Ffwd: Cheese Topped - Onion Soup
It is a LATE night after a LONG week. Today I had big plans. I was working from home - so naturally I would wake up at 5am, get my web programing problems solved by 7am, do a quick aerobic works out, a bit of weight training, short 2 mile hike with the dogs, gut and clean my home office, wash and fold 2 weeks of clothes, make peach jam, ruggelah, a couple loaves of bread, this soup and have it all done by 5pm.
This is how it really went; I slept like the dead until a time I would rather not disclose, I got so immersed in the monotony of html it was well after 3 before I entered the kitchen. No, there was no exercise, no jam, ruggelah or bread. Don't even mention the laundry! There was this soup - a crazy, mixed up version of Dorie Greenspan's recipe, but one with all the right parts....
On top of all that I never made it to the grocery store to get the Spanish onions and gruyere cheese on my list. In the end this project ended up a big improvisation saved by the things I picked up at the Meadow Street Farmer's Market in Amherst a couple weeks ago.
As I don't have a dutch I decided to use my great grandmother Maudie Coyle's bean pot and do it all in the oven. So this is how I made Baked Frech Onion Soup. Preheat oven to 450f . Cut the onion in long thin strips. While you are cutting the onions, heat the olive oil and 1/2 tbsp butter in the crock. Add onions and garlic and bake for about 75 minutes until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown.
Sprinkle the arrowroot over the onions, pour in the wine and the chicken broth. Cook until the liquid is simmering, about 60 minutes. Add white pepper to taste.
Butter and season bread with Herbs de Provence. Cut into crouton sized pieces. Toast, until the are browned to your liking, it take about 17 minutes in an oven at 400f. Fill either bakeable bowls with soup or just use the crock for the final step. Top with a generous portion of croutons and the grated cheese. Keep under the broiler until the cheese melts and lightly browns. This should not take more than 10 minutes.
If you like this try:
Mussels and Chorizo with or without Pasta
What you've shared:
Zhangbo Wenzel • Sounds amazing :)
Photo Credit: Julie Cecchini
Grand way to improvise- I do that often as I live out of town & don't always feel like trekking in to the grocery. I would bet your soup was delicious- baking the onions that way in the oven- brilliant idea!
Posted by: Beverly | 28 February 2012 at 04:55 PM