I'm always out of Thyme...

Fall is upon us, and two weekends ago it was cold and rainy...the kind of weather where you really just want to put on your sweats and eat chili in front of the fire. I was cleaning out a closet and found a stash of magazines that I had wanted to try recipes out of, so decided to add one to my grocery list.

Beef and Mushroom French Onion Soup
Original recipe from Hy-Vee's Seasons magazine from Fall 2009

1 Tablespon Olive Oil
12 oz Beef Stew Meat, cut in 1 in cubes
2 tablespoons butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
5 cups Beef Broth
1/2 cup Dry Red Wine
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Bayleaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bread and Swiss Cheese

Heat olive oil in a 4 qt Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef cubes and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is brown. Remove beef from Dutch oven, reserve drippings in pan and set aside beef.
Add butter to reserved drippings and heat over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, covered for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, covered, 5 more minutes or until onions are golden, stirring occasionally. Stir in beef, broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, thyme and pepper. Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes. Discard Bayleaf.

Meanwhile, pleace bread slices on baking sheet. Top with cheese. Broil 3 - 4 inches from heat for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is light brown and bubbly. Lade soup into bowls, top each serving with a bread slice.


Ok, The changes I made were:

I accidently used 4 cups vegetable broth and 1 cup beef, I didn't realize it until I was recycling the first container...whoops! I also never ever have any Thyme...I always think I do, buuut, I don't, so I skipped it as well as the bayleaf. Everything else I followed pretty closely. I don't know off the top of my head what type of wine I used (I'll try to remember to check in the morning!), but it was recommended to me by my dear friend Julia. The only other changes I made was I had bought a 16 oz package of stew meat, so I used the whole thing, and while I understand that it was French ONION soup, we don't like a whole lot of onions, so I used about 1/2 of a big onion. For the bread, we used Ciabatta rolls/buns that were sliced in half and I used slices of Swiss Cheese on top.

It was really, really good! In fact, I will be making it a lot this soup season. The only thing I think I'll change from my adaptations would be to use shredded swiss cheese instead of the sliced, Just because I like my bread to be cheesier. We did serve our bread on the side, rather than on top, and then dipped the chewy crispy bread in the soup...my mouth is watering just thinking about it!! Since it makes a decent sized pot and the boys won't eat it, we had the leftovers the next night and it was still really good.

That's the only real new recipe I've tried...I've been eating a lot of Overnight Oats, which is popular in several food blogs, however I'll choose the local Iowa Girl Eats to reference...since, well...she's local!

Other things we've done recently...Roasted veggies (Zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli, new potatoes, baby carrots all chopped or sliced and tossed in olive oil and...well, roasted...here's a tip, toss in the potatoes, baby carrots and new potatoes a while before you toss in your other softer veggies that will roast faster) grilling and just quick meals here and there. I had a minor surgery last week, and ended up eating turkey sammiches (on Arnold's Sandwich thins with Miracle whip and a slice of sargento colby jack...yummy!) for 2 days...darn vicodin cravings! And I must also mention...HONEYCRISPS ARE BACK!!! Yes, the one time per year I not only buy apples, but I spend $3/lb on them!

What's new in your kitchen?