Primal dinner experiments
Tonight's edition: French onion soup
This is probably going to make way more than I can eat by myself-probably 3+ servings.
Ingredients:
2 or so quarts (I never measure anything!) organic beef broth or homemade bone broth* (I am using a batch I made Sunday/Monday)
2-3 medium sized onions (I just use regular yellow onions, but Vidalia or white would work fine, too. A mix would also be good, if you have them on hand.)
a few cloves of garlic
salt, pepper, thyme
olive oil or grass-fed organic butter
Slice the onions into thin rings. A mandoline would be great to have, but I manage without one. Sauté them in a bit of butter or olive oil with a few cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. I also added a few thinly sliced mushrooms (I'm a heretic) because I had some on hand that would have otherwise gone bad.
Cook until the onions are translucent and soft, even a bit caramelized You could also try roasting them in the oven instead of sauteing them, which would probably be super flavorful. (Note to self: try that next time). Once those are cooked, add in the beef broth of choice, and simmer together for about 20 minutes or so, to get the flavors to mingle.
Pour into bowls, if you're Primal rather than Paleo, go with a nice bit of gruyere or swiss on top, and let it get all melty & gooey. I forgot to stock up, so I'm going to try it with goat cheese. Notice the lack of bread. Duh.
* To make bone broth: get organic beef bones. I got a batch of them from a local organic farm. They are usually quite large (about 4-6" or bigger), and they usually have a bit of fat & meat scraps on them, so don't freak out if what you get isn't totally clean & tidy. I use about 2-3 per batch, since my stockpot is only about 5 quarts. First, I roast them in the oven at about 350°F for about 20 minutes. I then transfer them to the stockpot and add enough water to cover the bones. I usually add a bay leaf or two, and a bit of salt. You could also add a halved onion, celery, carrots, and/or a bouquet garni. I let it simmer on the lowest possible setting for 6-8 hours. The last batch I made I let simmer overnight with a not-completely-on lid. Strain and cool. Once it's cooled, it has the consistency of jelly with a layer of fat on top, but it will all turn to liquid once it's reheated. I have no idea how long it'll keep, but I usually use it within a few days.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.