I’ve always been a fan of a great at-home bar. I strongly believe it’s a must-learn life skill to mix up classic cocktails, and as an avid host, it’s important to provide an array...
Looking back on Easter as a child, I remember how excited I was to dig through my Easter basket. Full of chocolate bunnies, malt ball Easter eggs, Peeps, golden coins, and my favorite Cadbury...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Over the past two weeks we’ve had the pleasure of sharing the recipes from our Woodland Wonderland Dinner with Rue Magazine, (a fruit filled ice ring, roasted sweet potatoes, wintery kale salad, braised short ribs, and sweet potato creme brûlée). But like all good things, our dinner must come to an end. And what better way to end than with a roasted cauliflower side dish to put all other side dishes to shame. Homespun Atlanta’s roasted cauliflower side dish with apples, cranberries, and sage. A spot on seasonal dish that as delicious as it is easy to make.
So enjoy and here’s to hoping at least one of these dishes (if not all) will make it on to your table this holiday season. Truly, MKR
Roasted Cauliflower with Apples, Cranberries & Sage
One of my favorite parts of our Woodland Wonderland shoot was the delicious food by Homespun Atlanta. Beginning with the wintery kale salad and ending with the butternut squash creme brûlée I promise Chef Jason’s dishes are ones that will make it on to your holiday table this year and for years to come. Truly, MKR
One of the first purchases we made when moving to the South was the cult-esqe Southern staple, Big Green Egg Smoker. And while I’ll admit to being a tad skeptical at first, now I can’t imagine cooking without it. Everything just seems to be better with a little bit of smoke behind it: pizza, vegetables, fruits, Thanksgiving turkey, and today’s recipe, Smoked French Onion Soup. French Onion Soup has always been one of my absolute favorite cold weather treats and I’ve been perfecting my recipe, incorporating bits and pieces from many different recipes, for years now. I love how Tyler Florence chooses red wine over white and Martha Stewart calls for Gruyere rather than a combination of Swiss and Parmesan. For my recipe I’ve subbed the beef stock for vegetable, making the dish completely vegetarian. I’ve also chosen Southern, sweet Vidalia onions instead of yellow onions and smoked them to elevate and really bring the flavors to a whole other level of comfort. Enjoy! Truly, MKR
4-5 large vidalia onions (if you can’t find vidalia, yellow onions will work just as well)
4 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup red wine
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 medium-large baguette, sliced
1 pound smoked Gruyere, sliced
2 bay leaves
4-6 sprigs of thyme, plus additional for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
*If you don’t have a smoker simply skip to step 4*
In a large bowl add 3-4 large handfuls of mesquite or hickory wood chips, cover with water and let soak for 1 hour.
While the chips are soaking, preheat smoker to 500 degrees. When ready, add chips to the smoker, bringing the temperature down to the desired heat of 150 degrees. Cut the tops and bottoms off of the onions and remove their outer layer of skin. Place the onions directly on the grate of your smoker, on indirect heat for approximately 1 hour, no more than 2, (you want to smoke the onions, not cook them).
Cut the baguette into 1″ inch thick slices and place on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. You can also do this step the night before to save time.
Once the onions are smoked, slice and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium/high heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, four sprigs of thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the onions are soft and caramelized, stirring constantly. It should take about 20-25 minutes to properly caramelize, however smoked onions will likely take less time to soften and caramelize.
Add the red wine to the caramelized onion mixture and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to a steady simmer until the wine evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs and on a low heat add the flour, stirring to fully coat all of the onions. Continue to cook on low for about 8-10 minutes then add the vegetable broth and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Ladle the soup into bowls and place baguette slices on top and cover with sliced Gruyere. You may need to use more than one slice of cheese depending on how big your bowls are. Place the bowls onto a cookie sheet to catch any spills as your soup will likely bubble over, and broil until the cheese is fully melted and begins to turn a golden brown.
Sprinkle with additional thyme leaves, and enjoy.
By Mandy Kellogg Rye @Waiting On Martha
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