December 5, 2011

Worm Soup aka French Onion Soup

 I happen to LOVE soup! French Onion soup especially has got this "home" quality to it that just makes one feel all warm inside. I laugh at this- my children like to call French Onion Soup "Worm Soup" because of the thin pieces of carmelized onions. Call it what you will, this soup will have you smiling and wanting more!

¼ cup Butter (I use the salt free kind)

3 lbs White Onions thinly sliced you can use yellow onions but they are sweeter and it will taste a little different than using the white onions. Now for the slicing, I use a mandoline- it's so much easier than doing it with a chef's knife).

1  32 ounce box of sodium free Chicken Broth

2  10 ounce cans of Beef consommé

½ cup dry white wine (make sure it's something you would drink because putting in crappy wine in any dish just makes it all not worth the effort you're putting into making a quality meal).

4 fresh thyme springs

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
I like to use a dutch oven to make this soup but if you don't have one then a nice sturdy cook pot will do.

Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium heat; add onions and cook stirring often until the onions are golden in color. This IS going to take a while, so be prepared to be there in your kitchen for up to 1½ hours with this process. It will be worth it in the end, I promise!

Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the s and p) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. I usually don't add salt as the beef consommé is plenty salty for my tastes.

Here's the fun part- You're going to need 6 thick slices of a French Bread and 6-. 1 one ounce slices of Swiss Cheese and oven proof bowls. Set oven at 450º, place soup bowls on a lined baking tray, ladle in soup, place bread pieces in bowls with cheese slices on top. Put into oven until cheese is all melted and starting to brown (watch close as the cheese can go brown brown to black in a blink of an eye).
 Now grab those soup spoons and dig in!