Swiss Cheese and Onion Soup

Swiss Cheese and Onion Soup is a very simple soup recipe that made me feel very accomplished after making it.  It's so creamy, so thick, and seems so complicated.  But it's not!  I actually amended this recipe by adding broccoli and spinach. I was so glad I did.  Charlie said that without these additions, this soup would have been "too white and rich." HA!  That's a fact, folks.

To start, I softened onions on the stove with garlic, salt, and dry mustard.

The broccoli went in.

The spinach went in.  Get in there!

The secret ingredients: horseradish and Marsala wine. The recipe actually calls for sherry, but my cupboard was bare, so Marsala it was. Marsala is so fragrant. It makes me fall in love with food every time it's aroma fills my kitchen!

Charlie shredded the Swiss cheese. He's an angel. A cheese angel.

After adding the cheese and stirring the soup, dinner was served!  And look who decide to show up, an old friend!

Onion Soup with Homemade Croutons

Tonight I made Onion Soup with Homemade Croutons! It was just like the French Onion Soup I have ordered in restaurants. I can't believe I am going to say this but... it was a little too rich for me. I never thought I would say that about anything in the Moosewood Cookbook! But this soup was intense.

I started by making croutons this afternoon. I sliced a baguette into cubes and cooked them in butter on the stove. The instructions say to cook them in garlic butter... so I sprinkled a little bit of granulated garlic in the pan. The flavor was subtle and tasty. Then I baked the croutons until they were crisp. The bigger slices were for homemade breadcrumbs; to be used in a Moosewood recipe this weekend.

 

The onions for the soup were cooked slowly for about 35 minutes. They were super soft and soupy after their sauna excursion in the kettle.

Finally, after adding some soy sauce and sherry wine (an improvisation... we didn't have any white wine open), I ladled the soup into ramekins, topped them with croutons and a slice of Swiss cheese, and broiled them in the oven. The soup sizzled when it was time to take them out! I really liked this soup, but could only eat about half of my bowl.

Swiss Cheese and Mushroom Quiche

I cheated a little when I made Swiss Cheese and Mushroom Quiche this evening by using a frozen pastry crust. But by doing so, it made the dinner pretty quick!

The quiche had a base layer of Swiss cheese, then a warm mushroom and onion mixture, with a custard on top. I sprinkled paprika over the whole pie and baked for about an hour. There was a little too much filling for the pie crust, so I also made a small souffle!

Zuccanoes

Zuccanoes are stuffed zucchini canoes. The filling is made of rice, onion, toasted almonds, spices, and garlic. After they are assembled, they are then topped with Swiss cheese and baked for about a half an hour. I paired them with Cream of Broccoli Soup for a wonderful Saturday night meal.

Thank you to my wonderful Momma for all the knife related help in the kitchen.