Torrijas (Spanish Style French Toast)

Torrija is a traditional dessert of Lent and Holy Week in Spain. It was born a long time ago as a way to make good use of bread that was no longer fresh. Paradoxically, today we buy a special bread to make torrijas.

As with French Toasts, a slice of bread is soaked in milk, dipped in egg and fried in olive oil. It is then topped with cinnamon and sugar or with honey. There are many variations of torrijas like the ones that are soaked in wine instead of milk.

The typical bread used would be a French-style baguette, however sweeter breads can be used like challah or brioche. In my recipe I am using challah bread, a Jewish braided bread, since it is sweet and has a soft crust.

Torrijas should be eaten at room temperature as a dessert, breakfast or simply as a snack with a coffee or tea. They are at their best the same day you make them, but if you have any leftovers they would be great the next day too.

The best part is I only make them around this time of the year, once Holy Week is over my family has to wait one more year to eat torrijas, it is a long wait for my kids!!

TORRIJAS (SPANISH STYLE FRENCH TOAST)

Serves 6

3/4 of a challah bread
4 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons sugar
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs (beaten)

Sprinkle with:
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
or
honey

Cut the challah bread in half lengthwise, then slice each half in 1-inch wide pieces. Put the sliced bread in one single layer in a deep pan. I use about 3/4 of one challah bread since that yields enough torrijas. If you are making the entire challah, you should add 1 more cup of milk and one more tablespoon of sugar for the milk.

In a deep pan heat the milk, sugar and lemon zest. When the milk is about to boil pour over the sliced bread and let stand for about 1 hour.

In a deep sauté pan heat the olive oil. Dip the bread in the egg and cook over medium heat until golden brown flipping once (about 1 minute on each side).

Stir together sugar and cinnamon. Transfer to a serving platter and immediately sprinkle with the sugar-cinnamon mixture or with honey.

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

It is still winter in Chicago and a soup is always welcome at my house. This traditional French soup is an inexpensive way to give your family a treat and warm them up after a cold winter day. This is a soup with very simple ingredients, but if you follow my advice you can have one of the best French onion soups. I have two secrets when making French onion soup. The first one is browning the beef bones in the oven before making the beef stock. By browning the bones first, you will get a dark broth with a robust flavor, perfect for the soup. The second one is to caramelize your onions with butter. You will have to be patient while caramelizing the onions, it takes time (about 1/2 hour) but it gives your soup a great sweet flavor, dark color and consistency. You can make the broth and caramelize your onions ahead of time and when its time to serve you will only have to arrange the soup in the individual bowls, top it with toasted bread and gruyere cheese and broil it.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Serves 4

For the beef stock:
2 and 1/2 lbs. beef bones
2 carrots (chopped)
1 celery stick (chopped)
1 onion (quartered)
4 quarts of water

For the soup:
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions (sliced)
1/2 cup of dry white wine
2 teaspoons of all purpose flour
4 cups of beef stock
8 slices of toasted bread
1 cup grated gruyere cheese

Start by making the beef broth: Preheat oven to 500ºF; place beef bones in an oven-safe pan and bake for 15 minutes or until well browned.
Transfer browned beef bones to a large pot and add carrots, onion, celery and water. Bring to a boil and cook covered over medium heat for one hour.
Discard beef bones and vegetables and strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve. If you refrigerate your broth the fat will solidify at the top, you can then remove the fat and will have a fat-free broth.

Browned beef bones

Ingredients for beef stock

Continue by caramelizing the onions: In a Dutch oven melt the butter with the olive oil and add onions. Cook the onions over medium heat stirring occasionally until very soft and caramelized (about 35 minutes).

Caramelized onions

Add dry white wine to deglaze the pan and cook over medium heat until wine has been absorbed (about 1-2 minutes).

Add flour, stir and cook for another minute.  Add 4 cups of beef stock and bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Season with salt and lots of fresh ground pepper.

Prepare 4 individual bowls:

1. Fill with onions-broth mixture
2. Add 2 slices of toasted bread to each bowl
3. Top with grated gruyere cheese
4. Preheat oven to broil and cook a couple of minutes until cheese has melted and browned.

Enjoy!