French Onion Prime Rib Soup

Oh what to do with the ever best left over Prime Rib Roast. I spent $60 on a Prime Rib the other night fully knowing that it was too big for our family. But what's a girl to do? I couldn't leave it behind! I'd already started dreaming about the possibilities and of course the sheer soulful joy it would bring to a Saturday night dinner. And it did. We've tried other roasts in the past, and nothing compares. Well a sirloin isn't so bad. To date we've turned our Saturday night dinner into a roster of left overs. We've had the carmelized onion prime rib sandwhiches and even tossed it in a salad with blue cheese. Tonight though, on this overwhelmingly chilly evening in Vancouver, soup will do. But my God, French Onion Prime Rib Soup will really do.

Chop up lots of onion - I chopped up, or I should say sliced up 6 medium sized onions. Put about 1/4 cup of butter into a big pot and sauteed until the onion is soft. Then add mushrooms, as many as you like. I opened two cans of mushrooms and threw them in the pot and some red wine about 3/4 a cup. I had left over bottles still here from Christmas so I just poured them all in. Then slice off as much meat as you can from the Prime Rib Beef Bones and toss the bones in the pot and simmer until all the liquid from the wine is thoroughly reduced to just a little liquid. Remove the bones and set aside. Chop up all the left over roast and toss into the pot. Add about 5 tbsp. of beef bouillon to the pot with water (do proper measurements of water to bouillon which is about 1 tbsp. of bouillon to 1 cup of water). So what spices would you like to use? I added some chopped garlic, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg for the spicy warmth, and tarragon for sweetness. Now simmer. And then from time to time, taste your soup art and add a little of this and a little of that. I'm going to serve tonight's soup with some grilled cheese sandwhiches. Happy New Year by the way!

Hallelujah's Never Fail Pie Crust

Listen to me. This is very important information and trust me when I tell you.....Never Fail means that you won't!!!!!! For years I was making a pie crust that was of standard puritanical fare. Meaning - that you had to put your heart on the line, hope for the best, and then feel like crap when the pie crust didn't turn out. For years my pie crust did work using the standard lard recipe. But then something happened. I don't know if it was the nervous energy in my hands or the new granite counter top I installed - but my pie was not working out. I was heart broken....thought I'd lost my special touch. For a person who takes pride in recipes well done, this was a cookery disaster! Then my prayers were answered. My mother-in-law had passed this recipe on to me, but being stubborn in some way, I decided not to use it. However, this past Christmas I used the Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe and I urge you all to use it. Bring Pie Back!!!! You will not fail and my God it is delicious!

3 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups of shortening (I just used Tenderflake), 1 tsp. of salt, 1 egg, 1 tbsp. of white vinegar, 5 1/2 tbsp. of water.

Whisk flour and salt together, then cut in the lard using a pastry cutter or a couple of knives together until the mixture looks like little peas, or coarse crumbs. Mix together the egg, vinegar, and water and pour into the flour mixture and mix together. Now separate the dough into 4 equal parts by rolling them into balls. Now here is the most amazing part. I can barely contain myself!!!!!! I'm crying I am so happy about this part.

Put a large piece of parchment paper on your counter, plop the dough on it (I use two balls for the bottom and two for the top I always have lots left over to spare to make more, but this is dough insurance to me so I can completely cover the pie plate....you know what I'm saying right?), and cover the dough with another with another piece of parchment paper. One thing I've learn in how you can roll your dough out into a lovely circle, is to shape it into a round disk before hand. With your rolling pin begin rolling the dough out in a big circle. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Once you've rolled out your dough disk......peel the top piece of parchment paper off, and lift the bottom parchment paper up off the counter and turn the dough out into the pie pan. Hallelujah!!!!!! This is incredible. I'm going to add my New Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe after the pie crust recipe so stay tuned. XOXOX