French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of the classic French bistro dishes, famously served to late night Parisian partygoers. But if you don't feel up to it at 2am or whenever you roll in, it makes a warming supper for a chilly winter evening.

If you want to make more of a meal of it follow it with a large plate of charcuterie (sliced saucisson, air dried ham and hunks of pate or rillettes) served with cornichons and crusty bread.

The critical thing is to cook the onions long enough, use some good stock and use a substantial densely textured bread, preferably a day or two old.

Serves 4-6
1 slightly stale sourdough baguette or other densely textured loaf
2-3 large mild onions (about 700g in total), peeled and finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
50g butter
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
A glass of dry white wine (about 150ml)
1.25 litres beef, chicken, turkey or vegetable stock ideally home made or at a pinch made with organic stock cubes
125g mature Gruyere cheese, rinded and coarsely grated
Salt, pepper and, if you need it, a few drops of vinegar

Preheat an oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Cut the bread into thickish slices (about 2 cm) and lay them on a baking tray. Bake for about 15-25 minutes until crisp and lightly browned, then set aside. Meanwhile peel and finely slice the onions. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole, add the butter and tip in the onions. Stir so they’re thoroughly coated and leave on a low to moderate heat, stirring them occasionally until they go a rich, deep brown. This may take up to 40 minutes, depending how wet or dry your onions are. Add a little sugar once they start to brown and stir more regularly. You don’t want to burn them. Once they’re a good colour, stir in thyme and wine and let it bubble up and reduce by half then add the stock. Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Check for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste and a few drops of vinegar if you think it tastes too sweet.

Preheat a grill and lay the slices of baked bread over the surface of the casserole, pressing them down lightly into the soup. Scatter over the grated cheese and brown it under a grill for about 5-10 minutes until well browned and bubbling.

What to drink
Given this soup is supposed to be a restorative antidote to overindulgence you don't really need wine with it as well as in it. But a glass of aligoté, chablis or muscadet would be perfect.

For other soup pairings see Matching wine and soup

The photograph by By Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com is of a French onion soup but not the one in the recipe.

Tom Kerridge's sausage, tomato and butterbean stew

You might associate Tom Kerridge with fancy cooking but his time with footballer Marcus Rashford has found its way into his latest book Real Life Recipes which are, as the tiitle suggests, basic easy recipes to cook for the family. This hearty sausage dish is perfect for the chilly weather we're having now

Tom writes: I guarantee this one-pot sausage stew will become a new regular on your midweek menu. It delivers on all fronts with filling beans, sweet cherry tomatoes and smokiness from the paprika. Get a good colour on the sausages in the pan first, as this really boosts the flavour.:

SERVES 4

1 tbsp olive oil

8 pork sausages

2 onions, finely sliced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

1 tbsp tomato purée

120ml red wine

400ml beef stock

2 tbsp rosemary leaves, roughly chopped

400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained and rinsed

150g cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat a large non-stick casserole pan over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil followed by the sausages. Cook, turning, for around 5–6 minutes or until well browned on all sides. Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

2. Add the onions to the pan and sauté for 2–3 minutes then add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the paprika and tomato purée and cook for 1 minute before deglazing the pan with the wine. Let bubble, stirring gently, until the wine is reduced by half.

3. Add the beef stock, rosemary and tinned tomatoes and bring the sauce to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Now add the sausages back to the pan, along with the butter beans. Leave to simmer gently for another 5 minutes or so.

4. Lastly stir in the cherry tomatoes and cook for another 2–3 minutes or until the tomatoes are just starting to break down. Taste the sauce for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley.

5. Divide the stew between warmed bowls or plates and serve with crusty bread, or mashed potato if you prefer.

What to drink: A hearty red - the same as you're putting in the stew would be perfect. I'd suggest an inexpensive Côtes du Rhône or Languedoc red.

Extract taken from Real Life Recipes by Tom Kerridge Published by Bloomsbury Absolute at £26 Photography © Cristian Barnett

Ravneet Gill's Miso Caramel and Chocolate Tart

Winter is a great time for baking so what better than this wonderfully indulgent Miso Caramel and Chocolate tart from pastry chef Ravneet Gill's delicious new book Sugar I Love You?

Ravneet writes: "Using a mix of cereal and melted chocolate for the base of a tart brings out my inner child. The base here is so madly addictive that it’s quite hard to not eat it before pressing it into the tart case. (Perhaps it’s better to make a double batch of the base so you can do just that.)

The use of a swirled-through miso caramel means that you don’t need to sprinkle sea salt flakes on top.

Miso Caramel and Chocolate Tart with a Crunchy Cereal Base

Makes a 20cm (8in) tart

For the tart case

100g dark chocolate, chopped
40g unsalted butter, melted
30g roasted hazelnuts, lightly crushed
90g bran flakes cereal, lightly crushed
pinch of sea salt flakes

For the miso caramel

35g caster sugar
7g/1⁄2 tbsp unsalted butter
65ml double cream
1 tbsp white miso paste

For the dark chocolate ganache

200g double cream
60g milk chocolate, chopped
90g dark chocolate, chopped

Start with the tart case. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Leave to melt, then allow to cool to room temperature) - or in short bursts in the microwave.

In a large bowl, mix together the hazelnuts, bran flakes and salt. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and stir well.

Press into a 20cm (8in) tart tin, into the bottom and up the sides. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t reach to the very top of the tin, you want just enough to give you a good edge of roughly 2.5cm (1in) deep. Place in the fridge to chill for up to an hour.

For the miso caramel, make a direct caramel in a saucepan by placing it over a medium heat, sprinkling in the sugar and letting it melt to a dark caramel. Add the butter and whisk well, then pour in the cream and let it bubble for a minute.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the miso paste. Set aside for a few minutes. When the caramel has cooled slightly, pour it into a heatproof dish and allow to cool further. We want it to be at pouring consistency but not hot.

To make the ganache, in the same pan that you’ve just poured the caramel from, add the cream and heat until steaming.

Place both the chocolates into a large heatproof bowl and pour over the hot cream. Let it sit for a minute before stirring with a whisk from the middle outwards until melted and smooth. Pour into the chilled tart shell and let it sit for 2 minutes.

Take the miso caramel and drizzle thickly all over the ganache. Use a butter knife to drag the caramel through the ganache to form swirls, then place in the fridge to set for 4 hours.

This will keep in the fridge for 2–3 days, but is best eaten as soon as the ganache has set.

What to drink: I'm not sure that a dessert wine isn't too much of a good thing with this wickedly sweet tart but if you disagree you go for it! Personally I'd go for a sweet sherry or madeira or a tawny port. Black coffee for me!

Extracted from: Sugar, I Love You: Knockout recipes to celebrate the sweeter things in life by Ravneet Gill, published by Pavilion Books. Image credit Ellis Parrinder.

Chocolate Banana Tahini Brownie

I love a one tin cookbook and the latest that's caught my eye is Rosie Sykes Roasting Pan Suppers which she's written for the National Trust. This is less of a supper dish obviously than an indulgent cake but none the worse for that!

Rosie says "The tahini gives the brownie a distinctive flavour and the banana keeps it wonderfully moist."

Chocolate Banana Tahini Brownie.

SERVES 8–10

300g dark chocolate

75g butter

100g tahini, plus a generous tablespoon to finish

3 eggs

200g soft light brown sugar

2 ripe bananas, mashed

80g rye flour

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan), gas mark 4. Line a small roasting pan or baking tin (approx. 30 x 20cm) with a reusable silicone baking sheet.

Melt the chocolate, butter and tahini in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt together until light and fluffy. Fold in the mashed bananas, then the melted chocolate mix. You will notice that the mixture starts to thicken a little. When everything is thoroughly mixed, carefully fold in the flour until fully incorporated.

Turn into the prepared tin and drizzle the remaining tablespoon of tahini all over the top. Then sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

Bake for 25–30 minutes until the brownie is just set – it should still feel soft and moist. Leave the tin on a wire rack to cool for an hour or so. Imagine this warm with some cream or ice cream on top!

TIP These brownies could be made gluten-free by substituting the rye flour for a gluten-free flour.

From Roasting Pan Suppers by Rosie Sykes, published by National Trust. Photograph by Dan Jones.