This morning I decided that we would have French
onion soup for dinner. Before taking the boys to story time at the Library, I
sautéed the onions until they were golden and translucent. Then I put them to
simmer in one cup of water. My husband babysat the onions until I got back home
around 1pm.
At 2pm, I added the Beef Broth, salt, pepper, splash
of vinegar and one bay leaf. I put the soup back on the stove to simmer for
another two hours.
To complement the soup, we are having a green bean
and roasted potato salad. I took two small potatoes, diced them into one inch
chunks, seasoned them, and then put them in the oven to bake at 350. Next, I
thawed some green beans, and then cooked them for four minutes in salted,
boiling water.
Normally the salad would call for olives, but I am
fresh out. Instead I diced up about four medium pepperoncini to spice up the
batch.
While to potatoes are still roasting, I decided to
make a simple vinaigrette to go with the roasted potato green bean salad. For
this recipe, I must give Martha Steward credit. Her recipe can be found here: LINK.
For my vinaigrette, I used the basics: mustard, white vinegar, olive oil, salt,
pepper, crushed garlic and two tablespoons of dry rosemary. I allowed the rosemary
seep in a pot with all the other ingredients at a warm heat before blending it.
This way I could get as much of the rosemary oil into the mixture. One of the
benefits of using fresh rosemary is that the flavor comes from the oils. As the
herb dries, it loses some of oils. The best time to pick rosemary is early in
the morning. It should be stored in a very dark place.
After the vinaigrette marinated in a warm pot for a
bit, I put it all in a blender and blended away. It came out a light yellow
color. (due to the mustard) I put it in a container and into the refrigerator
to chill.
Finally, I made the spinach stuffed chicken breasts.
I had the breasts brine in salt water for three hours before pounding them. The
key to pounding chicken is to stretch the fibers, not tear them. They were
still a little too thick.
The stuffing mixture consists of: one cup spinach,
sour cream, chipotle sauce, salt, pepper. The spinach was cooked (surprise surprise) in the microwave. I
have never seen fresh spinach cooked that way before and had no idea that it
would work as well as it did. That was an energy saver.
Wrapping up the chicken was a messy job.
The dinner turned out very well. I was pleased. The onion soup was too cheesy, but the broth was delicious. It really pays off to let it simmer all day. I am sorry for not having more photos of the final product. If you have any questions about the taste - ask my husband.
0 comments:
Post a Comment