Onion Dip

At first I thought it would be stupid to blog about this. I mean who hasn't made onion dip with sour cream and onion soup mix?

But then I decided to just put it up here anyway.

Onion Dip reminds me of my dad. He passed away when I was 19. I never really got to cook for my dad. I did make Potato Salad that he enjoyed. Actually, potato salad and my dad reminds of a story about him. One day when I was in high school, I was skipping school with my cousin Sue. I know. I know. You're stunned that Spryte ever skipped school! Shhhh... don't tell my mom... or my kids... thankfully, my kids don't read this! Anyway... my mom dropped me off at school. I met my cousin Sue at the front door and we walked back to my house. I decided I wanted some Potato Salad and whipped up a batch. We just finished making it and getting everything cleaned up when we noticed my dad's car pull up! Uh oh! Dad worked for the town and often came home for break or lunch. So Sue and I rushed to my room and intended to quietly wait him out. He had no reason to suspect anyone was home, so we figured it would be cool. We heard him come in and open up the fridge. Then he said, "Oh! Potato Salad! Hmm... it's still warm..." Then he says, "Peg??" The potato salad was still warm and he guessed that I was there! SHIT! Knowing I was busted, I just said, "yeah dad?" He asked if I'd just made potato salad, so I told him I did and encouraged him to have some. Then he asked why I wasn't at school. I mumbled something about teacher conferences, trying to play it off like I was supposed to be home. He just said, "oh" and had some potato salad. Yes! He bought it! Home free! He finished up his potato salad and was leaving to go back to work. He was half way down the walk. I was standing in the door waving goodbye and he turned back to look at me and said, "Peg. You can't snow the snowman." BUSTED! He knew all along. But that's all he ever said!

Anyway... lots of times when I'm making something, I'll think to myself that my dad would have really liked it, like he enjoyed the potato salad that day.

So why does onion dip remind me of him?

Back in the olden days, when I was a kid we only had one TV. When there's only one TV... guess who decides what you watch? Yep... Dad. (except when M.A.S.H. was on... Mum's favorite) We'd watch old TV shows like The Untouchables, Baretta, Dragnet or those old John Wayne war movies or westerns. The movies I could totally do without... but all the old gangster movies and The Untouchables... I LOVED that! I still do!

Anyway... you're still wondering what this has to do with onion dip. It's simple.

Dad's favorite TV snack. I can't picture him watching TV without a bowl of onion dip in front of him.

When he would settle down on the couch to watch TV, Mum would whip up a bowl of Onion Dip and grab a bag of Ruffles.

So... incase for some reason, you've never tried it, here's the recipe!

I'm not usually a slave to brand names, actually just the opposite. But for this, it's Lipton Onion Soup Mix and Ruffles Potato Chips. ALWAYS

Onion Dip
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
16 oz sour cream

Mix until well combined. Serve with Ruffles Potato Chips.







So that's it! I make it often. My kids love it. I love it. It always reminds me of Dad.



Oh... and if you're gonna skip school... and you make potato salad... and someone comes home... take it with you! Don't leave it in the fridge... the warmth will give you away!

Seven-Onion Soup

I get regular emails from WholeLiving. It's a Martha Stewart website, and although I'm not a Martha fan... I love the Whole Living magazine and website.

Anyway... quite a while ago, a recipe showed up in my email for Seven-Onion Soup. Most recipes that land in my inbox get a quick glance at the recipe name, then I hit the delete button. But some I actually open, then I hit the delete button. This looked pretty tasty and lighter than regular French Onion Soup. So it languished in my inbox for a while, then I eventually moved it to a recipe folder in my email, where it rested, waiting for me to take another look.

Finally a couple weeks ago, when it was VERY cold, I decided it was time to give this one a try.

Jon doesn't like onions at all... neither does Bobby and Lilly wasn't at our house that weekend. So I was hoping it would be REALLY good, since it would be just Tawny and me eating it.

Seven-Onion Soup
2 TBLS extra-virgin olive oil
2 red onions, coarsely chopped
2 white onions, coarsely chopped
2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped
12 fresh pearl onions or 10 ounces frozen
3 shallots, coarsely chopped
2 leeks, washed and cut into 1/4-inch rings
4 medium bunches of chives, coarsely chopped
1/4 C Marsala wine
6 C Beef Stock, or low-sodium canned
2 TBLS coarsely chopped dried porcini
1 TBLS fresh thyme leaves, plus 4 sprigs of thyme

In a large soup pot, combine red, yellow and pearl onions and shallots with olive oil and saute until golden brown and soft.

Add leeks and chives and continue cooking until onions turn a deep golden brown. (about 5 minutes according to the directions)

Add the wine and cook a couple more minutes.

Next add 2 cups of stock every 15 minutes for the next 45 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and thyme leaves with the last addition of stock.
The soup is supposed to very deep brown.

Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with thyme sprigs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok... so start with your Seven kinds of Onions.


It was like Onion-Warfare in my house while I was chopping these. I didn't cry too much, but the onion fumes took over the entire house. Jon and Tawny were significantly less than thrilled.

So get the red, yellow, white and pearl onions, plus shallots and olive oil into the soup pot.

I used garlic infused olive oil.


Hmmm....

Soft... but definitely not golden...


Well... it had been quite a while and I was getting no gold... so I moved on. Perhaps that was mistake number one?

Add leeks and chives.


Now 5 minutes to deep golden brownness?


Hmmm... no deep golden brownness going on in this pot... not matter what I do.

Well... on to the next step I guess.

I couldn't find dried porcini mushrooms by themselves.

So I picked up this steak blend. I figured since porcini was the first one listed, there should be a decent amount of them in there.


I just used the whole bag. It was a little more than 2 TBLS.

Shrooms & thyme into the pot with the first addition of stock.


Followed by the remaining stock, two cups at a time, in 15 minute intervals.

Ok.... so I should have very deep brown soup right? Hmmm... not really.

But my onions never browned up. And this soup took me well over 2 hours to make.

Ok... not deep dark brown... but it's onion soup.

So I put some homemade croutons into a bowl.


A good pinch of shredded swiss cheese.


(I had a nice block of aged gruyere in the fridge someplace, but my fridge absorbed it! I have since found it!)

Now to ladle in some soup.


It would be much browner if the onions had browned.


So even though it wasn't brown it was still good, right?

Well... this soup was way too sweet for my taste.

And it didn't have that deep down comforting robust onion soup flavor. Ya know what I mean?

Tawny didn't really care for it either.

If you like a sweeter onion soup, definitely give this a try.

The croutons totally ROCKED. So I guess it wasn't a total waste!

Will I try this recipe again? Probably not. I'll look for a more traditional French Onion Soup recipe.

But the email is no longer languishing in the recipe folder of my inbox.

Onion Gravy

This is great on Toad in the Hole or any roast beast or potatoes!

Onion Gravy
1 small onion, diced
butter
some flour
Beef broth
savory

Sorry it's a little vague. I don't usually measure for gravy.

Saute onions with savory in butter until nicely browned. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of flour. Cook 5 or 10 minutes, until flour is well browned. Add about 1 1/2 cups of beef broth and whisk. Slowly add more broth until you reach your desired gravy consistency.

Brown the onions in butter with savory...


Add some flour...


Cook until the flour is well browned...




Add beef broth...


Be sure to scrape up all the bits in the bottom of the skillet...


That's it!!


Homemade gravy ROCKS!