Valentine's... Onion Soup

Very romantic. Actually made this the night before Jack's birthday - he pointed out that it was his last night in his forties, so it wasn't really appropriate then either. Oh well. I spent the last night of his forties crying - how about that? (It's a lot of onion-chopping.)

The Recipe: Jamie Oliver's English Onion Soup
Online here.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I assume it's the cheddar that makes it English. It was actually the cheddar that saved it from being a tiny bit bland - but that may not have been the recipe's fault. I have to leave out the garlic, and perhaps this was one of the times when it really makes a difference. But it was nice, we'd have it again.

Didn't think that our soup bowls could go under the broiler, so just made cheese on toast separately and put it on top of the soup (pushing it in a bit) which worked fine.

Jack's Birthday Profiteroles

These were a surprise for Jack's birthday dinner. A surprise for him and for me as, incredibly, they came out perfect.

(Main course - his request - was swedish meatballs. Bring on the old jokes - or maybe don't...)

The Recipe: Profiteroles

Used Alton Brown's recipe - well, half of it, and made by hand (rather than with food processor).

For the sauce used a quarter cup milk, a quarter cup bittersweet chocolate chips, and a tablespoon of honey (a combination of Mark Bittman and Ina Garten). Didn't make the ice-cream, sorry.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Can I be a little smug at the fact that Alton labels these "difficult"?  Though that probably refers to the part where you're supposed to pipe them into perfect little shapes. Which obviously didn't happen here.  These are, shall we say, artisanal?

They were a bit heart-stopping, though. They stayed tiny for several long minutes after going in the oven. Oh well, I thought, they're obviously disasters, might as well do the washing-up. Then turned round and they'd popped up beautifully.  Not so difficult after all!  And apparently they freeze well too, which is a good job, as there's no way we could eat eight of them.

Next stop - gougeres, one of my unmet goals from last year. Onwards and upwards, people!