French Onion Soup

There is nothing like a warm bowl of soup on a cold day. Mom loves this soup. It is hearty and delicious. French onion soup is so easy to make; I think it will make it into my regular rotation meal every winter. I don't know why I had never made it before, but when I was younger, I did not particularly like beef, so I did not enjoy this soup back then. Now, I love it.

French onion soup is traditionally served with bread and melted cheese on top. If you have oven-proof bowls, pour some soup into the bowl, place bread on top of the soup and cover with the cheese. Then place under a broiler until the cheese melts. If you do not have adequate bowls, then just follow the directions below. Or, enjoy it without the bread and cheese on top.

French Onion Soup 

• 6 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 6 cups beef stock
• 1/2 cup white wine
• bread
• gruyere or swiss cheese

Saute the onions in butter for five minutes or until tender. Blend in flour, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir in the beef stock. Cover and simmer for about one hour. Add the wine. Place bread on a baking sheet and cover with cheese. Place under the broiler until the cheese melts. Then, place a piece of bread on top of each bowl of soup. Enjoy!

Onion Lover's Twist

Mom's recipe box has loads of bread recipes. Even if I don't remember Mom making the recipe, every bread recipe I try is delicious. This recipe is no exception. The resulting loaf of bread is excellent. Don't be scared off by the need to use yeast or the effort to shape the bread into a twist. Just follow the directions and the result, no matter how it looks, will be just fine.

The bread itself, without the onion filling, is very good. The filling is not actually too oniony. So, if you really love onion, you can easily use more onion in the filling than the recipe indicates. I think that this bread would also be good with a sweet filling, like blueberries or cinnamon and raisins. But give the onion filling a try.

Onion Lover's Twist 

Dough

• 1 package dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (about 115 degrees)
• 4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Filling

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. poppy seeds

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 2 cups flour and remaining dough ingredients. Blend at low until moistened; beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, stir in the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until light and doubled.

Stir down dough. Toss on a lightly floured surface until no longer sticky. Roll out to an 18 inch x 12 inch rectangle. Combine filling ingredients and spread over the dough rectangle. Cut lengthwise into three 18x4 strips. Starting with the 18-inch side, roll each strip and seal edges and ends. On a greased cookie sheet, braid the three rolls together. Cover and let rise again for 45-60 minutes. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Quiche Lorraine

When I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box, I knew I had to give it a try. As I have already said, I love custard and quiche is just a savory custard. I vaguely recall Mom making quiches. I don't recall if she made this particular quiche, but I think quiches became popular when I was young, so if she did not make this particular recipe, she made one like it. Mom likely found this recipe in a newspaper, magazine or cookbook.

The essentials of a quiche include pie crust and egg custard with some additional ingredients. The basic quiche is a flexible base into which many ingredients can be mixed. Quiche Lorraine is named after the Lorraine region of France and traditionally had onion, bacon and swiss cheese. When I made this quiche, I kept to the traditional ingredients. The result was delicious.

Quiche Lorraine 

• 1/2 pound bacon
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 9-inch pastry
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups grated swiss cheese
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Cook bacon until crisp, then drain on paper towel and crumble. Saute onion. Sprinkle bacon and onion into a pastry lined pie pan. 

In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, cheese and seasonings. Pour over the bacon and onion into the pie pan. Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to set for about 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Noodles Romanoff

Noodles Romanoff is an easy and versatile side dish. I did not specifically remember this dish based on the recipe, but it tasted familiar. I think Mom might have served this with beef or even mixed in beef to the noodles for a main dish.

Mom's recipe makes two servings. When I made this, I doubled the recipe. Also, I added a bit more Worcestershire sauce than is called for because I like the flavor that it provides. Mom's recipe states that the caraway seeds are optional, but I think the caraway seeds really make the dish. Do not leave them out. As for the proportions for the other ingredients, this recipe is forgiving, so feel free to add more or less of the other ingredients as desired.

Noodles Romanoff 

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. grated onion
• 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 tsp. caraway seeds
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• dash of pepper
• 1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
• 1 cup cooked egg noodles
• paprika

Heat oven to 350. In a bowl, blend together cottage cheese, sour cream, onion, Worcestershire sauce, caraway seeds, salt, pepper and parsley. Fold sauce into the noodles. Turn into a baking dish and sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Enjoy!

Baked Custard

I love custard. From frozen custard to custard pie to creme brulee, if it has custard, I know I will love it. What makes custard so special? Is it the eggs, milk, sugar? Or is it the mixture of those things? I don't know what it is about custard that is so delicious. This recipe makes an excellent custard that can be enjoyed either warm or chilled.

Mom used to make this simple baked custard when we were young. Traditionally and per Mom's recipe, the custard should be made in a double boiler, meaning that the custard dish should be placed within another dish filled with water. When I talked to Mom about this recipe, Mom said that she never used the double boil method, but simply placed the custard dish in the oven. When I made this recipe, I followed Mom's shortcut method and found that it worked fine. Like Mom, I always prefer to simplify recipes. Scalded milk is simply milk that is heated to a temperature close to boiling, but not boiling. This time, I used almond extract for flavoring, but I am sure that the lemon extract would be nice. Mom's recipe calls for one dish, but you could also use small individual serving dishes.

Baked Custard 

• 4 eggs beaten lightly
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 3/4 cup milk, scalded
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond or lemon extract
• nutmeg for dusting

Blend eggs, sugar and salt together in a small mixing bowl. Slowly stir in milk. Add flavoring. Pour into a 1.5 quart casserole. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 325 (in a large baking pan of hot water) for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or chilled. Enjoy!

Peasant Bread

If you like fresh-baked bread, but you don't want to use yeast, give this bread a try. Without needing to rise, this bread is quick to make. The ingredients are healthy--whole wheat flour and oatmeal--resulting in a tasty and nutritious bread. Like all breads, this bread is great straight out of the oven. I think it would also be great with a stew or chili. And it is a sturdy bread that could be used for sandwiches or toast.

Mom remembers making this bread, especially because it was so easy. It could even be made on a weeknight for dinner. The recipe indicates that it can make one large loaf or two smaller loaves. I think it could also make about a dozen small dinner rolls.  Whatever the size of the bread that you make, the results will be delicious.

Peasant Bread 

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup oatmeal
• 1 tbsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 cups buttermilk

Blend together flours, oatmeal, soda and salt. Add milk and stir together; knead lightly. Shape into loaves. Put onto an oil and lightly floured baking sheet. Slash a cross on the top of each loaf. Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Pound Cake

For Megan's birthday this year, I made this cake and brought it to Mom's for the usual Saturday night get-together. The cake was a hit with everyone, including Lorelei, Delilah, and Amanda, pictured here about to dive head first into the cake at Megan's urging. Don't worry, we stopped the girls from devouring the cake so that we could all sing happy birthday to Megan. Normally, it is my job to slice the cake. This time, Ryan took over this responsibility and did a better job than I could have done. I think Ryan is now the official Buckley family cake server.

The term "pound cake" comes from recipes with a pound of butter in the batter, and this pound cake really does call for a pound of butter. Of course, that is both the reason for the name and the reason it is so tasty. The resulting cake is a classic dense cake. No frosting is necessary and a simple dusting with powdered sugar might be nice. Next time I make this cake, I might try a chocolate fudge type frosting. But Megan is not a chocolate fan (is she really my sister?), so I used a cream cheese frosting. The result was delicious. Frosting or no frosting, you cannot go wrong with this cake.

Old Fashioned Pound Cake 

• 1 pound butter
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Sift together the flour and salt. Add flour alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla. Pour batter into a well-greased ten-inch tube pan or Bundt pan. Bake at 350 until cake begins to brown (about 15 minutes). Then, lower the temperature to 325 until cake is done. Bake for a total time of about an hour and a half or until the cake leaves the side of the cake pan. Allow to cool. Enjoy!