French Onion Soup

Onions are a thing of beauty, aren't they? No? You think they are too mundane to be beautiful? They have such a humble exterior, hiding away those lovely, thin layers.

In a passage I found so memorable in the book The Supper of the Lamb, Robert Farrar Capon writes about how to meditate on an onion. "Take one of the onion (preferably the best looking),... and sit down at the kitchen table.... To do it justice, you should arrange to have sixty minutes or so free for this part of the exercise. Admittedly, spending an hour in the society of an onion may be something you have never done before.... Onions are excellent company."

brioche (for Fresh from the Oven)--and a Croque Monsieur sandwich

This month's new bread to try was brioche, the Fresh from the Oven challenge. Brioche is so egg- and butter-rich that you can smell the deep yellow goodness as soon as they come out of the oven. Chele from Chocolate Teapot chose this delicious bread as our monthly challenge.

ice cream petit fours

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

beef bourguignon

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon staying in, smelling the stew bubbling in the pot while I tidied around the flat. Red wine, the deep smell of beef, thyme, and bay leaves drifted to me every few minutes. I knew that I could turn that casserole beef into juicy, tender stew with the help of I Know How to Cook. It's an easy recipe that just simmers away for several hours on low heat.


We had friends coming around that evening, so we would be a party of four (and the recipe is meant to serve six). But it only calls for 600 mL of liquid in total, so I was a bit concerned it might bubble away to nothing. So I put the lid mostly on, and since I was nearby, I looked in on the stew every half hour. I'm glad I did, since by the time two hours rolled around I just had to add a splash of water. Things were beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan. And it just barely served four adults.

But, as I'm coming to expect from this cookbook, the recipe produced delicious results. There was a very rich flavour that was very warming and hearty. This stew was comfort food at its best.

Beef Bourguignon
adapted from I Know How to Cook
serves 6, allegedly

60 g button onions or shallots, peeled, whole or halved
100 g bacon lardons
700 g stewing beef, cut into pieces
30 g (1/4 c) flour
300 mL any stock, hot
300 mL red wine
1 bouquet garni
salt and pepper
100 g (about 5) mushrooms, quartered

In a heavy pan, fry the onions and bacon until light brown.
Remove from the pan and add the beef and fry until brown. Sprinkle the flour over the beef, stir for a minute, then add the stock, wine, bouquet garni, salt and pepper, and onion and bacon.
Simmer on a low heat for two hours.
Add the mushrooms and simmer for a further 30 minutes.

Hollandaise Sauce

One of my readers sent me a question recently about cooking vegetables.

"I find I am always looking for different ways to cook veggies. My husband is hard to please. He doesn't really like salad, and wants stuff to be really flavourful. He likes 'sauce.' He seems to think that everything needs 'sauce' or 'seasoning.' If you have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate them."


Veggies are my favourite thing to cook, and I am always looking for ways to help others love them as much as I do. Starting with fresh ingredients is always the best first step. But I am more than happy to suggest sauce ideas, too. Hollandaise sauce is a good bet because it's simple to make but adds a slightly richer flavour to a light meal such as steamed fish and veggies.


Hollandaise is a classic French sauce, so I used a recipe from I Know How to Cook, the French cooking tome, recently published in English for the first time. Hollandaise is brilliant with vegetables, fish, eggs, and even grilled steaks. It's a bit fiddly to make the first time, but doesn't take too long, and is easy to get used to. There are only three main ingredients and the recipe below makes plenty for a larger family or two meals for a couple (just reheat it very gently for the second meal).

Hollandaise Sauce
adapted from I Know How to Cook

Hollandaise sauce is one part in the trinity of Eggs Benedict, along with an English muffin and a poached egg. Learning to perfect Hollandaise is simple, and gives you triumphal bragging rights.

3 egg yolks
salt and pepper
3/4 c (175 g) butter
2 t lemon juice, warmed

Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl with 1 T water and a pinch of salt over a very low (barely simmering) heat. Stir vigorously.
Remove from the heat, add the butter, cut into small pieces, and stir in. Return to heat and stir until the sauce thickens. As this is happening, keep the heat low and remove the pan from the heat any time it looks as though the eggs are about to become scrambled.
Pour in the lemon juice, stir with a bit of salt and pepper, and serve immediately.