'American' Onion Soup Revisited

 

 AKA French onion soup using fall ingredients found in America. I have actually posted this before. It's okay - you can see it here - I had no detailed imagery, apparently told you to use too much salt (I don't measure unless I am photographing and ensuring for the blog, and this was done before I did that!), and had one sub par image of what I consider to be the most delicious dish I make. It takes awhile, I'll say, but it downright yummy. So here it is!

Also - vote for this on Modcloth here!

What You'll Need (2 small changes makes this vegetarian and it's gooooddd)

A soup pot or a 3-4 Qt Sauce Pot for smaller servings (I just half the recipe) 

Any mix of 5 onions (I use 3 Yellow/Vidalia Onions, 2 Red Onion,) 

Unpasteurized Apple Cider (Can't find any? My husband swears by using Woodchuck Amber) 

All Purpose Flour (I use Whole Wheat Stone Ground)

Nutritional Yeast

Beef Stock & Beef Broth (I use Swanson brand...it's easier) OR Vegetable Stock for vegetarian

Seasoned Salt 

Unsalted Butter 

White Pepper 

 Bay Leaves (about 5) 

 A Dry White Wine (I use the kind available in the grocery store) 

Worcestershire Sauce (Vegan/vegetarian if needed, get it here)

Garlic Powder

Crusty French Bread OR Garlic Croutons 

White Cheddar Cheese

Mozzarella cheese (I use Sargento's)

Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in a soup pot (for reference, I halved the recipe during these images)

 

Chop the onions into thin slices, by cutting the top and bottom off the onion, then slicing in half, then into thin slices. You can put these aside in a bowl or on your cutting board. Really any amount of about 5 onions works - you could use all the same onion, but I prefer the taste of a few together.

Bring the heat up to a medium heat and put the onions in the melted butter. Coat them evenly with butter then sprinkle them with seasoned salt. I use maybe a teaspoon - just enough to lightly cover the onions.

You're going to want to caramelize the onions. When they start to stick, but not burn, pour in 1/2 cup of apple cider,

Cook most of the cider out of the onions until they almost look like they were before - see the below image for reference. You should basically have no liquid left. 

Add in 2 Tablespoons of flour and 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast and mix well.

Turn down to low/low medium heat and pour in 1/2 cup of beef stock and stir well.

You should create a sort of paste here - very very thick. This really helps mix in well and eliminate any flour clumps.

Pour in 2 cups of beef broth (PS 2.5 cups of veggie stock/broth works well too!!) and stir well. Add in 3-4 bay leaves and 1/4 cup white wine.

Add in a tablespoon (or 4 teaspoons like I did) of Worcestershire sauce and salt, pepper, and garlic to taste! Then simmer for about 20 minutes.

While you are simmering - prepare your bowls! If you are using block cheese, you'll need to grate it. If you are using french bread, put in the oven on low to dry it out a bit, then rip it into small pieces. I've taken to using croutons these days.

Turn your oven to broil. Layer in some croutons (5-10, I like less) and then pour over the finished soup in an oven safe container. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of cheeses. I used Gruyere, cheddar, and mozzarella here.

Broil for 3-6 minutes (watch it!) and then remove carefully and you are done! Yum yum!