"Country Style" Onion Soup

A light but surprisingly rich onion soup. Suitable for a simple lunch or dinner if served with a hearty bread (sourdough is best) and a salad and some milk, or use it as the soup course for a big dinner and impress everyone. My dad calls it "country style" because he was served something very like it (although, he thinks, made with chicken or beef stock) while staying with friends in the French countryside. Try to find butter with the ingredients "sweet cream" or "cream, salt"; it will taste much better. Use home-made veggie stock if possible, or, if you must, canned, but taste carefully before salting in that case! About four servings. Continue reading

Loukoum (Turkish Delight)

I had these fabulous little sweets once at a little Middle Eastern shop in Rennes, France, not knowing they were the Turkish Delight I had read about in [i]The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe[/i]. They came in all kinds of flavors – orange, rose, plum, cassis, and were wonderful. I found this recipe after searching for the most authentic; apparently, recipes that use gelatin are westernized and not quite the same. This way, you can be authentic and kosher and labor-intensive all at the same time. 🙂

And when I say labor-intensive, I mean it. And time-intensive. It took me 2 1/2 hours to make and then has to cool for 12 hours. Continue reading