White Onion Soup With Cider And Gruyère Food

CLASSIC ONION SOUP WITH GRUYERE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and preheat broiler.
• Melt butter and oil together in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and sugar and cook 10 minutes, until onions are tender and golden brown. Add thyme, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper and stir to coat. Cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Add port and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Add broth and Parmesan rind and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves and Parmesan rind and ladle soup into oven-proof bowls. Place bowls on a baking sheet. Place reserved bread rounds or a sourdough round into each bowl and top bread with Gruyere cheese. Broil 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the oil, onions, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions are deep golden brown and caramelized, 45 to 55 minutes. In the beginning, you will only need to stir the onions only occasionally. As they start to brown midway through cooking, you will need to stir them frequently, scraping the fond (the brown particles) from the bottom of the pan. If the onions are browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly or add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan and continue cooking.
• Add the wine and raise the heat to high. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape any fond from the bottom of the pan, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and the onions are jammy, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.
• Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes.
• While the soup simmers, preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
• When the soup is finished, remove the bay leaves and add the sherry; taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. If the soup needs a deeper flavor, try a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. If it's not quite sweet enough, add ¼ teaspoon sugar.
• Adjust an oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on a baking sheet and divide the hot soup among the crocks (be sure the soup is very hot as it won't warm up much in the oven). Top each crock with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère and then Parmigianno Reggiano. Slide the crocks into the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let the crocks cool for a few minutes before serving. (Alternatively, if using regular soup bowls: Top each toast slice with some cheese and return to broiler to melt, about 2 minutes more. Divide the soup among bowls and top each serving with two cheese toasts.)
• Make-Ahead Instructions: The soup can be made and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead (without toasts or cheese), or up to 3 months ahead and frozen. Toasts can be made (without the cheese) and kept sealed at room temperature for up to 3 days.

ONION AND GRUYERE SOUP

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook butter until foamy. Stir in onions and cook a couple of minutes, then reduce heat, stir in salt, cover and cook very slowly until very tender, 60 minutes.
• Transfer onions and their caramel to a larger pot and place it over medium heat. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Stir in chicken broth, pepper and nutmeg and simmer gently, uncovered, 15 minutes.
• Stir in shredded cheese until melted (cheese will remain a little stringy). Serve.

FRENCH ONION SOUP WITH CIDER

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and sea salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until onions are deep golden.
• Add cider and simmer until reduced by half, then add stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with pepper.
• Meanwhile, place bread on a foil-lined tray and cook both sides under a hot grill until dried but not browned. Spread with mustard and top with cheese, then grill until cheese bubbles and browns.
• Serve soup topped with the croûtons and sprigs of thyme.

CIDER & ONION SOUP WITH CHEESE & APPLE TOASTS

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a saucepan until foaming, then add the onions and cook for 10 mins until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min more. Pour over the cider, then add the potato and thyme sprigs and simmer for another 2 mins. Stir in the stock and cream, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins until the potato is soft. Remove and discard the thyme, transfer the soup to a blender and blitz until smooth.
• To make the cheese & apple toasts, heat the grill to high. Toast the bread on both sides, then mix the cheese, dried apple and onion together. Pack the mixture onto the toasts, then grill until melted and golden. Pour the soup into bowls, scatter over the apple matchsticks and thyme leaves, then serve with the toasts.