Sweet Spring Onions

My sweet onions are ready for harvest!  Is there a better sign that spring is in the air?

Okay, so spring isn’t in the air everywhere at the moment and I should know–the family and I just flew home from Denver, CO where Old Man Winter is blowing hard and furious.  But the cold will make this recipe all the sweeter.   It’s sweet and savory and the aroma alone will delight your senses.

If you like French Onion Soup, you’re going to LOVE this dish.  While a sure-fire hit in the fall, this delicacy is welcome in my home any time of the year.   Taken from the magazine, Cuisine at Home, it’s simple and easy to make, much like homemade French Onion Soup.   And worth every minute.   Sliced onions cooked until they caramelize are a guaranteed winner in any household and when you add cheese, the whole world turns sweeter.   Especially when we’re talking Gruyère cheese.   (Is your mouth watering yet?)

Onions au Gratin

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

8 cups sliced sweet onions

1/2 cup dry sherry or chicken broth (I used sherry)

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved (I skipped these)

Preheat oven to 400°F

Melt butter in a large cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, stirring until slightly softened to make room in the pan (I don’t know what this means—I just sautéed the correct amount of onions); cover and cook until completely softened, 10 minutes.

Add sherry, thyme, and bay leaves; increase heat to medium-high.  Sauté, uncovered, until the liquid evaporates and onions are browning, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes (mine may have been 20 minutes, but caramelizing onions is a fairly forgiving process).

Combine cheeses, then stir 1/2 cup of cheese mixture into onion mixture.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake until cheese is bubbly and browned, about 20 minutes.

Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves, then sprinkle with olives.  Let stand to cool slightly before serving.

Makes 4 servings.   Total time: approx. 50 minutes.

Cuisine at Home is a great publication.  Not only does it offer phenomenal recipes, but it includes color photographs of the cooking process.  Indispensable for novices like myself!

Enjoy!

 

Banana Nut Bread

My guys love bananas. I however do not. I have a vivid memory of eating a banana as a young girl but near as I can figure, I had sunstroke and the end result wasn’t pretty – or discussion for a food post. To this day, I can’t stand the smell of bananas. Whenever any of my guys eat them, they’re not allowed near me with their banana breath.

This recipe started out as a labor of love but turned into a healthy favorite family snack.

In our house, we have bananas around for breakfast or lunches. However as soon as the bananas get spots, my guys won’t eat them. Needless to say, there’s always several bananas left on the counter that either get thrown away or turned into my version of Banana Nut Bread.

This recipe makes a single loaf with 1 to 2 bananas, doubled with 3 bananas or quadrupled with 6 bananas. You can also play fast and easy with the amount of white or whole wheat flour you use. My preference is half and half, originally because I didn’t want to scare my guys off with an all whole wheat flour concoction. In the end, it’s what suits our taste buds, so that’s the mixture I’ve stuck with.

Because I can easily make 4 loaves at once, I’ve always got a few loaves frozen for lunches or to pull out to take to my mom or my parents-in-law’s house, saving them the trouble of baking for themselves or guests.

Banana Nut Bread (makes a single loaf)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, sift together:

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Put the following ingredients into a blender:

3/4 cup skim milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 to 2 ripe bananas (when doubling recipe, use 3 bananas)

Blend until smooth, then add a handful of walnut halves and blend using the chop or grind function. (This saves on the time consuming task of chop-chop-chopping!)

Pour liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Turn into the prepared pan and bake for 65 to 70 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 to 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan to let cool on the counter.

Eat the loaf while it’s warm or freeze it for later use. And even if you’re like me and can’t stand bananas, give it a try because once it’s cooked, the banana smell and taste are totally gone, replaced by something far more delicious.

Enjoy!

So what’s your least favorite food and is there a reason why you can’t stant to eat it?

Fall Favorites

So I’m a Miami girl with a hankering for fall.  From the colors to the foliage, apple cider to pumpkin pie–I LOVE this season.  Not sure how or why, but I do! 

And in our house, fall means the beginning of comfort food season.  Last night we went with an old Italian favorite, chicken Marsala and mashed potatoes.  Tonight it will be butternut squash and broccoli rabe lasagna.  Hmmm…  Sounds good, doesn’t it?  I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

I’m hungry already!!  So today I’ve decided to share the recipe with you all.  It’s not the healthiest item on the menu, but it is savory and oh-so-delicious, not to mention one of my husband’s favorites!  Check our recipe section for details.  Now fess up: what’s YOUR favorite fall recipe?

Onion Harvest

So my onions came in this last week or so and after slicing and dicing them for the grill, the skillet, the freezer and the salad, I had to come up with something new.  You gardeners out there know what I’m talking about–zealous in your green thumb, you think “the more the merrier” and grow a hundred sweet onions with only the thought of Nirvana in mind.  Patiently you tend and care for these sweet babies until – FINALLY — six months later, they’re ready! 

Talk about excitement.  Well life around the Venetta Farm is in full swing and not only does that mean harvest, it means kitchen duty.  Not one for canning onions or eating them raw, I like to bake mine.  Saute them, combine them with butter and heat until they caramelize to perfection.  This recipe is one of my favorites for doing exactly that and with the addition of cheese?

Life doesn’t get any better.  Taken from the magazine, Cuisine at home, this dish is easy to make and worth every minute.  If you like French Onion Soup, you’re going to LOVE this dish. 

Onions au Gratin

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

8 cups sliced sweet onions

1/2 cup dry sherry or chicken broth (I used sherry)

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved (I skipped these)

Preheat oven to 400°F

Melt butter in a large cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, stirring until slightly softened to make room in the pan (I don’t know what this means—I just sautéed the correct amount of onions); cover and cook until completely softened, 10 minutes.

Add sherry, thyme, and bay leaves; increase heat to medium-high.  Sauté, uncovered, until the liquid evaporates and onions are browning, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes (mine may have been 20 minutes, but caramelizing onions is a fairly forgiving process).

Combine cheeses, then stir 1/2 cup of cheese mixture into onion mixture.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake until cheese is bubbly and browned, about 20 minutes.

Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves, then sprinkle with olives.  Let stand to cool slightly before serving.

Makes 4 servings.   Total time: approx. 50 minutes.

Organization 101

Ever tried to organize a large group of people for an event or outing?  Like hunting for Easter eggs (or hiding them!), it can be a lot of work.  The kids searched and searched and still we have 3 missing!  But I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere this week—falling out of trees, found via the ant trail leading to their sweet hidden treasure.  Good news is they’re all plastic, so no odorous mess to deal with after the fact!

But today begins my Authors in Bloom Spring Blog Hop which has been quite a lesson in organization for me.  It’s an exciting venture and one that required lots of communication.  Now I’ve organized Girl Scouts and cookie sales, kids and garden lessons but authors?  This is my first time and I’m happy to report—all is well!  Thanks in large part to participant enthusiasm and my oh-so-adored excel program.  I love it!  It’s definitely my secret weapon when it comes to planning—anything from blog tours to blog hops, cookie sales to garden beds—excel is my go-to program.

Especially because it allows me to color coordinate people, cookie flavors, paid/unpaid, signed in/signed out…  Well, you get the picture.   Better yet, it adds and subtracts for me which comes in handy with most endeavors I find myself wrapped up in!  And when you have great organization skills, computer tools or fabulous virtual assistance (thank you, Tiffany!), the final product can be downright satisfying.  Now mind you, we have 10 days to go for this blog hop filled with gardening tips and recipes, but I have high hopes for a wonderful outcome.

How could I not with such a great start?  How about you?  What’s your secret to organizational success?  And if you’re interested in some gardening tips or new recipes, be sure to join me this week!  Along with tons of great prizes to be had along the way…