French Onion Soup - Perfect for a cold winter night

French onion soup, winter soups, winter dinners, Patrick Warneka

I made French onion soup a few days ago.    I am not going to post a recipe because while I was searching online, I found that most of the recipes were almost identical.  I'm going to cheat on this one and give the link to the one I used.   I really think that if you know you way around a kitchen, you know what you want to add and subtract from this recipe to make it all yours.
Enjoy.

Fish tacos - the easiest ones you will ever make!

Very simple meals, Fish tacos, Quick family meals

I totally get that fish tacos might be considered a summer dish.  And honestly, I think it is.  But let me just state these two points.  1) when you crave them there is nothing that will satisfy your cravings until you have them. 2) If you try them now you can perfect them to taste and be ready to go when the warm weather hits.

These are the easiest fish tacos you will ever make. All prep work can be done in 25 minutes, so it is a great dish if you have many mouths to feed and not a lot of time.  Here are the very simple steps to making this dish.

 I recommend  the square fish patties sold in stores.  We found a fantastic brand in Whole foods that is firm, not all filler, not salty and will not break the bank.   Try get the fish patty and not the fish sticks.  I think you will appreciate less breading once you cut them up.


Ingredients

1 bag of square fish patties
1  pre-cut bag coleslaw and coleslaw sauce usually found in your produce section.
1-2 jalapenos. (In the summer I grill a pablano + 1 jalapeno )
1 bag of sweet corn ( In summer I grill 2 ears of corn)
1 pack of tortillas ( soft)

Steps  (20-25 minutes)

 * Leave the tortillas, in their bag, on the counter to bring to room temperature.

 * Mince the jalapenos and ( start with one to check the heat factor) and stir them into the coleslaw and add the coleslaw sauce.
   Note: The longer this sits the better it gets. I try to make it hours before, but It is still excellent if you make it minutes before serving.

 * Cook the Fish patties in the oven as directed. It is usually about 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes.

 * While the fish is cooking, heat the corn on top of the stove.

 * Once the corn is cooked, drain the liquid and leave in pot with heat off.


 Serve taco bar style

* Serve fish patties  ( for kids) Cut fish patties into 3-4 equal parts ( 3 cuts straight across). For adults, serve whole and let them cut up when ready.
*Serve one bowl of corn
* Serve  one bowl of Coleslaw
* Serve tortillas

 

Butternut squash soup

I bet I could stop my post right there. Butternut squash soup. I bet half of you know how this will end and the other half thinks they know how it will end. In the Northern states, the seasonal change from warm to cold makes you do crazy things. Things like buy that thick Irish cable knit sweater. one that is so warm you could wear it in between water polo matches, if you played in the Arctic league. But when you live in the civilized world with heating in every building, you just want wear it. but every year you get it out thinking " this is the year I wear it." Butternut squash recipes come out of the woodwork in fall. side dishes, main dishes even drinks! Well, I am not immune to this marketing squash tsunami that crashes like waves before my eyes. I decided to make Butternut squash soup, from scratch. I hunted the stores and for what turned out to be the second squash shipment of the day. I felt, what am I missing? they don't replace the milk twice a day. I pureed the squash in the food processor, i chopped the onions, added the chicken stock, spices and cooked it. Sadly to say, I was not impressed. It was orange, which was kinda of different, but so-so tasting. I added some black pepper and salt to find it much better. I had seen photos of it served with sour cream on top. I don't normally cook with it but had some 'lite' sour cream in the fridge. BOOM! that was it! the cream added exactly what was missing. I loved it. By know half of you are shaking your heads, and the other half is still trying to picture squash being served as a soup. trust me, you have to try it at least once. even better then you should make it. It is very simple to make and hit the spot on this cold November day.

Ratatouille

I wanted to try making ratatouille. I found a quick, easy recipe and took a crack at it today. It was fun to make and I think it tasted pretty good. the one problem I found is that once you eat that many vegetables in a dish, you can almost hear your taste buds screaming for something to balance it out, like say..... Ice cream for desert. Here is a photo of the final dish.

A great fall Salad

Some basic ingredients for my cooking style.

I hate buying a certain spice or widget to use in a new dish only to find out I never end up using it again.  What a waste!   My goal of " Real Simple Meals" is a collection of spices and utensils that you can use in many ways and get different results.  I like to think of it this way,  My cooking is Flavored for spice lovers and it looks presentable at the table too!

So let's backtrack a little and show you some ingredients that I tend to use over and over again. Not always together, sometimes with other common items. Hopefully, you will see the end results is an array of spicy dishes that look good, are generally healthy and look pleasing on the plate-  a good way to win points with friends and loved ones.

The following are photos of spices a lot of my dishes have in them. Being a photographer, I figure a photo is worth 1,000 words. Here is 7,000.

Red Pepper Flakes are perfect to add before you cook or when it is ready to serve.  Adds nice flavor.

Honey- better than sugar and adds sweetness

A great meat rub.  a great seasoning for vegetables too!

The Best mustard Around! 4 different flavors each one outstanding. Write this name down.

Mae Ploy- Sorry it is half used, I love this on chicken and shrimp

Cole & Mason Pepper Mill.  Pricey but well worth it in the long run. 5 different settings!

Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce-  Once again almost out. Got to restock this staple item.