French onion soup

Slow-cooker special to make a French classic. The original recipe I used (available here) doesn't require caramelising the onions. However, I think it would be that much better (and it was excellent when we made it in the winter) if you do take the extra effort to caramelise them. Here's my adaptation of a French classic.

Will serve lots. Recipe designed for a 5.7-litre slow cooker:

1.5 kg onions, thinly sliced (use a mandolin if you have one)
100g butter for frying
2 tbsp sugar
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1.5-2 l beef stock
1/2 cup sherry (or use wine vinegar)

Salt and pepper to taste

Baguette, sliced lengthwise

2 cups grated cheese (Gruyère or something similar)

Caramelise the onions in a big pan or two for about 30-45 minutes. To do this, slice the onions into rings or half-rings. Put a big pan on a medium heat with butter, thyme and bay leaves, then leave to cook, occasionally stirring. After 10 minutes, add the sugar and sprinkle salt over the top. (This step can also be done directly in the slow cooker, in which case at everything at the start and leave the onions ot cook for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally).

Next, move everything into a slow cooker. Add the onion mix, stock and sherry, season with salt and pepper, cook for an additional 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. At the end, discard the bay leaves and thyme. 

Switch on the grill in the oven. Put the baguette under the grill and cook for 1-2 minutes either side. 

Dish up some soup into an oven-proof bowl, top with a baguette slice or two, then top the bread with cheese. Put back into the oven and grill for around 2 minutes until the cheese has melted and is cooked.

Vegetarian buckwheat, mushroom, ginger and lemongrass soup

After cooking, cooling down. Lovely stuff.

This is a simple soup that we made to use up some buckwheat. It was inspired by a fantastic soup we had in Pärnu at Mahedik, and then adapted using this recipe as a basis. The main thing is not to overdo it with the buckwheat, as it absorbs quite a bit of liquid:

1 leek, cut into 1-cm chunks
2 celery stalks, chopped up
2 tbsp lemongrass, or 2 stalks chopped up. If you're using fresh lemongrass, don't cut it up too thinly, as it doesn't really soften much
2-cm piece of ginger, minced or finely sliced
2 carrots, chopped up
500g mushrooms - use a number of varieties for a more flavoursome dish
1 cup (250ml) buckwheat, raw or toasted. Don't overdo this!
8 cups (i.e. 2 l) chicken or vegetable stock
Thyme, to taste (about 1 tbsp)
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, fry up the leek, celery, lemongrass, ginger, and carrots for a few minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more, then add in the buckwheat, stock, thyme, lemon juice and salt and pepper, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes or so. If you need more liquid, add it in during cooking, or you could feasibly add it afterwards too.