Posted 9:59 PM by Leslie Turek
I have a little tradition that each year, on some leisurely morning during the Christmas/New Years holiday season, I make myself a cheese souffle - an old-fashioned, not the least bit healthy, cheese souffle from the original edition of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This year, I decided to share it with Alex, since we were getting together to watch the Patriots' last regular-season game today. So I loaded my copper mixing bowl and my souffle dish and some gruyere and parmesan cheese and a half dozen eggs and my wire whisk and a bunch of other stuff into my huge LL Bean canvas tote bag and headed over to Alex's to do some serious cooking. I also brought some bread and the low-fat onion soup I made last night to serve as an appetizer. After a lovely comedy of errors that involved a spilled egg white and almost forgetting to add the cheese to the souffle base, and Alex wearing out his arm whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks, the souffle finally got into the oven. It came out pretty good, too, except that I think Alex's oven runs a bit hotter than mine and the souffle was a little too dark on the outside and a little too soft on the inside. But it tasted pretty good anyway. Dessert, served at half time, was bananas cooked with brown sugar and dark rum. I had mine with low-fat yogurt and Alex had his on ice cream. (Recipes below.)

And who won the game you might ask? Well, it was frustrating. The Pats rallied and scored 11 points in the last few minutes to come from behind and tie the game, then won it in overtime with another clutch field goal courtesy of Adam Vinitieri. The Dolphins were amazed. But for the Patriots to win the division, the Packers would have to beat the Jets. Now you might think that should be a fairly easy thing to accomplish, since the Packers had a season record of 12-3 going into their game. But it was not to be. The fickle finger of fate stepped in and led the Jets to an overwhelming win, something like 45-10. So that's it for the Pats this season. Lets hope next season turns out to be better.

Vidalia Onion Soup (from Saved by Soup, by Judith Barrett) Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a large skillet, add 4 pounds thinly sliced sweet onions and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown, 45 min to 1 hr. Transfer the onions to a saucepan. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine to the first pan and deglaze over medium-high heat, until the wine is reduced by half, 3 to 5 min. Pour the wine into the onions, add 5 cups chicken or veggie broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and simmer about 15 min. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with toasted bread and a sprinkle of Parmigiano cheese. Serves 6. 188 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving.

Bananas in Run-Brown Sugar Sauce (from The Eating Well Rush Hour Cookbook) In a large skillet, stir 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 tsp butter and 1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil until it bubbles, about 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup dark rum, 2 tsp lime juice, and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon; cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Peel 3 bananas and cut in half lengthwise and again crosswise and add to the skillet; cook, stirring, until tender, about 1 minute. Serve topped with a dollop of vanilla yogurt. Serves 4. 208 calories, 4 grams fat per serving.
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