Best Ever Homemade French Onion Soup

Well, it looks like snow is back on the menu for tonight into tomorrow—at least it is for us here in Pennsylvania— I'm hoping for a snow day for my kids, or at least a late start! 

What could be better for a snow day than homemade French Onion Soup, complete with crusty croûtes and bubbly, melted Swiss cheese? 

Nothing. Nothing could be as good as that because FOS rocks. So, don't wait for the next blip on the storm chaser website calling for snow to run out and get the ingredients to make this beautiful soup—instead, put the ingredients on your shopping list right now! And after you make it, be sure to come back and leave me a comment below and let me know how much you loved it, because this is the best recipe ever!

(complete recipe at end of post)

You will need 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

In a large soup pot melt 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.

I use regular yellow cooking onions for this recipe, and a bakery baguette loaf.

Peel and chop 4 cups of onions. I like to chop them into cubes that are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in size.

How you cook the onions is very important. You do not want to cook them too fast on too high a heat, or they will not cook evenly and you will land up with burned onions. You want to cook them relatively low and slow, allowing them to become soft and translucent, and then golden brown. To do this, add onions to the pot with butter and olive oil and cook, covered, over low to medium low heat until onions start to turn translucent. Keep an eye on them and stir occasionally. Once they become translucent, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of sugar over the onions and stir, this will help the onions to caramelize. Continue to cook the onions until they are a beautiful golden color.

Onions beginning to turn translucent

Once they become translucent, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of sugar over the onions and stir, this will help the onions to caramelize. Continue to cook the onions until they are a beautiful golden color. If you need to turn up the heat to help brown them, go ahead, but don't walk away from the stove. Stand there and stir them to make sure they don't burn!

Now add: 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour stirring into the onions until coated. Then add your beef stock: You can use either 2 quarts of beef stock or 4 cans of beef consommé concentrate with 3 cans of water. Only add the water if you are using beef consommé concentrate. I like to use a bit less water with my consomme and add 1 to 2 cups of white wine. If you do not want to add wine to your soup, then just omit the wine and add an extra cup of water -  be sure to taste during the process. You do not want to end up with watered down soup! 

Stir in the beef stock/consomme and water

Add wine and stir. I start with one cup of wine and then taste. Sometimes I add a second cup of wine if the consomme is a bit strong. Simmer over low heat while you prepare the cruets. 

Prepare croûtes: Slice baguette into 1 inch slices, cutting the bread at a diagonal to make elongated shaped slices. Lightly brush one side of each slice with melted butter and place on cookie sheet. 

If you would like to make croutons instead, just cut each slice into four cubes after buttering and then place on cookie sheet.

Toast in 300° F oven watching carefully and turning to brown both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To serve,fill bowls 2/3 full with soup. Top soup with croutons/croûtes.

Sprinkle croûtes with Swiss cheese and place under broiler until cheese melts and bubbles.

Perfect!

French Onion Soup

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups onions, peeled and diced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

4 cans Beef consommé

3 cans water

1-2 cups of dry white wine, to taste

2 heaping Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

For croûtes:

Loaf of crusty baguette

2 tablespoons melted butter

8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

In a large soup pot melt 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.

Peel and chop 4 cups of onions. I like to chop them into cubes that are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in size.

How you cook the onions is very important. You do not want to cook them too fast on too high a heat, or they will not cook evenly and you will land up with burned onions. You want to cook them relatively low and slow, allowing them to become soft and translucent, and then golden brown. To do this, add onions to the pot with butter and olive oil and cook, covered, over low to medium low heat until onions start to turn translucent. Keep an eye on them and stir occasionally. Once they become translucent, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of sugar over the onions and stir, this will help the onions to caramelize. Continue to cook the onions until they are a beautiful golden color.

Now add: 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 heaping tablespoons of flour and stir into onions until they are coated. And your beef stock: You can use either 2 quarts of beef stock OR 4 cans of beef consommé concentrate with 3 cans of water (only add the water if you are using beef consommé concentrate.)

Add 1 to 2 cups of dry white wine (Chablis) to taste. Add ground black pepper to taste.

Stir and allow to simmer on low.

Prepare croûtes

Slice baguette into 1" thick slices, cutting the bread at a diagonal to make elongated shaped slices.

Lightly brush one side of each slice with melted butter and place on cookie sheet. If you would like to make croutons instead, just cut each slice into four cubes after buttering and then place on cookie sheet.

Toast in 300° F oven watching carefully and turning to brown both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Once cool, store in a food storage container or bag until ready to use, or to store extras.

Shred Swiss cheese.

To serve: fill bowls 2/3 full with soup. Top soup with croutons/croûtes, sprinkle with Swiss cheese and place under broiler until cheese melts and bubbles.

Pin this post! 

What do you think? Are you a fan of French Onion Soup?
Have you ever made your own?

Have a great week!

 Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs

Article, images, and designs copyright ©Laura Beth Love for Dishfunctional Designs™ 2018

all rights reserved

How To Make Authentic Homemade Pierogies - Family Recipe!

There is nothing in the world better than an old family recipe of comfort food. I can't even begin to describe the amount of yum going on here today. Have you ever had a really REALLY good homemade pierogi? If you have, then you will already know what I am talking about. If you haven't, then you are missing out!

The recipe is simple, and does not take very long to make. I think a lot of people don't realize this, because if they did, you would hear about people making homemade pierogies all the time! 

For those who've never heard of them before, pierogi (aka pierogies) are a kind of dough dumpling stuffed with a filling; most commonly potatoes and cheese. They are often pan cooked with onions in butter and served with sour cream on the side.

To make pierogies you first make a dough and set it aside in the refrigerator, and then make the filling. Then you put them together, boil them briefly in boiling water, and then pan fry them or keep them in the refrigerator until ready to use. Most importantly, be sure to share some with family or friends! 

Below is our recipe to share. My daughter and I made these on Christmas eve. I figured I would snap some photos while we were making them so that we could share the recipe and process with you. Be sure to get everyone in the house to help! 

Here's how you do it:

First make the dough: 
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (kosher or sea salt are best)
Mix all ingredients together to form a dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes while you make the filling. 

Next make the filling:
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed (I use 3-4)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Place cubed potatoes in pot, cover with water, and add 1 teaspoon salt to the water. Cover and simmer until potatoes are fork-soft, about 10-15 minutes.  Drain potatoes and add to mixer (you can also mash them by hand in the pot using a potato masher if you prefer.)
Add 1 T. butter, the shredded cheese, 2 T. milk, and salt and pepper to the potatoes and mash until smooth. 

This filling looks perfect!

Now let's make the perogies:

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. 

We split our dough into two balls and rolled them out one at a time to make it more manageable.

 

I like to roll it to just under 1/8 in thickness. Not too thin or you will get holes in your pierogies —too thick and they will be too doughy. Practice makes perfect!

   

Use the rim of a glass, cup or cookie cutter to cut circles from the dough that are about 3 inches in diameter.

Use your fingers to press the dough circles a little larger if needed. Our first ones were a bit thick so we either stretched them out a bit, or re-rolled them. 

Now it's time to fill them! Get a custard cup or small bowl of water for your workspace. Scoop up about a tablespoon size dollop of filling and roll into a ball. Place filling inside your dough circle. Brush the edges of your dough circle with a few drops of water. Fold one side of your dough circle over to create a half-moon shape.

Press down on the edges to seal, making sure to also gently press the air out. Use a fork to gently seal the seams.

I place a clean linen dishcloth on a cookie sheet and place my filled pierogies on it while I work. 

These are ready for the next step - boiling them in water to cook the dough. Make sure all seams are closed and that there are no holes in the dough, or the filling will come out when you boil them.

Fill a large soup pot about 2/3 full with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add about a teaspoon of salt to the water. Once the water is boiling, carefully add your pierogies, in batches of 5 or 6 at a time, and boil for about 3-4 minutes. 

Remove the pierogies from the boiling water with a slotted spoon. I place mine in a colander that is on a plate to drain them. Next, drizzle the cooked pierogies with a tablespoon or two of olive oil so that they do not stick together! 

How I cook my pierogies:  I melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium sized fry pan on medium-low heat and then add a small chopped onion. 

I cook the onion slowly, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn translucent, and then I add my pierogies and cook, flipping once or twice, until both sides are slightly golden brown. Serve with sour cream.

If you like, you can cook them for a shorter period and have softer pierogies. I like them kind of crispy and with my onions dark. It's just a matter of personal preference! 

This is how I like mine! 

Pierogie making in action!

Pin this post! 

Have you ever made homemade pierogies?

What do you think?

Have a great week!

 Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs

Article, images, and designs copyright ©Laura Beth Love for Dishfunctional Designs™ 2018

all rights reserved

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie Bars: Hello Dolly Bars (My BFF Nikki's Favorite)

Seriously, what could be easier than making cookie bars where you literally just pour one ingredient on top of the other in a glass baking dish and then bake? Nothing! These are the ultimate best and SO easy to make. I guarantee rave reviews every time. 

Now these are nothing new. Sometimes called Hello Dolly bars, sometimes called Magic Bars, some people call them cookies - but no, they're really cookie bars, since you cut them after they bake and cool, as you would with a pan of brownies. 

My best friend Nikki introduced me to these many years ago, and the recipe that I use comes from her mom. I just made a batch for Nikki's New Years Eve party and figured while I was making them, I'd take some action shots so I could share the recipe here with you. 

They are simple to make, use only six ingredients, take only a few minutes to assemble, and 20 to 30 minutes to bake. Easy! 

You will need:
Glass baking dish (I use my 13" by 9" glass baking dish that I make my brownies in)

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk 

  

  

Here's how you do it:

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Unwrap your butter and place it in the baking dish and place in oven while it is preheating to melt the butter, about 4 or 5  minutes, and be sure to keep an eye on it! 

3. While butter is melting and oven is preheating, assemble your other ingredients. Measure 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs. You can buy them in a box as crumbs or you can make your own by simply putting a few graham crackers into a food storage bag and then crushing them with a rolling pin on top of a cutting board as shown below.

4. Once butter is melted, use pot holders to carefully remove hot pan with melted butter from oven and set on stove top or other heat-proof surface. 

5. Make sure butter has coated the entire bottom of the pan, and then add your 1 cup of gram cracker crumbs to the butter. Mix if needed to saturate all of the cracker crumbs with butter. Gently press the butter/crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan, creating a crust. 

6. Top with the chopped nuts. I use walnuts. Some folks like to use pecans. Use whichever you prefer.

Now your pan will look something like this. I added a few extra chopped nuts for a little more coverage. 

7. Now cover the nuts with the chocolate chips. Do not pack the chocolate chips down into the pan, just sprinkle them on top!

8. Next, cover the chocolate chips with your 1 cup of coconut. Yum. Once again, do not pack the coconut down into the pan, just sprinkle on top of the chocolate chips, creating a nice even layer of coconut. You do not want to pack it down tightly because then in the next step, the sweetened condensed milk will not be able to soak down into the layers. And yes, I put extra coconut on it because OMG YES.

9. Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and give it a gentle stir with a spoon. I've found that the mixture gets kind of dense and settles from sitting in the can so it's best to give it a mix before you use it to break up any lumps or thickness. 

10. Once you've given it a stir, pour the sweetened condensed milk atop the coconut. It should soak down into the coconut and layers below. It should look like this:

11. Bake in preheated 350° oven, for about 20 to 30 minutes, watching carefully so that the coconut does not burn, but instead turns a nice golden brown color. The one shown below is perfectly toasted! 

12. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once completely cool, cut into bars or squares. 

How easy is that?

What do you think?
What are your favorite cookie bars?

Have a great week!

 Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs

Article, images, and designs copyright ©Laura Beth Love for Dishfunctional Designs™ 2018
all rights reserved