Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

I get home late two nights a week and try to do slow cooker meals on those nights. It's been really cold here, perfect soup weather. I was thumbing through Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker cookbook looking for a new soup to try. When I saw the French Onion Soup, I was hooked. French Onion Soup in the slow cooker, seriously?

If you've made French Onion Soup you know it's an afternoon project. I was excited to think I might be able to make French Onion Soup while I was at work. I did some searching on the internet and found a few other slow cooker French Onion Soup recipes. With the recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker cookbook recipe as my inspiration, I created my own version. Most recipes call for dry white wine, cognac or brandy, I decided to use leftover champagne. I think it added a wonderful depth of flavor. The recipe in Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker cookbook cooks the onions for 10 - 12 hours, adds the wine and broth and cooks 1 -2 additional hours. I felt the soup would have a better flavor if the broth cooked longer. I also thought the original recipe was lacking in some spices, so I chose to add bay leaves and thyme.

Give this soup a try! It is almost, if not as good, as French Onion Soup cooked on the stove.



French Onion Soup
Adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook
Serves 2

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon flavorful olive oil
2 large onions
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 - 3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons dry white wine (I used champagne)
2 cups beef broth
Thick slices of French bread, small enough to fit inside the rim of the soup bowl, for each serving
2 teaspoons cognac or white wine (I used champagne)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Approximately 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese for each serving

1. Combine the butter and oil in the slow cooker and cover. Turn the slow cooker on low and allow the butter melt and the oil to heat which you slice the onions.
2. Peel the onions, slice in half lengthwise, slice thinly into half moons. You should have about 4 cups of onion slices. Add them to the cooker. Sprinkle the salt and sugar over the onions. Toss with oil, butter, sugar and salt to coat them. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, stir. Turn the temperature down to LOW and cook until they are dark brown and caramelized, but not burned. (I cooked mine about 5 hours.) They will have cooked down to a fraction of their original volume and most of the liquid will be evaporated. If you are home, stir the onions once or twice during the cooking time to help them cook evenly. (I didn't stir mine after the first hour and they browned nicely.)
3. When the onions are done, add the wine, broth, bay leaves and thyme. Cover and continue to cook on LOW 4 -5 hours.
4. When you are ready to serve the soup, stir in the cognac. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toast the bread. Preheat the oven to 350. Put the bread slices on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10 - 15 minutes. Increase the temperature to 400.
5. Pour the soup into 2 ovenproof soup bowls; place on a baking sheet. Drop a bit of the cheese into the soup. Top each bowl with bread. Pile the rest of the cheese on top of the bread. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and browned, about 10 minutes. You can also put it under the broiler for a minute or two to help brown the cheese. Serve immediately.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday and Souper Sundays!

From The Good Life

You know how it's still okay to send a thank you note within a certain amount of time? Is there a certain amount of time when it's too late to be posting about a past event? I am going to say as long as it is within a month you're still good, okay?

Our friends Karen and Larry came to visit for New Year's. On Friday afternoon, we went to see Little Fockers. My son Justin and his girlfriend Lily worked on the movie. When Tim and I were in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving in 2009 we were lucky enough to see the heart attack scene being filmed. It was fun to see the scene on the big screen!


We decided to be safe and stay in on New Year's Eve. The final step in our main course was grilling for 10 - 15 minutes. Tim, being a Minnesotan who will grill in cold weather, agreed to grill for me! He scooped out a path and brushed the snow off the grill. Thanks, Tim! You helped make our New Year's dinner special! Here's our menu!

Mixed Grill with Spicy Bourbon Sauce

Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust

Honey Orange Glazed Carrots

Lemon Pots de Creme

One of my food blogging goals for 2011 is to entertain more. This is the perfect menu for entertaining! I will be making these recipes again soon!


When I read the recipe for the mixed grill sauce and saw it contained 3 tablespoons of chili spice, I was concerned. No need for concern, it wasn't spicy at all. I am sure whatever chili sauce you use makes a difference in the spice level, too. I halved the recipe but ended up making a full recipe of sauce. I am glad I did, it was so delicious.




Since there were only four of us, I made the gratin in a 7" springform pan, the size was perfect. The flavors of the two potatoes and gruyere cheese were perfect together.

Not much to say about the honey glazed carrots except they were melt in your mouth delicious. (In the rush to get photos and serve dinner before it was cold, I thought we snapped a shot of the carrots but apparently not.)



After a fairly heavy dinner, the lemon pots de creme were the perfect light finale! I thought the amount of lemon in these was just right. Tim said he thought they were too lemony. I think it depends on whether or not you are a big fan of lemon desserts.

What's your favorite menu for entertaining?

It's In the Bag

When Ashley at A Hasty Life contacted me about participating in "It's In The Bag", I wasn't sure whether or not I should participate. Really how interesting is my purse? As I thought about it more, I decided it would be fun to participate. After all my friends tease me that my purse would come in handy on "Let's Make a Deal". My purse is a lot like my blog title, (A) Little Bit of Everything!

I love this purse! How many times a day are you digging in your purse trying to find something? My Isaac Mizrahi purse (from QVC) helps eliminate the digging. It has three divided compartments, as well as two outside zippered compartments and two pouch pockets for cell phones. As long as I can remember how I divided up things between compartments, I can find things pretty easily.

So what actually is in my purse? A lot more than I am showing you in this post. You don't really want to see my rubber band, safety pins, post it notes, dental floss, tide pen, benadryl pen, Advil, Tums, Bayer aspirin, hand sanitizer, wipes and Kleenex, do you? I didn't think so. See it is (A) Little Bit of Everything! I decided to highlight a few of my favorite things in my purse!

1. My filofax - I can't quite make the transition to keep my calendar and notes on my iPhone.

2. My rewards cards - I am working on getting these into my iPhone.

3. My credit cards - I love the holder, it fits in any purse and holds all of my credit cards.

4. My make up bag - Actually there's no make up in here. This is the carry all for the long list of things above.

5. My favorite lip gloss - Pure Illuminations - It lights up and has a built in mirror on the side.

6. Lano Lip Gloss - Perfect for these cold winter days.

7. Burt's Bees Lip Balm - Heals chapped lips almost instantly.

8. L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Lotion - The best hand lotion. Thanks to Justin and Lily who gave me a gift box of things from L'Occitane for Christmas.

9. Amazing Grace Roll On Cologne - I love Amazing Grace. It's a such a soft and clean fragrance.

10. My iPhone - We're joined at the hip. I am never far from my phone. I use it for everything. (Except the things mentioned above.) My newest iPhone obsessions are my countdown to Cabo and Angry Birds.

11. My work Blackberry - It's in the bag, Monday through Friday and an occasional Saturday.

Thanks to Ashley for hosting It's In the Bag and giving me the opportunity to show you my bag. You can find links to all of the participants in It's in the Bag on Ashley's blog. Be sure to check out the other blogger's in my group, Postcards and Pretties and MG Style Mix.

Pot Roast Carbonnade

Are you ready for a perfect winter recipe that isn't soup. Who's your favorite Next Food Network Star winner? Mine is Melissa d'Arabian. Although, I question how she can make some of these dinners for ten dollars, I love the her show Ten Dollar Dinners. I saved this recipe after watching her prepare this dish on an episode last winter.

I made a couple of minor changes to the recipe. I omitted the prunes, mainly because I didn't have any. I added potatoes, so as to have a complete meal when I took it out of the oven. If you have an afternoon to devote to making a fabulous dish, give this one a try, you won't be sorry.



Pot Roast Carbonnade
Recipe courtesy of Melissa d'Arabian Ten Dollar Dinners

1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into large lardons
2 medium onions, sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into large cubes
5 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
Generous tablespoon all-purpose flour
12 ounces beer (dark or light, depending on your preference)
6 prunes
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 cup beef stock

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat, add the bacon and cook until it renders its fat and almost becomes crispy. Remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook over low heat until they are deep in color and caramelized, about 30 minutes.

Remove the onions to a plate, leaving as much fat in the pot as possible. Add the vegetable oil and mix it with the bacon fat. Raise the heat to high. Season the beef liberally with salt and pepper and sear, in batches, until nicely browned on both sides.

Once the meat is browned, add the first batch of meat back to the pan along with the onions, carrots and bacon. Sprinkle in the flour and stir. Cook for 1 minute before deglazing the pan with the beer. Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pot and put it in the oven to braise until the beef is tender, about 2 hours. Remove the pot from the oven and transfer the pot roast to a serving dish.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday's at the Table.

Pink Saturday

Lauritzen Gardens, our local botanical garden has a beautiful poinsettia show every winter. They grow all of their own pointsettias in the greenhouses at the gardens. They feature many varieties of poinsettias not normally seen at your local nursery.

I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound.

Slow Cooker Italian Soup

Soup seems to be my theme of the week but since we've all determine it's soup weather. Why not! Soup is perfect for the slow cooker. Cooking all day gives the flavors the opportunity to meld together perfectly. Nothing is better than walking in the house after a long day at work to the smell of a hearty soup!

I am giving you this recipe as it was written. I used white beans instead of garbanzo beans and omitted the kale/cabbage. This is one of those flexible recipes where ingredients can be added or deleted depending on what you have in the kitchen.

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup
Courtesy of An Oregon Cottage
•1 lb. Italian sausage (any kind-ground, links, or precooked)
•4 c. beef broth
•1/2 c. dry red wine (or more broth)
•1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
•1 med. onion, chopped
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1 15-oz can garbanzo beans (or freezer beans- and I use whatever type I have)
•2 c. chopped green cabbage, chard, kale, or spinach
•1-2 c. chopped green beans (if using frozen, thaw a bit and add with pasta)
•2 carrots, peeled and diced
•1 tsp. Italian seasoning
•1/2 tsp. black pepper
•1 c. small pasta (macaroni, orzo, ditalini, broken spaghetti, etc.)
•salt to taste
•Parmesan for serving (grated or shaved)
•Parsley for serving (optional)
1.If using uncooked sausage, cook it in a skillet until brown, drain and transfer to the bowl of a large slow cooker.
2.Combine the broth and the wine (if using) and pour over the meat.
3.Add the remaining ingredients except the last four. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours or high for 3-1/2 to 4 hours.
4.Add the noodles (turn cooker to high if you used the low setting) and cook for another 45 minutes until the noodles are done. Salt to taste, if needed.
5.Serve with Parmesan and parsley.
Makes 8 servings

I am linking this to Foodie Friday, Souper Sunday and Fat Camp Friday!

From The Good Life

Last year by this time we had who knows how many inches of snow. We went over three months with at least an inch of snow on the ground. This year we've been so lucky, our first significant snowfall of the season just occurred this past weekend. This snowfall is a beautiful, glistening snow. Unlike many of your who are enduring your second or third snowfall of the year, it's our first snowfall, so I can say it's pretty.