I'M BACK! and gratinée lyonnaise...

I know, I know. 'Where have I been?!' etc..  Well, I don't want to bore you with all the details, plus I'm back now, and am determined to remain as active as possible on here for as long as I can, so we can get back to the important stuff.

A couple bits I should mention first though:

1. I am in a new kitchen as of about a month ago. When I started this project I was in a tiny little kitchen in Southern Spain. Five months later I had packed up and moved back to my parent's house in Chicago, which is where those yummy looking scones were made. That was four months ago. Then, last month, I moved back to Canterbury to start my FINAL YEAR of uni (yikes) and have had to get used to a whole new kitchen, complete with hyperactive oven and brand spankin' new food processor.

2. I am a student again. This means that I am, once again, by definition, poor and lazy. You'll have to forgive me for the influence that these two attributes may have here.

3. Remember how I talked about making a red velvet armadillo cake for a friend's birthday, à la Steel Magnolias? Well, that's still happening, in fact her birthday's in about two weeks time. So watch this space.


Great. Now that all that nonsense is out of the way, we can focus on the cooking, yes?


It's hard to believe that this time a year ago I was in Lyon, France. Although I was working crazy hard as a hotel stagiaire, I had such an amazing time there and I miss it like whoa. Having been giving an insanely large amount of money by the Erasmus Programme (fools!) in the form of a grant, my friends and I spent a stupid amount of time bumming around some of the most fab restaurants in the city. One of my most favourite things to eat there, was gratinée Lyonnaise, or French onion soup. It was so delicious and so comforting, especially in the type of weather we're getting in Canterbury in the moment: cold and grungy.

I had been wanting to learn how to make this from scratch for a while now, especially since Autumn has well and truly set in. I finally managed to create it, based half on a recipe in Sophie Dahl's fab book, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, and half on the soups I tried when I was in France. This is the perfect soup for when you want to curl up under your duvet, watch some mind-rotting daytime TV, and forget about the world.


Gratinée Lyonnaise

2 medium onions
1 tbsp butter
Slug of extra virgin olive oil
1 litre beef stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper (optional)
3/4 cup/3.5 oz/100g grated Gruyère cheese
1 thick slice baguette

1. Roughly chop the onions. In a large saucepan, melt the butter with the olive oil on a low heat. Once melted, move around the base of the pan to make sure it is all coated, then add the onions. Mix into the oil with a wooden spoon.

2. Allow the onions to sweat for approximately half an hour. Towards the end of the time, turn the heat up to medium, so that the onions brown around the edges.

3. Add the stock to the onions and turn the heat down to low again. Stir the mis and then add the balsamic vinegar. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes. While the soup is simmering, toast some french bread under the oven and cut into chunks. When the time is up on the soup, add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into bowls using a ladle.

4. Right before serving, add the cheese and bread.

Parmesan Chicken

My flatmate Stefanie has never lived away from her parents before. She goes to uni nearby where she lives in Belgium, so there has never been any need to move out of her family home. This means before she moved in here– with three English girls who have lived away from home since they were all 18– she had never done laundry, cleaned or cooked before. ever. When she told me this when we first met almost two months ago, I had a sort of mini-silent-masked panic attack. For someone like me, who cooks anything and everything (except for eggs, if I can help it) I couldn't imagine how someone didn't even know how to boil pasta or make some plain old chicken.

Tonight, Stefanie is cooking me and my flatmate Holly dinner. A couple of weeks ago I cooked this recipe for her and she was inspired. It's a dish that is quite easy, but looks like it takes a lot of preparation (and that's what counts). And the best part is, those you cook it for will be fighting over the last bits.

Parmesan Chicken

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 cup/6 oz/ 170g butter

1 1/2 cup/6 oz/170 g dried breadcrumbs (if you can't find any in the shop and you're feeling brave, you could always make your own!)

1/2 cup/2 oz/55 g grated parmesan

2 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4-6 pieces boneless, skinless chicken (cut= your choice), cut into small pieces– roughly 5x5 cm

1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF/230ºC/Gas mark 8. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once it's all melted, add the minced garlic. In a large bowl mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan, cilantro/coriander, salt and pepper.

2. Dip the chicken pieces into the garlic butter, then into the crumb mixture to coat them. Place the coated chicken pieces onto a baking dish. Try to leave a little room between each piece. When you have coated all the pieces of chicken, drizzle the remaining garlic butter over the chicken.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices that come out of it are clear.

serves 4-6.

NOTE:

I won't be posting all that much over the next couple of weeks. On Friday I'm venturing to Barcelona to see some family and friends for a few days and after that I make a much needed trip to England. I will be back with photos of my travels, stories of my cooking, and most likely a picture of my 22nd birthday cake!

Caramelised Leek, Spinach, and Goats Cheese Tart

I've been teased before about my slight addiction to Marie Claire UK magazine. If I'm in England I will buy every issue, and on weekdays I normally check their website at least once to find out the 'Buy of the Day', clothes and/or beauty products that are normally quite appealing and quite good value. I don't care what people say, I love it.

Anyway, it's not just beauty and fashion. This a recipe I found in there which I love. Love love love.


Caramelised Leek, Spinach and Goats Cheese Tart

PASTRY:
9 oz/255 g/1 rounded cup all-purpose flour
4 1/2 oz/125 g/ 1/2 cup butter

FILLING:
2 tbsp olive olil
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 head of fennel, thinly sliced
5 1/2 oz/155 g/ 3/4 cup baby spinach leaves
2 1/2 oz/70 g/ 1/3 cup goats cheese, crumbled
3 eggs, lightly beaten
5 1/2 fl oz/160 ml/ 2/3 cup pouring/whipping cream

NOTE: Can substitute fennel for more leek if you prefer.

serves 6-8

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC/Gas mark 6. Place the flour and butter in a bowl or in the bowl of a food processor and mix until it resembles breadcrumbs Gradually add 3-4 tbsp iced water until the pastry comes together (if doing this by hand mix with a spoon). Gather into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2. Roll out the pastry onto a floured surface to fit an 8 1/2 inch/ 21 1/2 cm circular tin (if you don't have a circular one a rectangular one of a similar area will do– see picture!). Ease into the tin and trim off the excess pastry.

3. Line the tin with baking paper and fill with baking weights or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and weights and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven reduce the temperature to 315ºF/160ºC/Gas mark 3.

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the leek and fennel and cook for 20 minutes. Remove. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Spread the leek and fennel over the pastry. Top with the spinach and the crumbled goats cheese. Combine the eggs and cream in a separate bowl, and then pour into the pastry shell. Bake for 40 minutes.