I thought I'd build on the caramelized onion skills I developed making the topping for my portobello mushroom burger and make a serious classic: French onion soup.
This was easy, delicious and tasted like the million other times I've had it out at restaurants.
What you'll need:
an onion
olive oil
butter
salt (optional)
sugar (optional)
red wine
beef bouillon (enough to make two cups)
garlic powder
cracked pepper
dried sage
old bread
blue cheese (my little spin on things, since that's what I had around)
I did exactly what I did in my previous entry to make the onions brown. I put oil and butter in a pan at medium heat, added the onions and stirred occasionally for the next 30 minutes. I added salt and sugar to help along the caramelization, but that is optional, and I'm sure many people wouldn't feel the need to add salt to a soup.
When the onions were ready, I added some old red wine I had on hand. Sherry is the traditional wine for French onion soup, but my old shiraz did the trick to give the soup that depth of flavor. After the wine burned off a bit, I added two cups of water and my bouillon. If you have homemade or store-bought beef stock around, go ahead and use that. I was cooking a little on the fly today with whatever I had in my fridge. I'm anticipating another Washington's Green Grocer shipment Thursday and didn't want to go shopping.
Then I cracked in enough black pepper to balance the soup's sweetness from the onions, probably about six cracks. Then I added about three or four shakes of garlic powder and about a half a teaspoon of sage. The sage really gave it an earthiness and added to the pepper's balance. It's not my favorite spice, so play with adding more if it's one of your mainstays.
I took some pretty old bread I had and broke it up in the bottom of a soup bowl with some leftover blue cheese crumbles. If you have oven-safe bowls, you can put some cheese, like Swiss, on top and broil the cheese to a brown, but I actually really liked this lower calorie alternative.
It tasted amazing, and I guarantee you will make this again and again.
This was easy, delicious and tasted like the million other times I've had it out at restaurants.
What you'll need:
an onion
olive oil
butter
salt (optional)
sugar (optional)
red wine
beef bouillon (enough to make two cups)
garlic powder
cracked pepper
dried sage
old bread
blue cheese (my little spin on things, since that's what I had around)
I did exactly what I did in my previous entry to make the onions brown. I put oil and butter in a pan at medium heat, added the onions and stirred occasionally for the next 30 minutes. I added salt and sugar to help along the caramelization, but that is optional, and I'm sure many people wouldn't feel the need to add salt to a soup.
When the onions were ready, I added some old red wine I had on hand. Sherry is the traditional wine for French onion soup, but my old shiraz did the trick to give the soup that depth of flavor. After the wine burned off a bit, I added two cups of water and my bouillon. If you have homemade or store-bought beef stock around, go ahead and use that. I was cooking a little on the fly today with whatever I had in my fridge. I'm anticipating another Washington's Green Grocer shipment Thursday and didn't want to go shopping.
Then I cracked in enough black pepper to balance the soup's sweetness from the onions, probably about six cracks. Then I added about three or four shakes of garlic powder and about a half a teaspoon of sage. The sage really gave it an earthiness and added to the pepper's balance. It's not my favorite spice, so play with adding more if it's one of your mainstays.
I took some pretty old bread I had and broke it up in the bottom of a soup bowl with some leftover blue cheese crumbles. If you have oven-safe bowls, you can put some cheese, like Swiss, on top and broil the cheese to a brown, but I actually really liked this lower calorie alternative.
It tasted amazing, and I guarantee you will make this again and again.
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