Sunday's Soup

My absolute favorite soup is French Onion Soup. The only problem is that the typical soup has a beef base to the broth. I did find a French Onion soup at Trader Joe's that is very good and has a vegetable broth base. It's in their frozen food section. All you have to do is remove the plastic and pop the frozen cube into an oven safe bowl and throw it in the oven. It even includes the cheese! In a pinch, this is great, but it doesn't have the robust taste that I love so much.
I found this recipe from Closet Cooking and it is exactly what I was looking for, http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/03/guinness-french-onion-soup.html?m=1 What I discovered is that there are 2 key ingredients that I was looking for, the Guinness Irish Stout and the grainy mustard and not the beef based broth. I now have a perfect vegetarian version of my favorite soup.
  

 The recipe calls for 4 pounds of onions. This is not a mistake. Initially it will seem like a lot of onions and it is, but they will cook down considerably.  

 

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 pounds onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups Guinness or other Irish Stout
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 1/2 inch thick slices of day old bread, toasted
• 1 cup white cheddar, shredded

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the onions and cook until completely caramelized and golden brown, about 1 hour, mixing every 10-15 minutes and adding water or Guinness to deglaze the pan as needed to prevent burning.
2. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Add the butter, let it melt, mix in the flour and let it cook for 2-4 minutes.
4. Add the stout and deglaze the pan.
5. Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, grainy mustard, bay leaves, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Ladle the soup into oven-proof bowls on a baking sheet, top with the sliced bread and cheese and broil until cheese melts, about 1-3 minutes.

 

I did not use slices of bread in my soup. It is much easier to eat if you  break up the toasted bread slices. Be sure to toast the bread as the bread will be too soppy otherwise. 

Ladle in the soup over the bread cubes and top with shredded cheese. I used a nice Irish white cheddar.

Be sure to use an oven safe bowl and also be sure to watch the soup as it will brown quickly. Brown is great, burned (or on fire like I have been known to do) is not!! 

Be sure to check out the Closet Cooking website, http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/03/17-st-patricks-day-recipes.html#more . He has posted a pile of what looks to be wonderful recipes for St Patrick's Day. I just may give the Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake a try!!!

Happy Sunday!

Rhonda