Fruit Crisp

In the fall, we all crave warm comfort foods. This applies to desert as well.  Fruit crisp is the perfect answer to the call for those cold nights. This desert is super easy to prepare as well, you can use whatever fruit you have available, (apples, berries or stone fruit), and frozen fruit works beautifully as well, you just need to cook it a little longer to make sure that it is cooked all the way through.

Ingredients:

For the Base:

5 cups of rhubarb

3 cups of strawberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

For the Crumble:

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup toasted pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the rhubarb and strawberries into large bite sized pieces.

2. Toss the fruit with sugar and flour and put into a casserole dish.

3. Mix the crumble ingredients together until well combined.

4. Cover the fruit with the crumble mixture.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is browned and the fruit is bubbling.

6. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Note: You may want to put the casserole dish on a cookie sheet when placing in the oven in case it bubbles over.

Classic French Onion Soup

Ever since I was a little girl, French Onion Soup has been one of my favorite dishes to order at restaurants. The rich beefy broth surrounding the tender sweet onions, but my absolute favorite part is the browned cheese that oozes and crisps on the outside of the bowl.  There are as many theories on how to make the best french onion soup as there are stars in the sky, mine is probably one of the most simple and truly celebrates the onion as the heart of the dish. There is no sherry in my version as I find it just makes the dish too sweet.  This is not a soup you can make quickly for dinner, if you want it to really work, it takes a lot of time and care in the caramelizing of the onions to get them just right, but the best thing is that this soup freezes really well, so make a big batch and save some for later.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:
2 kilograms of large white onions, about 5
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
2 litres beef stock
2 sprigs thyme, stems removed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 slices of stale french bread, or baguette
2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Prepare the onions by cutting in half, then slicing evenly.
2. In a large stock pot melt butter and oil, add the onions and the water on medium-high heat.
3. Put a lid on the pot and simmer the onions for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the lid and cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
4. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are a rich caramel colour. This will take between 1 and 2 hours. Note: the slower you do this, the better the results.
5. Once caramelized, add the thyme, vinegar and stock. You can also add 1/2 cup of red wine at this point if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Simmer for 30 minutes. Season as needed.
7. When you are ready to serve. Turn the broiler to high.
8. Add hot soup to onion soup bowls or oven proof dishes.
9. Add baguette to top of soup and mound with cheese.
10. Put bowls on sturdy cookie sheet or shallow roasting pan, and broil until cheese is melted and golden.
11. Serve immediately, be careful the dishes will be hot!