Walla Walla Onion Casserole

We all have recipes we come across throughout of lives that really bring back memories, stir up cherished thoughts, or that warm your heart.  This is one of those recipes for me.  I had lost the recipe for a couple of year, and attempted to look for one like it online, but was not ever able to get just the right one.  After a little reorganizing of my kitchen (recipe area), I found it and put it on the menu!

This recipe came to me by my dear friend Jackie.  She is the type of friend that you might not talk with everyday, or for that matter every week, month or even several months, but we always are able to pick up right where we left off.  A couple of years back my husband, Craig signed up for the Seattle to Portland Bike Ride.  He had decided to ride it in 2 days, so that meant somewhere in the middle of Washington we would have to rest for the night.  Jackie offered to let us stay with her for the night, so we took her up on the offer.  That night for dinner, she served this casserole. I was so taken by it’s simplicity, I told her I had to have the recipe.

If your not familiar with Walla Walla Sweet Onions, they are a local Northwest treasure, like Vidalia are to Georgia, or Maui Sweets are to Hawaii.  Now there are MANY areas growing sweet onions, at least 10 just in the US alone.  Just like Copper River Salmon, when Walla Walla’s are in season, you gotta make this!!

Walla Walla Onion Casserole

Ingredients

5 Cups Walla Walla Sweet Onions, Chopped

4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

½ Cup uncooked Long Grain rice

Salt & pepper to taste

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 Cup Swiss Cheese, shredded (Cheddar can be supstituted), and more for topping.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Dice up the onions, and sauté in butter, until translucent. Be sure not to brown (not that that would be bad, the recipe just said not too). 

3. Add rice, sour cream, salt and pepper, and cheese.  Mix until combined.  

4. Top with more cheese.  

5. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. 

    
  

Sautéed Cod with Pea Cream Sauce

As you might, or might not know, I make a menu each week, so I can plan and budget out the coming week.  I’ve done this for the past 2-3 years.  And I stick to it like glue! This week, I planned on Cod for dinner tonight, but I had no idea how I was going to cook it.  We’ve broiled it, baked it, BBQ’d it, and while those are great ways of cooking cod, I’m just wanted to try a different method .  So today, while I was working, I receive an email from Saveur.com, for Greek Macaroni and Cheese.  I was intrigued and opened the email to see the recipe.  Before I got to it, I notice the recipe for Sautéed Cod with Pea Cream Sauce.  I was like, wow that’s it, and I had every ingredient at home, I am so making this! Oh, and by the way, I still haven’t looked up the Greek Mac and Cheese recipe……

Sautéed Cod with Pea Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

This is the picture from Saveur.com

2½ lb. boneless, skinless cod filets, cut into 2″ chunks

1 tbsp. mustard seeds, lightly crushed

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

3½ cups fresh or frozen, thawed peas

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

⅔ cup half-and-half

2 tbsp. olive oil

Roughly chopped dill, to garnish

Instructions:

Sprinkle cod evenly with mustard seeds and let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add peas, 1 cup water, and salt and pepper, and cover partially with lid; cook until sauce is reduced, about 10 minutes. Set sauce aside and keep warm.

Purée ¾ of the peas, half-and-half, and salt and pepper in a food processor; transfer to a 2-qt. saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

My version

Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add cod; cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Season with salt.

Divide pea purée among 6 serving plates and top with cod; spoon over sauce and garnish with dill.

Drunken Noodles

A few months ago I was watching a show on TV.  The guests on the show talked about the best dish they’ve ever eaten.  And for the most part I had it on for background noise, cause the channel repeats show, after show, after show.  That’s when I noticed the dish they were talking about called “Drunken Noodles”.  You’ll notice that there is no alcohol in the ingredients.  The drunken name refers to the heat on the noodles, and the amount of water you’ll need to drink to cool it down.  The first time I made it, there was no heat, so I added in the hot chili oil, while cooking and as a “finishing” oil. Makes all the difference!

I’ve made this now twice and I think I have it down, but I think it’s one of those recipes that I will continue to make and continue to change it.  Where is the most recent rendition:

Drunken Noodles

3 T Light Soy Sauce

1 T Dark Soy Sauce

1 T Oyster Sauce

2 T Fish Sauce

3 T Oil (Canola or Peanut-I used Olive)

2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 Eggs

⅓ lb Chicken (Beef or Pork) sliced thinly against the grain.

½ onion, sliced

4 Cups fresh rice noodles, separated ( I used these and didn’t like them, so the second time I used Fettuccini)

1 Cup Basil, loosely chopped

½ Medium Tomato, diced

½ t. white pepper

Hot chili oil, to taste.

 

Directions:

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Heat oil in pan and sauté pan and sauté garlic until lightly brown.

Add eggs and lightly scramble until set.

Add meat and onions folding constantly until the meat is almost fully cooked.

Add fresh noodles, sauce tomatoes and basil.  Toss to combine about 3-4 minutes.

Serve.

"Le Creuset" Crusty Bread

Bread, bread, bread….I am and have always been a huge fan of bread.  You name it, if its bread I like it….the fresher the better.  So when I stumbled across this amazingly simple recipe, I had to make it!  And let me tell you it’s SO simple.  It calls for the use of an enameled dutch oven, basically a Le Creuset.  If you don’t have one….leave the kitchen, right now.  Only kidding!  But seriously these are amazing pot, and you really must get one.  I know they have a factory outlet store, although I have never purchased anything there, I do know that they discount items based on color, so you might just head in on the right day and get your perfect color.  I got mine, and a thrift store!  So be on the look out!

Le Creuset Crusty Bread

Adapted from simplysogood.blogspot.com, and reviewed at multiple other sites

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt (I used Rosemary Salt)
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and mix until a loose mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours. (Overnight works great.)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a enameled, or cast iron dutch oven with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough. (at this stage I sprinkled the top with some rosemary salt) Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

This recipe works great doubled. The picture shows it doubled! 

That also means 2 Le Crueset Dutch ovens!!

ROSEMARY LEMON GRUYERE VARIATION

After whisking the dry ingredients together add the zest from two lemons, a couple sprigs chopped rosemary and about 2 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere. Mix all the ingredients together well and add the water. Stir until you have a loose dough.

CRANBERRY ORANGE AND ALMOND VARIATION

Mix together the dry ingredients. Add about 3/4 cup cranberries, orange zest from one orange and about 1/2 cups sliced almonds. Mix it together well and add the water. Stir to form and loose dough.

Carrabba's Chicken Bryan

A few years back we were visiting a very good friend in Arizona.  She mentioned a restaurant her and her sister found and a certain dish they fell in love with.  So we went to the restaurant, and had their Chicken Bryan.  It was VERY good, and with talking with her, we said that we could remake it.  So we looked up a recipe and made it later in the week.  I fell in love and have made it several time since.  While it's probably not a Weight Watchers recipe, I would recommend a smaller portion, rather than making it with substitutes.

Carrabba's Chicken Bryan

    1 tablespoon minced garlic

    1 tablespoon minced yellow onion

    2 tablespoons butter

    1/2 cup dry white wine

    1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

    2/3 cup cold butter, sliced

    1 1/2 cups chopped sun-dried tomatoes

    1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

    1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

    1/2 teaspoon white pepper

    6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

    extra virgin olive oil, for brushing

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/2 teaspoon black pepper

    8 ounces goat cheese8 ounces other goat cheese, room temperature

    1 Saute garlic and onion in 2 Tbls. butter in a large skillet over medium heat until tender.

    2 Stir wine and lemon juice into skillet, increase heat to medium high, and simmer to reduce by half.

    3 Reduce heat to low and stir in cold butter, one slice at a time.

    4 Stir in tomatoes, basil, kosher salt, and white pepper; remove from heat; set aside.

    5 Brush chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

    6 Grill chicken over hot coals 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.

    7 A couple of minutes before chicken is done, place equal amounts of cheese on each breast Spoon prepared sun-dried tomato sauce over chicken.