavors. This dish is really easy to make, but can take a while if you go for the full effect of caramelization with the onions, which I always do.

6 onions (sliced thinly)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry white wine\
1 package spinach (minced)
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese (grated)
1 box pasta

Over medium heat, saute onions in olive oil for about 20 minutes. Add salt to onions and then put heat on low. Let onions continue to cook for up to an hour. The longer they cook the more pronounced the caramelized flavor will be. When you lose your patience waiting for the onions, adjust the heat to medium once again and add the white wine. Simmer for about 15 minutes to cook off the alcohol. Add the chopped spinach and cook together for a few minutes. Stir in the blue cheese and mix together on low heat until the cheese has melted into the sauce. Cook pasta al dente and then add to the pan and stir everything together to coat the pasta with sauce. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

O Mangalica!

This post has been a really long time coming. But, better late than never. Last winter I had the privilege to attend the annual Mangalica festival in Budapest. Mangalica (or Mangalitsa as it is pronounced in English) is an heirloom breed of pig that is native to Hungary and a crucial part of the Hungarian cuisine. They are also referred to as Wooly Pigs because of their thick coat of curly hair.


Some live Mangalica relaxing at the Mangalica Fesztival in Budapest

Due to the high maintenance required for raising these pigs, breeding of Mangalica was discouraged under communism, causing them to nearly die out. But over the last few decades, a renewed interest in these heritage hogs has increased the population once again. Importation to countries like Spain has also helped their survival. The popularity of the Mangalica breed has experienced a renaissance recently, as foodies in the states and elsewhere have discovered the delectable, marbled meat of this creature. Mangalica meat has an extremely high fat content, making it more juicy and flavorful than your average piece of pork. It is hard to find, and even harder to afford Mangalica in the States, but in Hungary it is everywhere, and I had the opportunity to enjoy it in many different ways.


Mangalica pieces cooking at the festival

This breed has become such a hot item for food lovers that the New York Times even had an article on them recently. Link here. They may be rare and expensive, but if you have the chance to try this succulent pork, I strongly suggest you do.

After tasting grilled Mangalica steak, petting the live hogs, and nibbling on a multitude of cured Mangalica sausages, I walked away from the festival with some sausage of my own. I paired it with a simple tomato cream sauce over pasta so as not to distract from the meat's luscious flavor. But consider yourself warned: this meat is so rich that a little bit goes a VERY long way.

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce and Mangalica Sausage

1 box pasta
1 1/3 cups cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Mangalica sausage (sliced)
Parmesean chesse (grated)

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add cream and simmer for a few minutes. Add chicken stock and tomato paste. Simmer for several minutes to let flavor develop. In a separate pan cook sausages without any oil, as they will release lots of fat. Add sausages and fat to sauce. Flavor with salt and pepper and let everything simmer together for a few minutes. Cook pasta al dente. Mix sauce with pasta and top with grated cheese and parsley. Egészségedre!