French Onion Soup

Adding pan-seared beef chunks or changing the selection and quantity of herbs can greatly modify this traditional pre-Roman rural recipe. The traditional sourdough recipe in the Breads category makes an ideal loaf for the crouton in this soup.

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

Soup

  • 5-6 Onions Vidalia, Spanish or White
  • 3 tbsp Butter
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 1 cup Hard Cider Optional
  • 10 fl. oz. Beef Consomme
  • 10 fl. oz. Chicken Broth
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper

For Serving

  • 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese Grated
  • 4 slices Bread

Procedure

Soup

  1. Peel Onions and remove ends, then slice thinly into crescent shapes (from top-to-bottom, not across the side of each bulb)
  2. Melt butter in a medium-low skillet, increasing heat until butter starts to bubble but not readily brown
  3. Add entire batch of onion slices, salting every so often as evenly as possible
  4. Allow Onions to cook down over 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. At this point, caramelization is desired, so do not overstir
  5. Move cooked Onions to a stock pot containing the Consomme and Chicken Broth, placed on medium-high heat (simmering)
  6. Deglaze the onion skillet with Hard Cider (or, with a ½ Cup Apple Cider and ½ Cup White Wine mix). Add the resulting liquid to the stock pot
  7. Add black pepper and other optional herbs for seasoning to taste
  8. Simmer for at least 20-30 minutes, allowing the soup to cook down partially

For Serving

  1. Cut the slice of bread to fit the top of an oven-safe ramekin
  2. Fill ramekin with soup, then top with bread and a sprinkle of grated cheese. Brown under broiler and serve