Totally Twisted French Onion Soup Recipes

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.

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.

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.

TOTALLY TWISTED FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Slice all the onions and the shallots thinly.
• Melt butter in a large soup pot, add the onions, shallots, bacon, and minced garlic.
• Mix well to blend the onions.
• Saute over moderate flame until mixture browns nicely and is nice, golden, and soft.
• This make take awhile depending on how high the heat is or how hot your burner gets.
• Make sure to stir frequently to avoid burning.
• Add the thyme, black pepper, seasoning salt, crushed red pepper, and saute for an additional 5 minutes.
• Add the flour and mix in well, saute for another 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove the bacon.
• Add the Rotel tomatoes, chicken broth, beef consumme, water, white wine, and the Worsteschire sauce.
• Bring to a boil, then let simmer for at least 3 hours or as long as you like, lets flavors blend.
• I've let mine simmer all day.
• Before serving, set oven to broil.
• Thickly slice the bread and place in oven safe soup crocks.
• Ladle the soup over the bread and top with a thick slice of Gruyere cheese.
• Place soup crocks on a cookie sheet and put under broiler until cheese melts, is bubbly, and just beginning to brown.
• Garnish with fresh parsley and serve piping hot.

FRENCH ONION SOUP WITH A TWIST

Steps:

• Slice onions, leeks and shallots very thinly.
• Heat butter in soup pot just until melted.
• Add onions, leeks, shallots and pepper; saute until onions begin to caramelize or become a light golden brown.
• Sprinkle in flour and stir until traces of flour disappear.
• Gradually add beef stock or consomme, stirring, then beer and water and bay leaf.
• Boil at moderately high heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
• Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered, for 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
• Taste soup; add salt and pepper if desired.
• Turn soup into individual broiler-proof bowls.
• Toast baguette slices in toaster oven until crisp.
• Place baguette slices on top of soup in bowls.
• Sprinkle top of each bowl with a generous amount of cheese.
• Place bowls under broiler until cheese melts and turns brown and bubbles.

FRENCH ONION SOUP X

Steps:

• In a large non-stick saucepan, heat 1/4 cup vegetable broth. Stir in the onion and cook over medium heat until golden, 15 minutes.
• Stir in the sugar and flour. Pour in the remaining 5 cups vegetable broth and the wine. Stir in the bay leaf, thyme and black pepper. Bring to a boil and let boil 8 minutes, stirring constantly; then reduce heat, partly cover, and simmer 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven broiler.
• Remove from heat, remove bay leaf and stir in brandy. Rub garlic clove over toast. Ladle the soup into 4 ovenproof bowls and float a piece of toast on top of each bowl. Sprinkle with the Parmesan.
• Place bowls under broiler until cheese melts.