RECIPE: Spinach and strawberry salad

Ingredients:

2 bunches of spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces

4 cups sliced strawberries

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/8 cup poppy seeds

Mix the last 6 ingredients to make the dressing.

VARIATIONS: when strawberries are expensive, I sometimes add canned mandarin oranges, or substitute them entirely for the strawberries. For those who like nuts, I sometimes add sliced almonds.

Heaven in a Bowl: Famous-Barr French Onion Soup

Below is the recipe for the authentic Famous-Barr French Onion Soup I enjoyed as a teenager in St. Louis:

During it's heyday, Famous-Barr, a major department store in St. Louis (sadly, now it's become Macy's) had a wonderful chef create an even more wonderful version of French Onion Soup. It was thick and rich, and came from the kitchen in a McCoy pottery brown drip soup bowl (like the one pictured here, itself a genuine McCoy) bubbling with melted Gruyere cheese atop two slices of French baguette. It was heaven in a bowl! The store used to sell the soup frozen, along with packages of grated Gruyere cheese and fresh baguettes so you could reproduce that onion-y goodness at home. But over the course of time, the gourmet food section in the store closed, followed closely by the bakery and candy departments.

Fortunately the St. Louis Post-Dispatch eventually published the recipe so onion soup fanciers could make this version at home. I've had a lot of onion soup in my day, even in Paris, and this recipe beats them all.

FAMOUS-BARR'S FRENCH ONION SOUP

5 lbs onions, unpeeled

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground

2 tablespoons paprika

1 bay leaf

7 (16 ounce) cans beef broth, divided (recommended Swanson's)

1 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

French baguettes

Gruyere cheese

Peel onions and slice 1/8 inch thick, preferably in a food processor. Melt butter in a 6-quart (or larger) stockpot. Add onions; cook, uncovered, over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (The long cooking time makes the onions mellow and sweet.) Stir in pepper, paprika and bay leaf; saute over low heat 10 minutes more, stirring frequently. Pour in 6 cans broth and wine. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Dissolve flour in remaining 1 can broth. Stir into boiling soup. Reduce heat and simmer slowly for 2 hours. Adjust color to a rich brown with caramel coloring, season with salt. Refrigerate overnight. To serve, heat soup in microwave or on stove top. If desired, pour into ovenproof crocks or bowls. Top with a slice of bread and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Heat under the broiler until cheese melts and bubbles, about 5 minutes. Leftover soup can be frozen.

Available Only in St. Louis: Gooey Butter Cake

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Available in almost every bakery and supermarket in the St. Louis area, the gooey butter cake is a coffee cake that is unique in taste, texture and appearance. I have never seen it outside of my home town. Paula Deen gives a recipe that uses cream cheese and yellow cake mix, but that is mistaking cubic zirconium for a diamond.

I have wonderful memories of going to the old St. Louis Bakery in the South County Mall on Saturdays with my mom, and buying gooey butter cakes there that were so gooey that once they were cut, they had to be stored at a tilt so the goo wouldn't run all over. Here's the authentic recipe. It's a lot of work, but so worth it when paired with a cup of hot black coffee!

Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
4 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

Gooey butter topping:
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
Dash salt
1 egg
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling

For dough, combine water and yeast in mixing bowl of electric mixer; hand-whisk to mix, then let stand a few minutes. Stir in milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, egg, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Switch to dough hook and knead on slow speed, sprinkling in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup flour as needed, until dough is smooth, about 5 to 8 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel and let dough rise in warm, draft-free place 45 to 60 minutes, or until almost doubled.

Meanwhile, prepare gooey butter topping. Combine granulated sugar, butter, salt, egg, corn syrup, flour, water and vanilla in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade; process 20 to 30 seconds, or until mixture is a smooth paste. (Or beat with electric mixer until well mixed.)

To assemble: Generously spray two 9-inch square baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Gently punch down dough. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Press one portion into each prepared pan, pressing lightly to fit. Use fingertips to crimp edges about halfway up side of pan to make a border (so gooey butter will not run underneath). Use a fork to prick a few holes in dough to prevent bubbling (do not prick dough all the way through). Divide gooey butter into two equal portions; spread over dough in each pan. Let stand, uncovered, 25 minutes.

Place pans on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Topping should be bubbly and golden brown. Do not overbake; topping will not be gooey if cakes are baked too long.

Remove pans from oven and transfer to wire racks to cool until the topping settles and cake is just a bit warmer than room temperature. Sprinkle tops with confectioners' sugar.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 2 cakes; 10 to 12 servings each.