Soupe A L'Oignon

From Jenny Also Cooks

After making my first souffle, I was inspired to make more recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child of course. I've had Better than Bouillon, No Beef flavor in my pantry for a while, just begging to be used in onion soup. Making Julia's version, it is Soupe L'Oignon, which she says you need to allow 2 and a half hours to make. Because onions can't be rushed, you know. First you have to thinly slice them (and cry), then saute them in butter and oil, then carmelize them, then simmer them in stock and wine. The end result is delicious, I just wish I'd put the time into making a cheesy crouton for better presentation.

Fresh from the Garden - Pesto

From Jenny Also Cooks

I love going out into my backyard and picking food to cook with. It is an indescribable feeling, and tastes so fresh! I made pesto with three kinds of basil - one was purple, and then topped the pasta with fresh cherry tomatoes. Delicious. I'll have a lot of basil to experiment with as the summer goes on, but this time around I just used this basic recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Back to the basics - Garlic Aioli

From Jenny Also Cooks

Nathaniel and I are slowly working our way through The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. We are only into the sauce chapter, but apart from the meat recipes (since we don't eat meat), we're going to try to learn the other basics. I've always admired Alice Waters with her commitment to locally grown food, and cooking simply with good ingredients. Couldn't we all live a little more simply?

One of the sauces is a garlic aioli. Aioli is basically mayonnaise with garlic added. It is more of a process than a recipe - an egg yolk is mixed with a splash of water and a dash of salt, plus 1-2 minced garlic cloves. Then a cup of olive oil is slowly whisked in.

From Jenny Also Cooks

The end result is not necessarily pretty, and I apologize that this picture is terrible! But it should be glossy, smooth, and thick. I think I actually could have added a bit less oil this particular time, but in general the formula is 1 egg yolk = 1 cup oil. I did it all by hand, but I've heard that it is easy to do in the blender or food processor. Why dirty one more dish? Seriously. I'd rather whisk by hand than clean more.

From Jenny Also Cooks

The best part of making basic recipes like sauces is that they need something to be used on. One of our favorite quick dinners is a vegetarian BLT. Actually most days we'll make MBLATs, because we always add mayo and avocado to ours if we can find any ripe enough. This time around the avocados were too firm, and I used garlic aioli in place of the mayonnaise. You know how there are certain flavors that you identify with restaurant food but can't always put your finger on? I swear garlic aioli is one of those things. So simple, so easy, but very delicious. I'm not sure what I'll do with the rest of it, since it won't last that long and is very pungent in my fridge.