Breaking the Curse

I have this curse. The curse of wearing glasses. Don't get my wrong, glasses aren't that horrible. But they seem to have a horrible effect on me, they make me feel incredibly tired ALL DAY LONG by making my eyelids feel heavy and my eyes feel weary. The strange thing is once I put in my contacts or remove my glasses I immediately feel free and my eyes feel as if they can breath. My glasses are a chamber, a barrier, stifling my eyes, my body, and my mind from being awake. My body moves at a slower pace and I swear I feel as if I am induced some kind of drug when my glasses are on. This is why I dread wearing glasses. However, after using up my last pair of contacts I must now weight for the new arrivals and for the mean time I must wear my glasses. I hate doing activity while wearing glasses because I feel like I am unable to do any sort of activity, including cooking.
Good thing cooking totally woke me up. I forgot about my glasses, except when steam fogged it and when my glasses started sliding down my nose. Ugh, annoying. I was sweating so much! It was so hot! I later saw that my face was as red as a ripened tomato. I couldn't stop sweating, because I had been slaving over the stove for OVER 2 hours! But let me tell you, this is when you know you love to cook. Despite feeling dehydrated, sweaty, disgusting, I loved it! Especially since all that work came out to be successful, which makes EVERYTHING completely worth it!
Go for your passion! It will be worth all the trouble and all the hardships you deal with in order to get to where you want to be. Because when you get there, you will feel pretty good.


Today I made French Onion Soup! Holler! And this time I didn't fail! So I felt very good about myself today. I was sweating up a storm, standing in front of the stove for over 2 hours watching my onions caramelize at a snail-like pace as those around me seemed to finish in no time. But the waiting paid off! Chef said the flavor, the color, and everything was there! Success! It's actually pretty easy to make. I worked on this while my other group members maid some kind of caramel custard, which I failed to produce a picture of because I ate it all beforehand...not surprising, I know, in addition to some Parmesan Rosemary Dinner Rolls, which were fantastic by the way. But since I made the French Onion Soup, might as well share the wealth of knowledge. ( I didnt measure anything out, I just used my best judgment. Measuring is such a pain!)

FRENCH ONION SOUP (Jean's atypical recipe guide)

1. Onion, thinly sliced (Remember it cooks down a lot. I used 3 onions for about 4-5 small servings)
2. Put the onion in a pot with enough butter to coat all the onions. Put the pot on the stove over low heat.
3. Add a little bit of thyme and a bay leaf if you have one at hand.
   
4. Stir occasionally. It takes FOREVER for the onions to cook down and then to actually start caramelizing. Patience is key here, which I really lack!
5. As the onions start to cook down you will notice the product start to look a little oily (from the fat of the butter or whatever you used as the fat portion). Fear not! Once the onions start to caramelize and brown, and you still notice there is excess fat, add a little flour to absorb the fat.
6. Add some beef broth to deglaze the pot, reduce to au sec (almost dry.)
7. Continue adding beef broth a little by little and reduce. This enhances the flavor and also gives it a nice brown color.
8. Add your seasonings (S&P, Thyme). Add some sherry, a splash or two or three (depending on how much of an alcoholic you are). Then add some chicken broth (almost equaling the amount of the beef broth you have put in total.)
9. Bring to a simmer, until it is the right consistency, taste, etc.
10. If you notice that you have too little onions in proportion to the liquids, then don't put so much liquid into the pot.
    
11. Now you think you're done? Wrong. Put the soup into a bowl (oven proof preferrably. Or try risking it with a regular bowl. It's good to be dangerous). Cut a piece of a bread so that it fits on the top of the bowl, sitting on the soup. Toast it before you set it on top of the soup/soup bowl. Then top the bread with gruyere cheese. If gruyere isn't available substitute equal parts monterey jack and parmesan.
    
12. BROIL IT just enough so the cheese is nicely browned.
    
13. Smell it! Love it! Lust after it! THEN DESTROY IT!