Cooking with the Leamans

Cooking and I go through relationship phases. Sometimes we are the greatest of friends, love spending time together, and constantly test the boundaries of our relationship. Other times I have no patience for cooking and she is pretty much banned from my house and replaced with heating up Lean Cuisines, Kroger Chicken Noodle Soup and various other no fuss, no mess dinner selections. Our relationship has been even more strained since John started spending weeks away. Until last weekend that is when we had a sweet, sweet reunion.

It started on a nice Saturday morning. John and I rolled out of bed with empty stomachs and headed over to Well Done Cooking School for a class all about breakfast.

We started with some chocolate chip pancakes. This surprisingly simple recipe (flour, sugar, baking powder, egg) was quite yummy!


I HOP(e) you like these delicious pancakes!

 

A regular Gordon Ramsey (according to his apron anyway)

John tested, John approved!

Next we made waffles. This recipe was slightly more complicated (vanilla paste?) and requires a waffle iron which we don't have at home so we may have been writing notes back and forth and flirting during this portion of the class. We started paying attention again when the instructor said something about buttermilk biscuits and gravy. Be still, my fluttering heart!

We learned how to use a food processor (another kitchen gadget we actually don't own!) to pulsate the butter into the dough. Then we practiced rolling it out and folding it over to get those dreamy, buttery layers.



Into the oven my little round pieces of heaven

Then we used a great heart healthy option bacon grease to get started the party started with the white gravy.

Be still my dying heart and clogging arteries.

Add flour, milk and salt and pepper to your grease and stir and stir and stir and stir.

Serve over your hot biscuits and enjoy!

Obviously we did!

We also learned the art of the perfect omelet and I made a huge batch of huevos rancheros (eggs with peppers, onions, salsa, and more for your non-Texans) for the whole class! Obviously the instructor recognized my raw talent and stunningly good looks my raised hand for volunteers.

Our favorite tip of the day for your future omelets - try adding GREEN onions!



Look how enthralled everyone is by my sweet cooking skills.

Stuffed and happy

So we left rolled ourselves out of the cooking class and decided to stop by the farmer's market nearby for some fresh produce. I was feeling like I could challenge Bobby Flay to a throwdown (after some digesting) and after seeing some rather large onions, French Onion soup popped into my head. Ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your hats because you are about to be presented with the most amazing French Onion soup recipe ever, courtesy of the always classy, Corie.

Will you look at the onions on that chick!

(PS, ignore the bulging belly, but notice the new crown molding! But that's a blog post for another time)

I started with a pretty basic broth recipe:

• 3 medium onions or so, sliced into strips
• 2 tablespoons of butter (for sauteing onions)
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• 4 cans of beef broth
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 1 tablespoon of Worcester sauce
• A few dashes of thyme

Saute the onions in the large sauce pan on mediumish heat until you feel they are nice and soft (mine took about 15 minutes or so). Throw in the garlic towards the end. Add in the broth, red wine,Worcester and thyme and let it all cook together until it seems nice and done.

A pot full of love and other drugs

Now here comes the very special, amazingly wonderful part. In lieu of the traditional French bread or crouton, I decided to try mixing it up a little. I took a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls and unrolled the dough so it was flat. I spooned the onions and broth into a crock, laid a square of the dough over top and baked it in the oven according to the crescent roll directions (12 minutes on 350, I think). After the crust baked, I topped it with some Swiss cheese and put the oven on broil for a few minutes to get it nice and melty. (Beware of the burn if you try this at home!)

Maybe its not the prettiest, but its definitely the tastiest. (That's what she said)

Despite the burn, this was an award winning masterpiece! Perfect for these blistery winter days and nights we've been having lately (20's today, eek!!).

And just because he is super adorable - a gratuitous Eston photo.

I wonder which Aunty and Uncle gave him that orange and blue monkey ear hat??