Seven Onion Soup

We are very broke (or were, until we sold off my old computer parts for $100), so I took my last $20 and went to Hen House (love) and got a variety of onions. Also last night Alex picked up a take-and-bake loaf of ciabatta at Hyvee so I'll bake that too when the soup gets done simmering.

Seven Onion Soup

4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 slices thick-cut bacon
1.5 cups sliced white onion
1.5 cups sliced yellow onion
1.5 cups sliced red onion
1 cup sliced shallot
1 cup sliced leek
1 cup sliced scallions (bottoms only)
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Chives and parmesan, for garnish

Slice up all your onions. Sob all over yourself. Melt butter over medium-high heat in large pot. Realize your large pot heated up in like 2 seconds, as butter melts rapidly the moment it touches the pot. Add bacon, saute for 7-10 minutes or until browned and crispy and fat has rendered. Remove bacon with slotted spoon, set aside. Add red onion, yellow onion, white onion, shallot, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme. Stir until softened and beginning to caramelize, about 6-8 minutes. Add leek and scallion, cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream, stir to combine and cook another 45 minutes. Puree (or don't; I won't be because Alex doesn't like pureed soups, and I just checked on it with 20 minutes of simmer until cream goes in and it's kind of pureeing itself anyway). Ladle into bowls and garnish with bacon, chives and parmesan.

Chicken and Polenta

So... that roast chicken I bought Friday night? Yeah it sat in the fridge all the way up until today. When I pulled it out to roast it it was smelling a bit funky. Then I slow-roasted it at 250, which was supposed to take 5 hours, and the thermometer was up at 2.5 hrs and all the juices were clear and the meat thermometer was reading 153-170 no matter where I stuck it. So uh...

So I made polenta with leeks, for the first time ever having or making polenta. First thing off, it was pretty bland. Even with plenty of salt and pepper and Parmesan and butter and of course leeks... still pretty bland. Secondly, when it says add polenta slowly while whisking, it means SLOW. It came out lumpy, and because I failed to notice I bought quick-cooking polenta, it thickened up faster than I could un-lump it. So I tried my best but oh well. Thirdly I cut my finger open like a dipshit while slicing leeks. It bled pretty good. I had even just been thinking "I'm supposed to curl my fingers under while slicing so I don't cut them."

The chicken tastes okay. Guess we'll find out soon whether we got food poisoning or not. The recipe wasn't anything too incredible though (maybe because it only cooked for about 3-3.5 hrs instead of 5). So yeah. Ditch the chicken recipe, cause it didn't WOW me, and while I'm not giving up on polenta yet, I have a lot to learn for next time.

(Also did some Green Giant mixed veg in garlic olive oil sauce, and apparently Alex got all the sauce cause mine just tasted plain. Blah!)