French Onion Soup Mom Food

THE BEST FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a very large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft and light golden-brown, about 1 hour. (The onions will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and turn brown after about 30 minutes; just keep scraping them up and stirring them into the rest of the onions. If they are browning to quickly, lower the heat.)
• Add the wine to the pot, bring to a simmer and cook until it has almost completely evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add the beef broth and 1 cup of water, bring to a simmer and cook until the flavors come together and the soup is rich, about 45 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Keep the soup warm on a low burner or cool completely and refrigerate to reheat later. (The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
• Preheat the broiler. Place four soup crocks on a rimmed baking sheet and fill them about 3/4 of the way with hot soup. Float a slice of baguette on top of each and cover with 1/2 cup Gruyere. Broil until the Gruyere is golden brown (don't be alarmed if some soup bubbles out), 2 to 3 minutes.

AUTHENTIC FRENCH ONION SOUP COURTESY OF JULIA CHILD

Steps:

• Place heavy bottom stock pot or dutch over over medium-low heat.
• Add 1 Tbs cooking oil, 2Tbs butter to pot.
• Add sliced onions and stir until they are evenly coated with the oil.
• Cover and cook for about 20 minutes until they are very tender and translucent.
• To brown or caramelize the onions turn heat under pot to medium or medium high heat.
• Add 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently until the onions have browned and reduced significantly.
• Once caramelized, reduce heat to medium-low and add 3 Tbs flour to the onions.
• Brown the flour for about 2-3 minutes trying not to scorch it. (If the flour does not form a thick paste, you can add a bit more butter here).
• Stir in about 1 cup of warm stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to get up all of the cooked-on bits.
• Add the rest of the stock, wine to the soup.
• Simmer for 30 minutes.
• To make the "croutes" (toasted bread), heat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Drizzle each side of the bread slices with a bit of olive oil and place on baking sheet.
• Cook the croutes for 15 minutes in oven on each side (30 minutes total).
• Check the soup for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
• Transfer to a casserole dish.
• At this point you can add the 2-3 Tbs cognac and grate the 1/2 raw onion into the soup.
• Add a few ounces of the swiss cheese directly into the soup and stir.
• Place the toasted bread in a single layer on top of the soup.
• Sprinkle the rest of the cheese in a thick layer on top of the bread making sure to cover the edges of the toast to prevent burning.
• Drizzle with a little oil or melted butter.
• Place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
• Turn on broiler and brown cheese well.
• Let cool for a few minutes.
• Bon Apetit!

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Coat a large deep pot with olive oil. Add the onions and sprinkle generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium heat. Stir the onions to coat with oil. Cover the pot and sweat for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Once the onions have gotten very soft and let off a lot of water, remove the lid and let the onions cook looooow and sloooooooooow. That's right low and slow to really develop their rich brown color and sweet flavor. There is no shortcut or rush for this, DO NOT TRY! Caramelized onions take a long time, about an hour, accept it and move on.
• When the onions are very brown and have gotten considerably smaller, add the sherry and cook until the sherry has reduced by half. Add the bay leaves, thyme bundle and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 hour. TASTE for seasoning, you probably will need to season with salt. If the stock reduces too much add water to keep the liquid level up- this IS a soup after all. When done, the soup should be thick and very full flavored. TASTE! You may need to resason, caramelized onions are very sweet and require a fair amount of salt.
• Toast or grill the baguette slices. Fill ovenproof crocks 3/4 of the way with the onion soup, float 2 toasts in each bowl and top with grated Gruyere. Place the crocks under the broiler to melt the cheese and make it brown and bubbly. Top with chopped chives.
• Voila!!

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.
• Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

BRITTA'S MOM'S FRENCH ONION SOUP OMELET

Steps:

• Add oil to a heated saute pan. When hot, add onions and caramelize until nice and brown. Set aside. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add water, salt and pepper. Melt the butter in an 8-inch non-stick pan and set over high heat. Make sure the butter coats the whole pan. When the foam has subsided, slowly pour in the eggs. Tilt the pan to spread the eggs mixture evenly. Let eggs firm up a little and then shake the pan and use the spatula to get the mixture away from the sides, into the middle, letting the liquid run under the sides. Continue to cook until the mixture holds together. Add mustard, caramelized onions and grated cheese to the center. Tilt the pan to one side, and with a spatula fold about 1/3 of the omelet over the middle. Shake the pan gently to slide the omelet to the edge of the pan. Turn the omelet directly onto the plate by inverting the pan over the plate.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the onions and fry with the lid on for 10 mins until soft.
• Sprinkle in the sugar and cook for 20 mins more, stirring frequently, until caramelised. The onions should be really golden, full of flavour and soft when pinched between your fingers. Take care towards the end to ensure that they don't burn.
• Add the garlic cloves for the final few minutes of the onions' cooking time, then sprinkle in the plain flour and stir well.
• Increase the heat and keep stirring as you gradually add the wine, followed by the beef stock. Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins.
• To serve, turn on the grill, and toast the bread. Ladle the soup into heatproof bowls.
• Put a slice or two of toast on top of the bowls of soup, and pile on the gruyère. Grill until melted. Alternatively, you can cook the toasts under the grill, then add them to the soup to serve.

BEST EVER FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• SOUP: In dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and salt, cover and cook until softened, stirring occasionally about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until caramelized, about 30 minutes more.
• Stir in flour; cook 2 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, partially covered about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Cool and refrigerate till next day.
• CROUTON BREAD SLICES: Preheat oven to 375°F Mix olive oil with garlic powder and brush both sides of bread slices with the oil mixture. Place on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes, turning once, until bread is slightly toasted. Set aside.
• TO SERVE: Preheat broiler. On stovetop, heat soup to a simmer. Ladle soup into 4 broiler safe bowls. Top with french bread slices and cheese. Place bowls on baking sheet and broil 4" from heat until cheese is bubbly. about 2 minutes. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
• PASTRY PUFF VARIATION: Preheat the oven to 400°F Roll out one sheet of puff pastry and sprinkle with half the Gruyere cheese, fold into 3 and roll out again. Cut out 4 lids. Divide the soup among ovenproof soup bowls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of soup and cover with the pastry lids with a little egg wash seal. Bake the soup in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheesy puff pastry is golden in colour and well risen.

EASY FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Place onions and butter in saucepan.
• Sauté on medium heat until onions are tender.
• Add garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes (don't let garlic burn).
• Add beef broth, consomme, and Woschershire sauce.
• Bring to a boil for 1 minute.
• Take ovenproof bowls (I use over-sized coffee mugs) and place 0.125 cup of cheese in bottom of each bowl.
• Fill bowl with soup leaving room at the top.
• Place toasted French bread on top.
• Top with 0.125 cup Swiss cheese.
• Place under broiler until cheese is bubbly.
• Serve immediately.
• Caution--bowls will be hot!