Cajun French Onion Soup

1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick

4 medium onions from crawfish boil, sliced thin

1 teaspoon sugar

1 head of garlic from crawfish boil, less if you desire

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup of red wine

2 quarts beef broth

Baguette slices to cover bowls (this can be leftovers too)

1/2 pound grated smoked Gruyere or other good melting cheese

Over medium heat, melt the butter (best to use room temperature to start), add onions and sugar in a thin layer, stirring as needed until golden brown; up to 1 hour. Add garlic and cook for another 10 minutes.

Spread flour evenly in the pan, you don’t want lumps and stir to coat. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes to cook off raw flour flavor.

Deglaze with wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add broth and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes covered to allow flavors to combine.

While waiting toast bread, ladle soup into 4 oven safe bowls. Arrange on a pan, adding parchment paper to ease clean up, place bread on top and cover as much of the soup as you can then sprinkle 1/4th of the cheese on top of each bowl.

Place in the middle of the oven under the broiler until cheese has melted and started to brown. Do not walk away as this happens fast.

Serve immediately.

Serves: 4

Paul Ayo

Chef John’s Salmon Cakes

1 (14.75 ounce) can red salmon, skin and bone removed, drained and flaked

2 eggs

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tablespoon capers, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

12 saltine crackers

1 tablespoon bread crumbs, or as needed

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir salmon, eggs, lemon juice, capers, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper together in a bowl until well-combined.

Crush saltine crackers with your hands into the salmon mixture and mix well. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 30 minutes to overnight.

Dust a plate with half the bread crumbs. Divide salmon mixture into 4 portions and shape into patties. Place onto prepared plate and sprinkle remaining bread crumbs atop the salmon patties.

Melt butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook patties in hot oil until cooked and heated through, about 5 minutes per side.

Yield: 4 servings

By Chef John, allrecipes.com

Homemade Spanakopita

5 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach

6 eggs

1 cup fresh dill leaves, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 pound crumbled feta cheese

1/2 pound cottage cheese

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/3 cup sour cream, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Thaw, drain and squeeze the spinach dry.

Place the spinach, eggs, dill, onion, feta cheese, cottage cheese and black pepper into a large bowl and mix well.

Place 2 sheets of phyllo dough into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Top with 2 more sheets of phyllo dough. Spread the spinach filling evenly over the sheets of phyllo dough, pat it down gently and top with 2 more sheets of phyllo. Drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil and top with the remaining 2 phyllo sheets. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake in the preheated oven until the top is browned and the filling is set, about 1 hour. To serve cut into squares and top each square with a dollop of sour cream.

Yield: 8 servings

By: momuv2dox, allrecipes.com