Chilled Cream Of Vidalia Onion Soup Food

CHILLED CREAM OF VIDALIA ONION SOUP

Steps:

• In a heavy kettle cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until it is crisp and transfer it with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Add the butter and oil to the kettle and in the fat cook the onion and garlic, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are colored lightly and softened.
• Add chicken broth, wine, thyme, and bay leaf and simmer the mixture, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaf and in a blender or food processor purée the mixture in batches.
• Strain the mixture into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids- this is an important step, so don't skimp on the time it might take to separate the solids; discard solids.
• Chill the mixture covered, for 3 to 4 hours, or until it is cold.
• Whisk in the heavy cream (I use 1/2 and 1/2), crème fraîche (I use softened cream cheese), lemon juice, Tabasco, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste- I used a stick blender to get the milk and cheese smooth- and serve the soup in chilled bowls, sprinkle with the bacon, croutons, and scallion.
• Notes: The texture of this came out very much like tomato soup- at first, after doing the puree in the food processor, I considered just putting the whole mess into the soup, because when I put the puree into the strainer the drip of liquid was slow; but I took about 15 minutes with a spatula, moving the puree around and pressing it through the strainer and scraping it off the bottom, and sure enough, eventually I had most of it through and what came out into the bowl (and scraped off the bottom of the strainer) was quite a different texture than what I would have gotten otherwise; I ended up with about 4 cups of liquid (also containing*very* fine puree) and about a 1/2 cup of solids.

VIDALIA ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Slice onions thinly. Place half of the onions in a skillet with half of the butter; cook, covered, over medium-high heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Remove to a platter, and cook remaining onions with butter. Return two-thirds of the reserved onions to the skillet. (Reserve the rest for garnish.)
• Stir in flour until well combined with onions. Slowly stir in chicken broth. Remove from heat, and let cool about 10 minutes. Stir in cream and milk.
• Pour into a blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. Return to stovetop, and heat through over medium-low heat. Pour into bowls, and garnish with reserved onions and chopped parsley.

CREAMY VIDALIA ONION SOUP

Steps:

• In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Add onions: saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in flour and salt, and mix thoroughly. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring constantly. Cover, and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.
• When onions are very tender, stir in milk and cream. Heat through. Remove 1/2 cup soup, and mix in egg yolks. Slowly stir egg yolk mixture into soup in pan. Heat through, but do not allow soup to boil. Stir in paprika, black pepper, and red hot pepper sauce. Serve hot, and garnish with chopped parsley.

SLOW ROASTED VIDALIA ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Wrap each onion separately in aluminum foil and place in a 300 degree oven (or in the coals of a fireplace or grill pit) until onions feel tender all the way through, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Heat oil in a large pot.
• Add leek and celery cooking until softened but not browned.
• Remove onions from foil, quarter and add to pot.
• Add chicken stock and sherry.
• Simmer about 45 minutes.
• Stir in cream and thyme and remove from heat.
• In batches, puree mixture in a blender until smooth.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Garnish each serving with chives.
• . Serve immediately.