French Onion Soup

If you work for a large corporation like I do (MRM), it’s that time of year when you need to use your PTO days before you lose them.  I have a few left so I extended my weekend into a nice, extra long weekend.  My God I felt like I accomplished the world today!  Having one additional day off feels wonderful.  I was unstoppable today. 

Beyond running a lot of errands, I decided to make French Onion Soup.  I had just the perfect recipe as there was one sitting in my ‘recipes to try’ pile.  I love French Onion Soup, but it’s a dish that I’ve never made because it always seemed a little intimidating. Not anymore!  Don’t let it scare you because it’s actually quite easy.  

Get ready to chop!

If you’re like me and have never made this soup, you’re probably wondering what beef consommé is.  I have never heard of it until I scanned the list of ingredients below to put together my shopping list.  In researching this I learned that beef consommé is a highly clarified soup made from beef stock. The consommé is clarified by removing the fat, straining it, and adding egg whites (protein) to remove the cloudiness.  Where can you find this ingredient?  In the soup aisle at your local grocery store.  I searched for it near the broths and was unsuccessful until I scoped out the soups and found that Campbell’s makes beef consommé.

Slice & toast the baguette

Trust me, this soup is easy and within a matter of only 30 minutes you’ll have ‘Panera-like’ quality soup.  What’s so great is that your whole house will smell wonderful as this soup is cooking.  My husband, who was working upstairs, came all the way downstairs to ask what we were having for lunch because he said it smelled amazing!  When the soup was finished, and came out of the oven, I felt so proud of these masterpieces.  The melted cheese on top was bubbly, golden, and just begging for our spoons to dive in. This French Onion Soup received stamps of approval from both of us.  My husband jokingly exclaimed, “Oh great, here’s another dish I can’t order at a restaurant because it won’t compare to yours”.  It’s comments like these that make a chef swoon.  Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

Adapted from Recipe #11181 by Elizabeth Fullerton, food.com

Serves:  4

Prep Time: 10 mins.

Total Time:  30 mins.

Ingredients:

•     2 (14.5 oz.) cans reduced sodium beef broth
•     1 (10.75 oz.) can beef consommé
•     2 large vidalia onions
•     2 tablespoons butter
•     2 garlic cloves, minced
•     2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
•     3/4 cup shredded swiss cheese
•     3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
•     8 slices French baguette

Directions:

1. Set oven to broil mode at 400˚F.
2. Place baguette slices on a cookie sheet and broil until toasted (2-3 minutes). Remove and cool before halving each slice (there will be 16 slices total).
3. Slice onions to preferred thickness and length.  Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. 
4. Add onions and sauté until tender (approximately 8-10 minutes); stir frequently.   Add garlic during the last 1-2 minutes of cooking so that it will not burn.
5. Add beef broth, beef consommé, and Worcestershire sauce.
6. Bring to a boil; stir constantly for 1 minute.
7. Combine swiss and mozzarella cheese in a medium sized bowl.  Toss until evenly mixed.
8. Measure 1/2 cup of cheese mixture and sprinkle into the bottom of 4 oven proof bowls.  Divide evenly amongst the bowls.  Note:  I used large soup bowls that were only labeled as dishwasher and microwave safe.  These worked and did not break, but please note there is a possibility they could break.
9. Ladle soup into each bowl and leave room at the top of the bowl (allow at least 1-2 inches from soup to top of bowl).  Top each bowl with 4 slices of toasted baguette. 
10. Sprinkle and divide remaining cheese mixture evenly amongst the bowls.
11. Broil until cheese is bubbly and just starting to turn golden (approximately 4-5 minutes).
12. Serve immediately, but be careful as the bowls will be very hot.