Cheese Soufflé

Date Salad

Onion Soup

It puffed up!

Yummy and light

It had been cold in Los Angeles and damp. We decided to cook a warm Parisian dinner. Onion Soup and a Cheese Soufflé. Robert, Darryl and Shumon joined us for dinner. We started with a Date and Parmesan Salad. It is a simple salad, simply dress some lettuce with oil and sweet vinegar like balsamic, add salt and pepper to taste and top with pitted dates and thin strips of cheese. I actually use a vegetable peeler to obtain the strips of cheese. Everyone likes the salad.

We then made Onion Soup Gratinee from The Balthazar Cookbook by McNally, Nasr, Hanson. Once while Cathy and I were walking around in New York City it started to rain. We couldn’t catch a cab in the rain and luckily we saw a restaurant across the street. It was Balthazar. It was just like stepping into a Paris Bistro on a cold winter day. It was warm, and smelled wonderful and was very welcoming. We love the fact that their food and their cookbook allows us to recreate that magical moment.

A Cheese Soufflé is not a hard thing to make if you follow the directions and you have a good mixer. I followed the directions precisely and we have a great Kitchen Aid Mixer. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Feb. 15, 2013. Click the date to get the recipe.

For the dessert we had Cookies from McCall’s Meat and Fish and Ice Cream.

It was a perfect winter meal!

Onion Soup Gratinee

The Balthazar Cookbook

McNally, Nasr, Hanson

This simple and hearty soup, rich with burnished onions and sweet port, is topped with tangy Gruyere. Borrow a custom from Bordeaux and spill a little red wine into the bottom of your nearly empty soup bowl. The tradition, known as chabrot, dictates a quick swirl of wine into the tail-end of the hot broth and then a hearty gulp right from the bowl. Tradition does not dictate doing all of this while undressed, but rumor has it that it makes the soup taste even better. We've been too shy to try it.

SERVES 6

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Add the onions and, stir­ring frequently to prevent burning, saute until they reach a golden color, approxi­mately 30 minutes. Add the butter, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and cook for 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce the wine by half, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the Chicken Stock and simmer for 45 minutes.

Preheat the broiler.

Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf, and swirl the port into the finished soup. Ladle the soup into 6 ovenproof bowls. Fit the toasted bread into the bowls on top of the liquid, and sprinkle Ms cup of Gruyere onto each slice. Place under the broiler for 3 minutes, or until the cheese melts to a crispy golden brown. Allow the soup to cool slightly, about 3 minutes, before serving.

Ingredients

¼            cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

4            medium yellow onions, peeled, halved through the stem end, and sliced 1/4-inch thick

1            tablespoon unsalted butter

1            garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced

4            sprigs of thyme

1            bay leaf

1            Tablespoon salt

¼            teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

¾            cup dry white wine

2            quarts Chicken Stock

½            cup port

6            slices of country bread, about 1 inch thick, toasted

2            cups Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated