onion soup

does anyone have a recipe for good french onion soup? i had a delicious bowl in a restaurant in new orleans once, the top was covered with a cheese crust- it was amazing, i havent found anything quite like it since.

Shelly,

I've made onion soup only a few times (of course, I have eaten it many times!), but the recipe I liked the best is in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I.

It is long, and Julia doesn't cut any corners, but the result was very, very good.

Ivyhouse

here is my simple but yummy recipe:

peel and slice 3-4 onions along with a couple of cloves of garlic
saute in stick of butter or margarine till onions cooked pretty well.

then put in can or two of beef broth. Add some garlic salt

simmer for awhile or until you can't stand the smell any longer

ladle into crocks and top with croutons and then top of with mozzarella. broil until cheese melted

good luck

Thank you both! Can't wait to try these

quote:

Originally posted by Ivyhouse

Shelly,

I've made onion soup only a few times (of course, I have eaten it many times!), but the recipe I liked the best is in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I.

It is long, and Julia doesn't cut any corners, but the result was very, very good.

Ivyhouse

This is the very best French onion soup in the world.............it is wonderful. I make it very often and everyone asks for the recipe.
I will be glad to post it if you really want it. I believe tje real secret of excellent onion soup is the long slow cooking of the onions with the sugar

Greymo:

Would you post it? Please? I've always wanted to make my own onion soup, especially now that my kids love it too. I'd love to try Julia's recipe - they don't get any better than her!

I didn't tried Onion soup like this ever before ,,, its so tasty ...




Juliet

The best onion soup I've ever made was back when I had access to the beef au jus that was a byproduct of the roasts roasted at the restaurant of a friend of mine. She used the beef for her Italian Beef sands and had no use for all the au jus. I would bring clean food grade plastic containers and she'd fill them up for me.

Back in my kitchen I'd cook down (in 100% butter) pounds and pounds of brown onions (utilizing the caramelization process to enhance the flavor and color of the soup) to which I'd added some salt and pepper and a bit of flour. The onions I'd get free of charge from the onion broker down the street. I'd then add the au jus, some sherry and some sliced carrots, a bit of water if necessary, then let it simmer for an hour and half or so.

To each serving I'd add a topping of grated Gruyere, top that with fresh grated reggiano, then pop them under the broiler until the cheese bubbled and browned.

Ok, you've probably already made this, but I thought i'd add my two cents. The thing to remember is that the onions need to be totally carmelized (dark brown) like enginecapt said so they add nice color and flavor. This could take upwards of 30-45 minutes over a medium heat. Don't try to rush it by turning the heat up too high. Stir often so they don't burn. Also, it's always a good idea to deglaze your pan/pot with some wine before adding your stock/broth. Marsala is a good choice.

I slice the onions in a food processor.
Saute the sliced onions in butter.
add 1 to 2 large cans on chicken broth (I use chicken broth because it tastes less salty than beef broth.
Bring to boil then simmer 1 to 2 hours.

Ladle into oven safe bowls. Add slice of a crusty baget and top with swiss cheese (I sometimes use Gruyère). Heat in oven or microwave until cheese in melted.

Serve with baget, butter and wine.

By all means, follow Julia's recipe. Her recipes are flawless. Toast some thick slices of baguette, float them on top of the soup, add gruyere cheese and broil until the cheese is brown. Voila. By the way, does anyone here know when the French actually eat onion soup? Trivia!!!! Get this one right and I'll be impressed.....or you lived in France. Come on Mr. Hoffman!!!

My favorite:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 medium red onions (about 3 pounds), sliced thin
Table salt
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (canned)
1 3/4 cups low-sodium beef broth (canned)
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 sprigs fresh parsley leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Ground black pepper
1 baguette , cut on the bias into 3/4-inch slices (2 slices per serving)
4 1/2 ounces Swiss cheese , sliced 1/16-inch thick
1 1/2 ounces grated Asiago cheese (about 3/4 cup)

Cook onions in butter until syrupy and a thick crust develops on pan bottom. (I just thick dutch oven on stovetop.)

Add broths and spices, deglaze, simmer.

I love onion soup, but can't stand the topping. Wet bread makes my stomach turn. When I make onion soup, I just leave off the crouton top.

Sorry for the interruption, but I have aquestion....is anyone familiar with a St. Louis icon Famous Barr's french onion soup? Does anyone hav ehte recipe? Would be greatly appreciated. That soup broke da mouth.

Here ya go..........

Famous-Barr's French Onion Soup
One of St. Louis's favorite soup recipes was recently printed in the Post-Dispatch. When I was a graduate student in St. Louis and we were young and broke, my Wife and I would visit this upscale department store called " Famous-Barr " just to eat at the store's restaurant for this famous soup.

Famous-Barr's French Onion Soup

5 pounds unpeeled onions
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 bay leaf
7 (about 16-ounce) cans beef broth, divided (recommended Swanson's) 1 cup dry white wine, optional
3/4 cup all-purpose or instant flour (such as Wondra)
Caramel coloring or Kitchen Bouquet, optional
2 teaspoons salt, or french baguettes, optional
Swiss or Gruyere cheese, optional

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 breat and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Heat under the broiler until cheese melts and bubbles, about 5 minutes.

Leftover soup can be frozen.

Yield: 4 quarts; 16 servings.

I don't have a recipe but French onion is my favorite soup. If it's on the menu , I order it. Since Harrigan's Closed, I haven't found a decent one in the Arlington Tx area. Applebees and TGIF has it but they use hamburger buns for the crouton. It's terrible.

One of my favorite Onion Soups is the O soup from the Dobbin House in Gettysburg, PA. The only real difference from the recipes above is the inclusion of what looks like cubed pieces of Roast Beef in the broth. It's one of the first times that I have actually run into beef pieces in the soup itself. It makes the soup quite tasty.

We use a large, cast-iron kettle for our onion soup. It is the perfect pan to use when slow cooking the onions which, as others have stated, is the most important step in the process. Cook them at a low heat, stir often, until very soft. If you turn up the heat, you'll burn the onions and/or the butter. Also, toast your French/Italian bread under the broiler, rub with a raw garlic clove, and then put on top of the individual soup bowls, cover with cheese and slip under the broiler again. Great stuff!

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

By all means, follow Julia's recipe. Her recipes are flawless. Toast some thick slices of baguette, float them on top of the soup, add gruyere cheese and broil until the cheese is brown. Voila. By the way, does anyone here know when the French actually eat onion soup? Trivia!!!! Get this one right and I'll be impressed.....or you lived in France. Come on Mr. Hoffman!!!

Usually for breakfast after a long night of drinking and dancing!!!
Do I win the booby prize??

David O.

O.K. I know that I have posted this recipe before but here goes again.

1 stick unsalted butter or 1/4 cup bacon fat
5# yellow onions sliced thin on the vertical
6 qts. beef stock (preferably home made)
1/2 cup dry sherry (NOT COOKING SHERRY)
two or three sprigs of fresh thyme stripped but not chopped
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
one French loaf cut into rounds
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 cloves fresh garlic, slightly smashed
several slices of Gruyere or Swiss cheese

On medium low heat, melt butter and add onions. Add a pinch of salt so as to draw out the moisture of the onions. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook the onions until dark golden color. Do not blacken as you will have to start over again. Add sherry and stir up all of the caramel color off the bottom of the pan. Add bay leaves, thyme, beef stock and salt and pepper. Bring to simmer and let cook for one hour uncovered. Salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, brush the French bread rounds with olive oil and then toast in oven or grill until golden. Rub with the smashed garlic while still warm and crispy. Ladle out into stoneware or oven safe bowls, top with toasted bread and cheese. Place into a broiler until cheese is bubbly and browned. Eat and enjoy!!



David O.

quote:

Originally posted by Timntx

Here ya go..........

Famous-Barr's French Onion Soup
One of St. Louis's favorite soup recipes was recently printed in the Post-Dispatch. When I was a graduate student in St. Louis and we were young and broke, my Wife and I would visit this upscale department store called " Famous-Barr " just to eat at the store's restaurant for this famous soup.

Famous-Barr's French Onion Soup

5 pounds unpeeled onions
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 bay leaf
7 (about 16-ounce) cans beef broth, divided (recommended Swanson's) 1 cup dry white wine, optional
3/4 cup all-purpose or instant flour (such as Wondra)
Caramel coloring or Kitchen Bouquet, optional
2 teaspoons salt, or french baguettes, optional
Swiss or Gruyere cheese, optional

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 breat and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Heat under the broiler until cheese melts and bubbles, about 5 minutes.

Leftover soup can be frozen.

Yield: 4 quarts; 16 servings.

Caramel coloring??? What the **** are you thinking? The process of cooking the onions should achieve the desired color! As for the flour, I can't even address that one. Food processor?!!? Cans of over salted broth?!!? OMG! I would be embarrassed to serve such an inferior product. Just my humble opinion.





David O.

lol here...

quote:

Originally posted by UncleVic

lol here...

Had to be said!!!

David O.

I love French onion soup too. Simple too, right? Stock, onions, bread and cheese. (g)

About 1-1/3 pounds of onions are needed for each serving. This may seem like a lot, but they will reduce to about one tenth of their initial volume. They should be sauteed really, really really, slowly in 1 Tbsp. butter per pound. You don't have to stand over them, but you cannot go far away. Get something else to do in the kitchen, or read a book there. The should cook for 4-5 hours. Stir every 15 minutes. This can be done a couple of day in advance.

Then there is the question of the broth. It starts with beef stock. If you are not willing or able to make your own, I recommend Swanson Organic. You need about 2-1/3 cups per serving.

Put onions in a pot, stir in a bit of flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the broth, and a sachet of peppercorns, thyme and bay leaves. Simmer for an hour or so, until reduced to about a cup and a half per serving. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Some sprinkle a few drops of wine, sherry or sherry vinegar in at this point; it is a matter of taste.

Trim some good white bread to fit your crocks or bowls, and dry in the oven so that the rounds will not sink too fast in the soup.

Slice some emmenthaler cheese, big enough hopefully to overlap the opening in your crocks. Grate some, also. Place cheese slices over bread, overlapping the sides. Sprinkle grated cheese on top, filling in any cracks or thin spots.

Heat your broiler.

Place soup in crocks, float the bread rounds, and lay on the cheese. Place under broiler until browned and bubbly.

Eat.

Hey guys,
If you're ever in Manmhattan,try the Les Pyrenees restaurant. The best Onion soup I've ever had...even including France. I know they use two liquors(they said so),,but I don't remember what.
leethebard

Eating onion soup out is a real crapshoot ... usually it becomes salt juice.

Recommendations in this thread are appreciated ... at least by me.

I always enjoyed the onion soup at La Bonne Soupe on 55th St. in Manhattan. This is their recipe, which I've made many times.

FRENCH ONION SOUP - 4 servings

3 Tbs. butter
4 - 6 large sweet onions (about 1 1/2 - 2 pounds total), peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
2 quarts beef broth
2 ribs celery with leaves, each rib cut in half
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry fino sherry
4 to 6 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick, lightly toasted
1/4 cup coarsely grated Emmental, Gruyere, or other Swiss-type cheese

Melt the butter in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, a minimum of 30 minutes. (The longer the onions cook slowly, the richer the flavor of the soup.)

Add the white wine and cook over medium-high heat until the wine reduces to about half, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, celery, salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and allow the soup to simmer until the onions are meltingly tender, about 40 minutes. Remove and discard the celery. Add the sherry and simmer soup for another 5 minutes.

To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Ladle the soup into individual ovenproof bowls. Top each with 1 slice of bread, sprinkle with 1 Tbs. cheese, and place the bowls on a cookie sheet. Heat in the center of the preheated oven just until the cheese melts and bubbles, 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and serve at once.

I remember Rubyrose posted this recipe on the soup forum when I was a newbie on Roadfood.I make this recipe all the time, and can vouch for its wonderful flavor...

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Hey guys,
If you're ever in Manmhattan,try the Les Pyrenees restaurant. The best Onion soup I've ever had...even including France. I know they use two liquors(they said so),,but I don't remember what.
leethebard

Brandy and Burbon no doubt. For the burbon I sugest useing
Makers Mark a very fine product. If you are a brandy fan stock up now. Brandy prices are poised to go thru the roof soon. Chow Jim

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

By all means, follow Julia's recipe. Her recipes are flawless. Toast some thick slices of baguette, float them on top of the soup, add gruyere cheese and broil until the cheese is brown. Voila. By the way, does anyone here know when the French actually eat onion soup? Trivia!!!! Get this one right and I'll be impressed.....or you lived in France. Come on Mr. Hoffman!!!

Historically, in rural areas of France, pots of soup were kept simmering on the stoves and contained the bounty of garden toil. Most prominent among the vegetables used in these kettles were those that had a long growing season and a long root cellar life. Onions, obviously, make the cut when it comes to this determination.

The soups were/are eaten throughout the day, every day. Even at breakfast.

So, in answer to your query, I will say, "breakfast."