Onion Soup
Love the fall air. Our temperatures have slightly dropped. The sun is not as intense. The mornings are cooler as well as our evenings. Soup portrays fall in our house and we try to have it as often as we can. We try to keep our Sundays as relaxed as possible, just a nice ending from a crazy week, and a perfect beginning to a new week. This gives me the opportunity to spend more time in the kitchen preparing our Sunday night family dinner. Last night I prepared onion soup, but not your typical onion soup. I decided to use red onions and add red wine. Truth to be known, I had little white wine left as well as red wine, so why not add the two together and see what happens. The result was a very rich and tasty soup.
Love the fall air. Our temperatures have slightly dropped. The sun is not as intense. The mornings are cooler as well as our evenings. Soup portrays fall in our house and we try to have it as often as we can. We try to keep our Sundays as relaxed as possible, just a nice ending from a crazy week, and a perfect beginning to a new week. This gives me the opportunity to spend more time in the kitchen preparing our Sunday night family dinner. Last night I prepared onion soup, but not your typical onion soup. I decided to use red onions and add red wine. Truth to be known, I had little white wine left as well as red wine, so why not add the two together and see what happens. The result was a very rich and tasty soup.
- Carbohydrate 2.34328124801911 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0 g
- Saturated Fat 0 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (2g)
- Sodium 0 mg
- Sugar 2.34328124801911 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Calories 9 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 400º. Spread the rounds of baguette on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown. Set aside.
- Heat the butter in a large saucepan until melted. Add the onions and cook over medium heat and constantly stir. When the onions are golden add the flour. Mix well and lower the heat. Make sure the onions are not turning too brown.
- Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the beef stock and stir until it boils rapidly. Taste to season. Let it boil for another 8 to 10 minutes.
- In a soup terrine drop the bread and sprinkle with the cheese on top. Ladle the soup over it. Cover with another baguette round topped with more cheese.
- Put the soup terrine under the broil until the cheese melts.
- If you do not want to keep the onion in the soup, strain them or with an hand held blender break them down.
Rushing the caramelization process ruins most attempts at onion soup before the broth ever hits the pot. Cooking red onions and shallots requires precise temperature management because their high natural sugar content causes them to burn easily once the butter melts and the heat climbs too high. When incorporating a mixture of red and white wine, alcohol evaporation matters significantly for taste. Letting the wine cook for exactly two minutes eliminates harsh ethanol notes while retaining the necessary acidity to balance the richness of the beef broth. Stirring continuously over medium heat prevents the flour from forming hard lumps when it is added to the golden alliums.
Mastering Texture and Toasting
Baking thin baguette rounds on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees Fahrenheit yields the ideal structural integrity required to support melted gruyere without dissolving instantly into the liquid. While some cooks prefer to strain or puree the onions entirely with a hand-held blender, keeping the sliced red onions intact provides the traditional mouthfeel expected from this dish.
- Monitor the saucepan constantly during the initial twenty-minute onion softening phase to avoid bitter charring.
- Season the rapidly boiling broth with salt and pepper only after the stock has reduced for eight to ten minutes to prevent over-concentration.
- Broil the layered cheese and bread in an oven-safe terrine just until the dairy turns golden and bubbling.
