Holiday Eats: Roasted Carrot & Parsnips & The Ultimate French Onion Soup

I just had one recipe left over from Thanksgiving and a few from Christmas since Rashan's mom and the HoneybakedHamCo. handled the bulk of the meal.

Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

• 2 pounds parsnips, peeled
• 1 pound carrots, unpeeled
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

If the parsnips and carrots are very thick, cut them in half lengthwise. Slice each diagonally in 1-inch-thick slices. The vegetables will shrink while cooking, so don't make the pieces too small. Place the cut vegetables on a sheet pan. Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss well. Roast for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetables, tossing occasionally, until the parsnips and carrots are just tender. Sprinkle with dill and serve hot.

Results: Yum-o!  I decided to slather these with the leftover paste from the turkey for Thanksgiving and it was AWESOME!!  This is partly because I don't really like dill.  I really hate it on salmon... partly because I don't really like cooked salmon.  These were a hit.  And of the 7 people at the table, none of us had had parsnips before.  Downside?  I'm slightly allergic to carrots (throat itching) but may be all the way allergic to parsnips (uncontrollable nose running).


The Ultimate French Onion Soup
Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts beef broth (I used veg broth)
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.
Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

Results: Son.  There is a reason why this recipe has 316 five-star recipes.  OUT OF FIVE.   I used vegetable broth instead of beef broth so Rashan's sister could eat it.  She's an almost vegan vegetarian.  Even w/o the beef flavor, it. was. awesome!!  The red wine makes it amazing.  Caramelizing the onions gives it the brown color.  Rashan's mom raved over it and had two bowls the first day!  Gruyere is crazy expensive so you can sub any melting swiss.  How Ty had those giant "croutons" and I had little babies, IDK!  LOL.  You should definitely try this.  I already have requests for next year.