Growing up, birthdays were celebrated by opening presents and eating cake first thing in the morning before going to school/work. Naturally, I insisted that Ryan and I do the same. Ryan woke up all groggy and sleepy, but he did sing me happy birthday and shared a piece of cake with me. I made the cake myself: it was yellow cake with a strawberry raspberry filling and a lemon buttercream frosting. Ryan had volunteered to get me a cake, and even said he would make me a cake, but I decided I would have more fun making a cake. I was inspired by a cake we had at our wedding from Sweet Eats Cakes, that was just to die for. My cake wasn’t nearly as good as hers. The frosting and filling (both of which I made!) were yummy but I over-mixed the batter so the cake came out a bit dense. It was tasty, but I had the most fun putting it all together.

Dangerous birthday gifts

After cake I opened presents. Ryan got me a deep fryer! I was so excited because I had been talking about wanting one for about a year. Ryan let me register for one when we were engaged, but no one bought it, because, seriously who needs a deep fryer? It’s not a kitchen necessity, but I thought it would be super fun to have. I mean, who doesn’t want to have carnival themed dinner nights? Think of all the things you can make! Deep fried candy bars, fried chicken, corn dogs, French fries, potato chips, hush puppies, and of course funnel cake. P.S. Mom, please send me your fried chicken recipe!!! Hungry bellies want to try it!

And, to add to the kitchen goodness, my brother got me a crème brulee set, complete with kitchen torch and butane gas. So I now have two ends of the cooking spectrum – I now have the means to makee fancy food like crème brulee and greasy street food like corn dogs. My friend also pointed out that now I’ve moved up from basic appliances to the “dangerous” ones. Using the deep fryer I did have an accident, but not related to the fryer. I’ll get to that in a bit.

But back to the birthday. I went to work and I spent a lot of the day telling museum visitors it was my birthday. After that, my besties from work took me out to lunch at Lincoln, an Abraham Lincoln themed restaurant. It was such a decadent afternoon. The weather was gorgeous and we ate outside, sitting in this cozy both. Seriously, you never see a booth outside, but we were really sitting under a tree lounging on snuggly couches. We all ate so much! We shared brussels sprouts, fries, and chips. I had a lobster cob salad and it had HUGE chunks of lobster. My friends told the waiter it was my birthday and he asked if I was turning 16. Not quite.

Lunch at Lincoln

For dessert we ordered some sweet potato pound cake thing, which sounded suspicious but was really yummy. There was this deliciously rich and decadent sauce we poured on top. The dessert was the only thing I took a picture of, with the exception of my mint julep, which was in a cool copper cup. The other pictures are courtesy of my lovely friend Anna.  I did take about 7 pictures of Charlotte pouring the sauce on the cake. Also, they gave me a free chocolate cake too, so that put my birthday cake total up to 3. Actually, make that 4, because my coworker Jonathan bought be a cupcake too.

Dinner at Quarter Deck

And, as if I hadn’t eaten enough, Ryan took me out for dinner at Quarter Deck. This was what I was most excited about, because we were going to have a steamed crab feast. I love crab picking and it’s truly a staple of summer for me.  We got a table outside, ordered a pitcher of Yuengling and waited for our crabs to arrive. My goal was to eat 14 crabs (because it’s  half my age). The restaurant gives you a bucket so you can put all your unwanted bits inside – but I laid out the crab tops as a marker to see how many I had eaten. I didn’t make my goal, I only ate 12.

I had the best time eating a leisurely dinner outside with Ryan. Some people don’t like crabs because they say it takes forever to get any food. And it does. But you can’t go for crabs really hungry. It’s most enjoyable when you go with the purpose of sharing the evening with someone. We had a few beers, enjoyed the weather, and talked, and got really messy and covered in Old Bay and crab bits.

Demon pig pitcher

I treated myself to a knife skills class at Sur la Table on Saturday. In addition to sushi class, knife skills class is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I have always been nervous to go though, because I thought I’d be the worst, and incapable of cutting well, and might slice my finger off. Someone did cut themselves in class, but it wasn’t me. Class was pretty cool! I learned a better way to cut a bell pepper, grapes, and an onion. I also learned how to hold the knife better (it’s called a pinch grip). And that instead of lifting my arm up and down to chop, I’m supposed to do more of a continuous rocking motion that follows the shape of the blade. I’m not yet ready to throw knives at a Japanese steak house, but my skills are improving.

When you take a class at Sur la Table you get a 10% off coupon that’s good for a week. I was walking around the store and I caught my eye on a semi-ugly pig pitcher. And I wanted it a lot, but it was $50. I love pigs, and since I was a kid I’ve collected random pig things. I have coasters, a wine stopper, and little figurines, but I could not justify buying a $50 pig pitcher. Ryan also told me it looked “like a demon.” So I consoled myself by buying a pig overmitt and a spatula. (And some other things… there was a sale, what was I to do?!)

On Sunday, I had three of my college friends, Norma, Lynn, and Kim, over for brunch. They live in Maryland, so I made them trek all the way across state lines for some food.  I made an onion and pepper quiche – and I made the crust, from scratch. I also made waffles, bacon, Bloody Mary’s, and I put out a bunch of berries. It was delicious, I got to practice my knife skills, and my friends all teased me that the strawberries looked especially well cut. And, I made all this delicious food, and I didn’t take a picture of one flipping thing. The only picture I took was of my friends on the roof of my building with the Washington Monument in the background.

Do I have too many spatulas?

Also, I’m not sure how it started, but somehow Ryan started giving a speech about how I have too many different kinds of spatulas. I think it was because I was showing my friend Kim my Sur la Table purchases. She is a good and adventurous cook herself, so I thought she’d be interested. But somehow, the spatula situation got out of hand and my friends started calling us “House of Spatula.” They said I should rename my blog “House of Spatula.” Or maybe have a food truck called “House of Spatula.”  Only Kim said it made sense to have so many so I didn’t always have to wash them. And now I feel like every time I cook I should use multiple spatulas to prove that I need so many. My weak argument is that when you see the kitchens of professional cooks they always have tons of utensils and spatulas. The group pointed out that I don’t cook as much as they do. Sure, but you know how they say dress for the job you want, not the job you have? Maybe it’s like that. If I equip my kitchen like a professional chef, maybe I’ll cook like one.

So that was my birthday. It was delicious. And I think 28 is going to be all right because it includes funnel cakes.

College friends and the Washington Monument in the background

I settled on funnel cake as our first deep frying expedition because it’s a delicious treat. But also, it’s low pressure. I didn’t want to start with dinner because what if it was ruined and we are starving after work and then have nothing to eat?! Also, we had practically all the ingredients in the apartment already. And again, funnel cake is delicious.

Funnel cake is also fun. We have it at the fair, at the circus, at the baseball game. There’s just something festive about it. As Ryan and I were making it together, we were silly and dancing and having a nice time. We did have one minor setback that I thought was going to ruin the night. As he was stirring ingredients, I went to put stuff back on the shelves. I placed the flour on the shelf and a can rolled off and hit me in the foot. I yelled in pain, fell on the floor, and cried in a heap. Seriously, I was behaving like a pathetic mess. We were worried I’d lost my nail since that happened to me last year. But I didn’t, so crisis averted. Once we got me off the floor and cleaned up the blood on my foot, we rallied and were back in business. We finished mixing the dough, poured it into the hot oil, and watch with delight as we made our first funnel cakes. We also had our friend Josh over and there was immediate talk about the three of us opening a stand and selling funnel cakes to tourists on the 4^th of July.

This recipe is half of the Williams-Sonoma recipe. It makes about 4 funnel cakes if you use ½ cup of batter per cake. Also, if you don’t have a deep fryer, you can still make this recipe. What you’ll need is a deep skillet or a not-too-deep pot. Maybe like a Dutch oven. Fill it with a few inches of oil and heat until very hot. You can use a candy thermometer to try to make the exact temperature. You just want a few inches of oil so the funnel cake has room to float.

My awesome deep fryer

Ingredients

Canola oil for frying

¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar

¾ tsp cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup packed brown sugar

Scant ½ tsp salt (scant means don’t fill the tsp all the way)

1 egg and 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 ½ cups milk (might need a bit more)

¾ tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mix confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside, this is a topping.
2. Optional: Heat oven to 200°. This is so you can keep funnel cakes warm while you’re still working on making new ones.
3. Pour oil into deep fryer. You will use what feels like a disgusting amount, but it’s ok because you can strain it and reuse it. 
4. Heat deep fryer to 375°.
5. In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.
6. In a medium bowl, mix egg, 1 ½ cups of milk, and vanilla.
7. Add wet ingredient to the dry. If it seems a little thick and will be hard to pour, add some more milk. You shouldn’t have to add anymore than another ½ cup. I think we added another 2 tbsps.
8. Put fry basket into the oil.
9. Transfer batter to a cup with a spout. We used a liquid measuring cup. If you have a funnel, use that! What you want is to be able to pour the batter in ribbons so it makes the funnel cake shape. If it pours in one big blob, it’s not going to look right. Also, it might be obvious, but if you have a funnel, then just pour the batter through the funnel into the oil. I don’t have a funnel, so I needed a cup with a spout.
10. Slowly pour ½ cup of the batter into the hot oil in a thin stream. Try to make a circular pattern. Make sure the batter is poured within the confines of the fry basket.
11. Fry for about 1-1 ½ minutes, until the underside is brown.
12. Flip the funnel cake over. We raised the frying basket out of the oil, then flipped the funnel cake, then dropped the basket back into the oil.
13. Fry for 1 minute more.
14. Lift the basket out of the oil and let drain. If ready to eat, sprinkle with the sugar mixture. If saving, put in the oven to stay warm.
15. EAT IT!!!

Messy level

Low! I’m totally impressed with this deep fryer. The max-fill oil level is much lower than the rim of the fryer so there is no spatter at all. The only mess we made was when we transferred batter from the mixing bowl to the measuring glass. It was really excellent. We didn’t even have to worry about draining the funnel cakes because the basket hangs over the oil and lets it drip there. SO EASY. I love it. I look forward to more frying.

The messy part came from smashing my toe with a can of coconut cream. Be careful!

Update 6/30 – So, I think I should up the messy level to 3 spoons. Cooking it isn’t very hard, but man is clean up some work!!! You have to clean the heating unit, the part with the oil, and the frying basket. Also, if you’re going to reuse the oil, you have to pour it through a strainer into a large jar. And so it’s a lot of steps and a lot of things to clean up afterward.

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Sushi we made during our class at Sur la Table

A trait I get from my father is that when I really want something, but maybe it’s a little frivolous, I take forever to actually jump in and do it. If Papa wants golf clubs or a new television, he’ll research characteristics and prices, he’ll go online and in stores, and he’ll talk about it. He’ll visit, and re-visit stores. And my mom will eventually say, “just buy it!!!”  But he needs to take his time. It’s what makes him feel comfortable. And I’m pretty much the same way. For a long time (like over 2 years, I’m embarrassed to say) I hemmed and hawed over a sushi making class. I wanted to go, but it seemed a little expensive and unnecessary. I mean wouldn’t it be too hard? Wasn’t class too expensive? Would I ever really make it at home? Why did I even want to make sushi? Who would I go with? And so I thought about it. And I researched which places had classes, and I price compared, and menu compared. I did this when I lived in DC, then when I lived in NYC, and then again when I moved back to the DC area. And then, as can be expected, I never signed up. But I talked about it and thought about it a lot. So, I’ve inherited this trait and now Ryan has to deal with my crazy inaction.

And like my Mom, who tells Papa to just buy it, Ryan gave me the push I needed. He suggested to Santa that I might want a cooking class for Christmas. And, Santa, Ryan and my parents came through.  (The same also happened for blooming tea, which I talked about and researched to death, and then my family finally bought it for me and I now have 4 different kinds of blooming tea).

For a Christmas gift my parents bought me a gift certificate to Sur la Table and I used it to sign up for sushi class (after repeatedly asking Ryan if we really should do that class over something else). No more thinking and planning, I was going to make sushi! And I’m happy to say, the class was totally worth it. Thanks Mama and Papa! Is making sushi at home faster or cheaper? No, it’s not. But is it more awesome? Absolutely. And shouldn’t we make the world more awesome? Yes. Now go watch the Kid President (who also wants to make the world more awesome) video I just embedded so you can feel awesome. No wait, finish reading my blog first.

Silicone sushi mat

Ryan and I finally went to class at Sur la Table in February and we made spicy tuna and salmon rolls, and a veggie hand roll. It was much easier to assemble and create than we expected. And after class I called my parents to gush about how fun and amazing it was. And we had so much fun, and so much success that we bought a sushi mat after class. There were two options for sushi mats: bamboo and silicone. Bamboo is the traditional option, but to use it at home you need to cover it with plastic wrap. According to our instructor, bamboo mats are easy to ruin and difficult to clean, which is why you need the plastic wrap. Silicone mats are modern and don’t look as nice, but you don’t need plastic wrap and  you can clean the mat in the dishwasher. We went with the silicone mat.

Prior to class, making sushi seemed like one of those secret mysteries that must be hard to put together. And real sushi masters, I’m sure, do much more complicated things with their ingredients and rolls. But for the average home cook, sushi at home is a possibility. Then, a few after the class our friends Steve and Jess came to visit and suggested we take a crack at making sushi at home. Steve and Jess are great friends to have visit. They’re easy going, but also up to try different things. The main goal being just to have a nice weekend. They’d been to DC before, so were open for less site-seeing and instead  welcomed a weekend of eating and drinking in Arlington. And for us, an eating weekend is becoming the norm. When they visited in New York we spent the whole weekend taking them out for pizza, ramen, and to drink boots of beer in dingy dive bars. Anyway, back in Arlington, we took them to El Chilango, a great Mexican food truck, and to Bayou for beignets. But the highlight was definitely spending the afternoon together making up sushi combinations and gorging ourselves on what we’d put together. It’s a great way to have an adventure and catch up with old friends. Also, making sushi at home allows you to  customize your rolls and create something that’s both delicious and brag-worthy.

I’ve made sushi once more since they came to visit and took more step-by-step pictures that hopefully will help be a guide if you decide to make sushi yourself. I’ll try to be as straightforward as possible, but some things need explanation and stories to show what to do. But I hope you decide to take on sushi at home. It’s a fun activity and even if it doesn’t come out perfectly, it will still taste delicious.

My focus in this post is mostly on the way to make sushi. I’ll leave fillings mostly up to you, but I have included a recipe for spicy tuna. This is sort of a long post, so let’s get started.

Sushi Rice:

Ingredients –

1 1/2 cups short grain rice (You can also buy rice called “sushi rice.” So far, every short grain rice I’ve found also had “sushi rice” written on the packaging)

Rice Vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

2 teaspoons coarse salt

Directions – 

Note – Sushi rice is seasoned! It’s not just plain white rice. The basic instructions are first you cook the rice, then you let it cool a bit, then you season it, then cover the rice to keep it moist. Also, this amount of rice will make about 6 rolls, which equals about 36 pieces.

1. Using a fine mesh strainer, rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. This might take 2-5 minutes. Using your hands to gentle turn and move the rice so you can make sure all the rice is being rinsed off. This step removes excess starch from the rice.

2. Cook the rice according to package directions.

3. While rice is cooking, mix the vinegar seasoning. In a small bowl stir vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Or mostly dissolved, I have a hard time getting the coarse salt to dissolve all the way. Set bowl aside.

4. Once rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat, let it stand covered for 5 minutes so the rice can cool.

5. Using a large flat spoon (you can also buy a traditional paddle in stores) gentle transfer the rice to a large platter. Traditionally a wood platter is used. In the classroom the instructor used a rimmed baking sheet. I used a glass Pyrex dish. Throughout this whole process you will probably need to rinse your spoon occasionally as rice gets stuck to it.

6. Once the rice is transferred, use your spoon to gently fold the rice over in your dish. This is giving it air so the rice cools a bit. While folding, fan the rice. (Sushi kits often come with fans, but I just used a stiff piece of paper). You want your rice to be cool enough that it doesn’t wilt or melt the nori when they come into contact. But you don’t want it so cold that the rice loses its stickiness. You want the rice to be “tepid,” according to my instructions from Sur la Table. Room temperature is fine, but if it’s a little warm that’s ok. If it’s a little warm the nori might get wrinkly (I had that happen) but the roll can still be made.

7. When the rice is the right temperature pour the vinegar mixture 1 tbsp at a time over the rice. You might not use all the vinegar mixture. You want to distribute the vinegar mixture evenly. Use your spoon to gently fold the rice and coat it all with the vinegar. Continue this until the rice has a sheen.

8. Cover the rice with damp paper towels. You can also use a kitchen towel, but the instructor said that detergent scents and flavors can be transferred through cloth, so paper towels can be preferable.

Fillings:

1. Chop up vegetables into matchsticks. I used red peppers, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers. You can really use whatever vegetables you like. Heck, use whatever you like – string cheese, Twizzlers, pretzel sticks. All of those things could easily be in matchstick form.

Spicy Tuna:

I think the part that makes people nervous about making sushi at home is buying the fish. How do we know what will be good? Am I going to get sick? I can’t make you any promises about the fish you buy, but I can tell you what I know. Our instructor at Sur la Table said that “sushi grade fish” means that it is fish that has been frozen down to a certain temperature so that bacteria will be killed. She said you can ask at the fish counter about what they recommend to use in sushi. She also said some sushi bars, and sushi bars in grocery stores, will also sell you fish.

Ryan, Steve, Jess, and I went to Whole Foods. I asked the man behind the fish counter what we could use for sushi. He told me that he wasn’t allowed to recommend any of the fish for sushi, but that people do it all the time, and in Europe this fish would be considered ok for sushi. So the four of us looked at each other and decided were were going to go for it anyway. We also went to the sushi counter at Whole Foods and I had the most ridiculous conversation where neither the lady nor I understood the other.

Me: Do you have fish we could use to make sushi?

Lady at the Sushi Counter: This is sushi

Me: No, no. I want to make it at home. What fish can I use?

Lady at the Sushi Counter: Sushi is here. You can eat this.

Anyway, I walked away and we bought the salmon and tuna from the fish counter and none of us got sick. Now back to the recipe.

Ingredients: 

4 oz yellow fin tuna

1 tbsp Sriracha

1 – 1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise (If you can find Japanese mayo – which I can’t! – use that)

1/2 tsp mirin (it’s a liquid and you can find it in grocery store in the “ethnic food” section)

1-2 tbsp finely chopped green onions (more or less to taste)

1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions:

1. For the sauce, mix the ingredients together. Taste. If it’s too hot put in more mayo. Not hot enough, add some Sriracha. Based on my research, basic spicy tuna sauce includes hot sauce, mayo, mirin, and green onions. Mix those basic ingredients to your liking and you’ve got sauce.

2. For the tuna, remove any tough sinewy parts of the fish. In the picture below I’m holding a tough sinewy part. In between the tuna layers there is sinew, but you only really need to remove what is tough (and therefore what would be hard to chew). You can tell what’s tough because when you try to cut, you’ll have some resistance against your knife. There are two ways to remove the sinew. #1 Use a knife and cut the tuna into cubes. You can cut around the tough bits  pretty easily #1 Use a spoon to scrape off the layers of tuna. This will scrape the meet from the sinew and give you small pieces of tuna.

3. Once you’ve removed the tough parts what you want it small pieces of tuna. You can do this by cutting the tuna into small pieces or by scraping the meat using the spoon.

4. Mix the tuna with the sauce. Set aside until you’re ready to fill your roll.

Making the Roll:

Make sure you have a spacious work area. Within your reach you’ll need a sushi mat, nori, the rice, cut up veggies, fish, knife, damp towel, and bowl of water. The first time we made this at home we made an epic mess. The second time I used my giant cutting board as a work space. This way I could spill, drop rice, and make rolls without getting stuff all over my table. To gush for a second, I’m crazy for my huge cutting board. I got it from the Container Store and it’s 20″x15″. Huge rights? It’s great because there’s space for EVERYTHING. Space for cutting, space for what’s on deck to be cut, space for what’s already been cut, and space for the bits that need to be discarded. Sure it doesn’t really fit in the sink, but it does fit in the dishwasher. Gush over. Let’s get rolling.

Sushi rolling set up

1. Place your sushi mat in front of you.

2. Put a piece of nori, shiny side down, on the sushi mat. The bottom of the nori and bottom of the sushi mat should be aligned. The nori is likely perforated. You want the perforation to be parallel to you. You also may want to break off 1 to 1.5 lines so you don’t have too much nori. I like to break off a bit of nori because it had a chewy mouth feel and I don’t want more of that.

3. Using the bowl of water lightly wet your hands. You want a light sheen on your hands. This is so the rice won’t stick to you too much.

4. Grab a baseball size ball of rice and put it in the middle of the nori. Using your fingers gently spread the rice across the nori. You want a thin layer of rice. Grab more rice and fill in any holes so that your whole nori sheet it covered.  If your hands are getting too covered in rice, use the bowl of water to wipe off the rice.

Jess spreading her rice

5. If you want nori on the outside of your finished roll move on to the next step. If you want rice on the outside of your roll, flip the nori over. Now the rice will be touching the sushi mat and the nori will be facing you. About 1/3 of the way up the nori from you, put a thin layer of rice.

6. Place the fillings about 1/3 of the way up the nori (if you are doing rice on the outside, you’re putting your filling on the thin layer you just made in the previous step). Layer your fillings parallel to you. Try not to go crazy, it’s easy to overfill.

This is an example where the nori will be on the outside of the finished roll

7. Put your thumbs under the sushi mat. Put the rest of your fingers on the fillings. Hold the fillings in place as you use your thumb to pull the edge of the sushi mat up and over the fillings. Press gently. What you are doing is creating a seal and locking the fillings in the roll.

8. Check on your roll to make sure it’s sealed. Then, gentle pull the sushi mat over the roll again, but this time keep pulling so you’re rolling the entire sheet of nori. You should not have a log of sushi.

Sushi rolled is sealed! Now to roll it all the way over. This is an example with rice on the outside of the roll.

9. Using a sharp knife cut the sushi into six pieces. You will likely need to use the damp cloth to wipe your knife between cuts. The knife will get very sticky from the rice and fish. I like to cut the middle first, then cut each half in thirds. Your end pieces might be a little sad and have things falling out. All you have to do it take some extra rice or fillings and stuff it in there to look nice. It’s your roll, in your house, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

You can see the end piece is falling out a bit. I just shoved everything back in and placed it cut side up. Then you can’t tell it’s messy.

10. EAT IT! You earned it! Hope it’s delicious.

Messy Level: High. At least the first time, this was an epic mess. I’m sure professional chefs have this down to a science, but not so for me the at-home cook. The first time we had spills, rice, and soy sauce all over the table. The second time we were less messy,  but there were still a lot of dishes. Making sushi takes a lot of utensils, plates, paper towels, and ingredients. It’s another reason why you should make sushi in a group because then you have help cleaning up. Also, if you stay away from spicy tuna and stick to just plain, non-saucy fish you’ll probably have less clean up.

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But this is a great recipe to talk about on a sick day because it’s the ultimate comfort food. Ryan and I first made it during a cooking class at Sur La Table which focused on Jacques Pepin. I had never been to a cooking class before and I thought everything we made would be too complicated and I’d never be able to make it again at home. Not so! This recipe blew us away in class and we made it many times throughout the winter. It’s rich, thick, and delicious which makes it perfect for sick days, freezing winter evenings, and according Jacques Pepin, it’s good after a night of heavy drinking. This recipe comes from “Essential Pepin” by Jacques Pepin. It takes about an hour to finish, but it’s pretty straightforward. It’s not the prettiest recipe because it look rather lumpy. It also comes out thicker than a regular soup, but it’s hearty and amazing.

Another thing that I’d like to pass on is  a way to cut onions. Our instructor taught us this in class and I’ve found it really handy. For this recipe you’ll need long strips on onions. First, cut the onion from end to end, NOT across the equator. Peel off the onion skins. For strips, cut both tips off the ends. Then cut the onion along the lines you see on the onion. This means you are NOT cutting straight up and down, but on a diagonal following the grain of the onion. Hope these pictures help make sense of what I wrote.

If you’re dicing the onion, again cut the onion from end to end. Next cut off the non-hairy end of the onion. Then, like above, cut along the onion along the long lines on the onion. The “hairy end” of the onion will hold the strips all together. Now, cut horizontally up the onion until you get to the “hairy end.” Now you’ll have nice small squares of onion.

On to the recipe.

Ingredients: 

15-20 slices of baguette, cut about 1/4 inch thick

3 tbsp butter

4 cups of onion cut in thin strips (about 4 medium onions)

6-8 cups chicken broth (you can use more or less broth depending on the size of your casserole dish)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (feel free to use more! I love cheese and sometimes use up to 3 cups)

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup of port

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°

2. Arrange the slices of bread on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until they are light golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and set aside

3. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Cook the onions in the butter for about 20 minutes, or until the onions start to turn a bit brown in places.

4. Add the stock, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil and cook for 20 minutes.

5.  Arrange 1/2 the toast on the bottom of a casserole dish. I use a 2.5 quart dish, but have also used my Dutch Oven with success. The bigger the dish the more stock you can use. Smaller dish means some stock doesn’t make it into the final product.

6. Layer 1/2 onions on top of the toast

7. Layer 1/3 cheese on top of the onions.

8. Repeat the layers so in total you have two layers of bread, onion, and cheese.

9. Pour the stock into the casserole. Leave about an inch on the top because the soup will rise in the oven.

10. Sprinkle the last 1/3 of cheese on top of the soup mixture.

11. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a nice cheesey crust forms on top.

12. While the soup is baking, whisk the egg yolks and port in a bowl.

13. Remove the soup from the oven. Make a hole in the middle of the soup mixture and pour in the egg and port mix. Stir everything so the port mixture is well incorporated. The heat of the soup will cook the egg.

14. Turn off the oven and serve!

Messy Level: High. Prior to documenting this for the blog I would have thought this was a fairly mess-free recipe, and if you’re more meticulous than me you might keep your kitchen clean. But for me, after chopping four onions I had onion skins all over the kitchen. I shredded the cheese in the food processor and some fell out so I had cheese on the floor. But my worst mistake was that in my excitement for this dish, I over filled the casserole. It cooked over a lot which led to burned stock remnants at the bottom of my oven. Needless to say, that’s no fun. So, be more careful than me!

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