Friday, February 24, 2012

FFWD Cheese-Topped Onion Soup



What's there to say?  We absolutely loved this soup.  I'm a big fan of onion soup, but I rarely used to eat it because I don't eat red meat and many versions at restaurants (and most recipes that I've seen) call for beef broth.  So, I was thrilled when I found a recipe for vegetarian onion soup in my trusty Moosewood cookbook.  The recipe calls for very simple ingredients (I think just onions, water, soy sauce, and mustard powder), is very easy, and only takes about an hour.  Plus, most of that time is just for the onions to cook, so you can definitely do other things in the kitchen.  I started making the soup pretty often on Sunday afternoons, for us to enjoy later in the week.

A couple of Sundays ago, I was making my TWD Chocolate Tartlets and making some posole for dinner that night, and I decided to make Dorie's onion soup recipe to have for our dinner on Monday night.  It's certainly not difficult, but it is more involved than my usual recipe.  It requires more ingredients (chicken stock, white wine) and Dorie wants you to cook the onions on the lowest possible setting until they caramelize - at least an hour.  Well, luckily I was multi-tasking because after an hour on low my onions still hadn't gained any color at all.  I turned the heat up a bit, but I think it took me two hours (it was sometime after I had finished cooking and we had eaten dinner) until my onions had the color I wanted.  I told Paul that this darn soup better be worth it, and better be much better than my usual recipe.  Well, it was.  We loved it.  It had a more complex flavor, and we loved the sweetness of the onions combined with the good gruyere cheese.  I think this will definitely become our new go-to onion soup recipe.

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We got home from the Bahamas around noon this past Sunday, and were desperate for a home-cooked meal.  I decided to make it a FFWD catch-up night and made Potato Gratin, Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux, and Salted Butter Break-Ups for dessert.  All three of these recipes were winners.  The Potato Gratin is definitely going to be a special occasion food, but I can see this chicken becoming a frequent Sunday night dinner (it was almost too rich, but I just loved picking at the bread that baked underneath the chicken!), and the Salted Butter Break-Ups are the perfect easy dessert to make frequently  (buttery and delicious, but not too sweet).





15 comments:

  1. Wow. Everything looks extremely delicious! Kudos!

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  2. I normally use the recipe from Ruhlman's Twenty which doesn't require stock, just water. (I used vegetable stock in this week's FFwD, since we don't normally cook with a lot of meat in our house).
    All of your dishes look great. The roast chicken and potato gratin are probably two of my favorite recipes from AMFT - I can't tell you how many times I have made those...

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    1. I love recipes that only require water. I know it isn't a big deal to buy or make stock (I often just use something like Better than Bouillon), but there's something so nice about only needing water.

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  3. looks great! I decided to make the TWD tartlets to go with the soup - I spent the ENTIRE day in the kitchen, but it was worth it.

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  4. That is one good looking meal. Everything turned out perfectly. Glad you enjoyed the onion
    soup, Tricia and I both had good luck with this recipe, family members in both houses
    were very happy campers.

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  5. That meal looks amazing. I was a dork and used a slice of sandwich bread under my chicken. Needless to say, it turned into a greasy pile of goo. Not the intended effect. Glad you loved everything!

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  6. We also don't eat red meat but, to enjoy French Onion Soup, which we love, we overlook the beef broth which is used for this recipe in most professional kitchens. But, after trying Dorie's recipe, using chicken broth, we will make our French Onion Soup at home. Yes, the onions took some time. I made half a recipe and it took me 90 minutes to caramelize the onions.

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  7. You've been busy! Your soup looks great and I'm glad you've found a new recipe. In fact, all of your catch up dishes look great!

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  8. Yum! Everything looks delicious. That says a lot that this will replace your go to recipe. Hope you enjoyed the Bahamas!

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  9. I love it when I get a chance to catch up, but I've never done that many recipes in one fell swoop! Congratulations on that, and on the soup.
    weekendviands.blogspot.com

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  10. I lacked the patience to be successful with this recipe. I did love the butter break-ups though!

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    1. My husband is already asking me to make the butter break-ups again! They were excellent...

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  11. Your soup looks delicious and I love the Moosewood cookbooks!
    I agree with everybody that is one good looking meal you prepared:-)

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  12. You got a lovely crisp on your bread, Jora. My onions took over 4 hours to caramelize. It was the first time I made french onion soup, so I didn't realize how long it would take on my stove. I want to make it again (and again) and next time I will try it with the chicken stock. You are catching up fast with the recipes - everything looks wonderful. Didn't you just love those salted butter break-ups?!

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  13. Hooray for playing catch up! Glad you found a vegetarian French onion soup...it looks perfect!

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