While it’s infinitely better than snow and ice, I’m not thrilled with our over-abundance of rainy weather lately. I’m apparently one of those folks afflicted with SAD (seasonal affective disorder), because grey skies (not to mention the achies that come along with storms) put a serious damper on my mood. I’ll be much happier when the sun comes out and the temperatures come up to stay. (And the farmers’ markets come back!)
One thing that perked me up a bit this past week, though, was the success of a combo of recipes, one from America’s Test Kitchen’s new book, Slow Cooker Revolution, and another from The Kitchn (which in case you hadn’t guessed has become a go-to website for me whenever I’m looking for something new to cook). The ATK recipe was from their new book, Slow Cooker Revolution, and was the one that sold me on the book (not that it was a hard sell)–Big Batch Caramelized Onions. “Big Batch” is probably overstating it (it only makes about 2 cups worth), but the technique behind the recipe is brilliant: microwave the sliced onions first, and drain the water they give off, before putting them into the slow cooker, since all that extra water is what normally keeps them from caramelizing. They came out all lovely and sweet and deep, deep brown, with no babysitting involved–woo hoo!
Then, I took those wonderful onions and incorporated them in another recipe: Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyère. It was really kind of a no-brainer: take a mess of caramelized onions, add some browned boneless chicken thighs (and the fond from the pan you brown them in, scraped up with the help of a bit of balsamic vinegar and mustard and chicken broth), and top with grated gruyère. That’s pretty much it. The only thing that would have made it better would have been serving it atop a slice of toasted baguette (sadly, since I’m trying to cut way back on the carbs, there was none in the house at the time). Still, it was a perfect meal for weather that was more the last gasp of winter than the beginnings of spring.
