Shakespeare's Soup Kitchen

Another night for a soup with this cold, wet and miserable weather! Something that one can eat while lazing on the lounge with Ugg boots and a "blanky." Decided to attempt (for the first time) the classic French Onion soup. And I'm amazed I never cooked this before because it practically uses only 4 ingredients.
Gary made this soup on Masterclass last week, so I loaded up the segment and cooked it as I watched. I halved the recipe however- 2 kg of onions eeek! Bit of butter, some herbs, beef stock, cheese, a splash of sherry instead of cider and some crusty bread. Pretty much stock standard ingredients you have in the pantry! Also a good recipe for walking away from as you're pretty much just cooking the onions and sweating them for long periods of time. It's minimal fuss and prep.

Caramelise. Simmer. Add. Pour. Ladle. Grate. Grill.

I pull the soup out from under the grill and dip my spoon into gooey bubbling melted cheese- a little too hot on the tongue, but I keep eating!  Then I move the crusty bread around so it soaks up the sweet onion stock and pop that into my mouth.

 It's just what I felt like. Now for a good book.

Don't keep calm he just called you carrots!

During the week we used all of our left overs to make Roast Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Pancetta served with Baby Carrots, courtesy of Billy Law from MasterChef season 3.
Really tasty and easy to make- we rolled the chicken up and wrapped it in the pancetta and made a bit of an apple/carrot slaw, using some of the purple carrots we had bought and used during the week, plus carrots we have been growing in our garden....Nom NOM.
Would you believe we even saw purple and yellow cauliflower at Coles when purchasing purple carrots!!! Even used the carrot peel by throwing it in the deep fryer and making crisps- not sure how good for you that is but it added a crunchy texture atop the chicken......and we felt quite "gourmet" making it. Might look like there's lots of ingredients in this recipe but its mainly spices and herbs! Way to spice up your chicken!!

• Carrot and apple salad
• 60gbutter, diced
• 1 clovegarlic, minced
• 1sprig lemon thyme, leaves picked
• 1carrot, peeled and 1cm diced
• 1apple, peeled and 1cm diced
• Roast chicken roulade
• 4 slicespancetta
• 3chicken thighs, bone removed, fat trimmed
• 1 clovegarlic, minced
• 1 spriglemon thyme, leaves picked
• 20gbutter, long rectangular piece
• 20mlolive oil
• Carrot crisps
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 2baby carrots, peeled
• Roast carrots
• 1 tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunchbaby carrots, peeled and tops trimmed
• 10gbutter

• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• For carrot and apple salad, heat butter, garlic and thyme in a small frying pan. Add carrot and apple and sauté until golden. Set aside.
• For roast chicken roulade, lay pancetta, slightly overlapping, on a clean chopping board. Lay two chicken thighs next to each other on top of the pancetta. Sprinkle garlic and thyme and a lay long strip of butter on top. Lay the third piece of chicken thigh over the dressed pieces. Gently roll up pancetta around the chicken and truss firmly with kitchen string to hold roulade together.
• Add oil to a hot frying pan and sear parcel all over until evenly golden. Transfer to a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Rest under loosely wrapped foil.
• For carrot crisps, heat oil in a small saucepan to 190°C. Peel carrot into thin strips using a vegetable peeler and fry until golden, drain on paper towel.
• For roasted carrots, heat a small roasting pan over medium heat, add oil and carrots and toss until just golden, add butter and toss until melted. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
• To serve, slice roast chicken roulade into 2cm slices. Place a bed of carrot and apple salad and serve alongside roast carrots and carrot crisps with a drizzle of the butter sauce from the carrot and apple salad.

They eat us up hungrily, and when they’re full, they vomit us up.

Men: "They’re like stomachs and we’re just the food. They eat us up hungrily, and when they’re full, they vomit us up."


Slightly disagree with the women in Shakespeare's Othello! I mean, my husband just whipped up an awesome mid-week meal based on masterclass last week. I know he watches MasterChef (tick) and cooks dinner (tick) and washes up (double tick).
Tonight he created George Colambaris's Greek ribs with a bean salad, mixed with fetta, caramelised onions, baby spinach, pine nuts and cherry tomatoes. MMMM and did I mention the yoghurt dressing drizzled on top with a mix of honey! Feeling slightly healthy too and no stomach bulge. BONUS! I had been salivating for them since last Friday, even though I'm not really a ribs girls. Close-ups on TV showed them juicy and tender and I'm a sucker for the contestants groaning over food!. Pretty easy to make, a crowd pleaser and tasty. Next week we might make Matt Moran's version and compare which was tastier!

Watch this space for more rib action next week!!

• 1kg lamb breast riblets, cut into single ribs
• Olive oil, for serving

Marinade

• 2cm ginger
• 5 eschalots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 star anise

Dipping sauce

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup Greek yoghurt

Bean salad

• 100g blanched baby green beans, sliced into 4cm pieces
• 1 tablespoon toasted flaked almonds
• ¼ cup caramelised onions
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup fetta, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint