The Ubiquitous Onion

Sometimes it seems that every savoury dish I cook includes onions; I must go through pounds and pounds of onions in a year but they are almost always the supporting act and seldom the star.  I recently found a recipe where the humble onion is truly in the spotlight. 

A savoury tart made with lots of onions, puff pastry and leftover cheese.  Easily made, deliciously tasty, a lovely supper with a crispy salad or cut into small squares and served as a canape.  However you choose to eat it you'll not be disappointed.

Caramelised Onion Tart with Stilton and Parmesan
Serves 4 as a main course or 12 canapes
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 large onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
1-2 tbsp onion marmalade (optional)
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

8 ozs ready made puff pastry
2-3 ozs Stilton, diced
2 ozs Parmesan, grated
half tsp fennel seeds, crushed

Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onions and garlic and cook over a medium heat until softened and starting to brown.  Add the sugar, vinegar, onion marmalade (if using) and salt and pepper.

Reduce heat and cook gently, uncovered, for about 25 minutes until caramelised.  If the onion mix looks like it is drying out add a little water.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, roll out the pastry into rectangle about 10 by 14 inches and place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment.  Prick the pastry all over with a fork.  Now spread the onion mixture over the pastry, sprinkle over the cubes of Stilton and then the grated Parmesan and finally sprinkle over the crushed fennel seeds.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes until the cheese has melted and the pastry risen.  Serve with a simple crisp salad for a light supper or cut into small squares and serve as canapes.

Note: the original recipe called for gorgonzola and brie as the cheeses.  Any two cheeses that combine well could be used.  I also added garlic and onion marmalade to the original recipe, so these could be left out.

Flavours of Cyprus

I often find at this time of year that I struggle to get passionate about food and cooking; I think it must after the cooking and baking fest that ensues on the approach to Christmas and through the festive season...I think I just feel all cooked out.

But yesterday as I was doing the weekly shop I was inspired to make a dish that I haven't attempted for several years.  In fact as I began to think about when I'd last tasted it I was taken back over 5 years to a fantastic holiday in Cyprus.  The Handyman and I have a preference for isolated, self catering accommodation.  This enables him to completely relax and me to search out local markets and local produce and spend time slowly assembling our meals - we both have our kind of fun.

idyllic isolation

Anyway, back to Cyprus...I found a local shop for fresh vegetables, this was the easy bit as I just selected what I wanted and paid the amount requested.  The butcher on the other hand was a different matter; just try acquiring about a pound of minced lamb when you don't speak any Greek and the butcher has no English.  After some fun with hand signs and mime and some pointing and laughing I managed to leave the shop with the requisite minced lamb, though with about twice as much as I needed.  This was either due to our communication challenge or the butcher saw an opportunity to increase his sales that day; either way the lamb was delicious and made for several meals over a few days of our holiday.

sunset from the balcony

So can you guess what the recipe was?  Lamb kofta, meatballs with feta, stuffed pitta breads, kebabs?  None of the above but rather the most traditional moussaka...here's a recipe from the BBC Food website; there are a number of versions on the site just search for moussaka.

piping hot

served with salad

Although I made a very traditional version in Cyprus I substituted potatoes for the aubergines this time around.  Served with a simple green salad this really hit the spot with my January taste buds and took me back to sunshine and summer holidays on this grey and wet Shropshire day.

Festive Frost

At first I wasn't sure that this month's NCR challenge from Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes belonged on my kitchen blog - a festive photo challenge - it seemed more suitable for Holly Grove Garden.  Anyway after wrapping up like an eskimo and venturing out into the garden to take some winter wonderland photos I came back to a white onion soup and suddenly the challenge seemed most appropriate. There's nothing like an onion soup to warm the cockles of your heart and beat a nasty cold...except perhaps a delicious mug of hot chocolate!

Anyway the temperature here in the Shropshire countryside remains around minus 7 degrees and the hoar frost on the shrubs and trees makes a lovely picture...I hope you'll agree?

Winter Blue

And now here's the recipe for the white onion soup to warm us up after venturing out with the camera, yum!

Winter White

White Onion Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 oz butter
4 large onions, thinly sliced
1 small leek, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
250ml white wine
500ml vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
small bunch parsley, chopped 

Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add the leek, onion and garlic and cook slowly with the lid on for about 10 minutes until softened but not browned.

Add the wine and bring to a fast boil.  Boil until the wine has reduced by about a third.  Add the stock, bay leaves and parsley and bring back to the boil, then turn the heat down.  Simmer for about 2 hours and then blend using a hand blender.  Seve with good brown bread.