French Onion soup?

I have not eaten red meat or pork in a long time. I am always looking for ways to enjoy the dishes that I love while staying away from those 4 legged animals. Traditional French Onion soup uses beef broth but i have found that you can use chicken broth as well. I have even done this recipe with vegetable broth also and it comes out really well.










general cooking time: 3-4 hours



Ingredients:
3 large red Onions
1 tbs of butter
48 oz low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 cup of port wine
salt and pepper to taste

Loaf of french baguette
Gruyere Cheese

So I am the type of person who likes to tweak and change recipes as much as possible. I do a lot of cooking by looks and feeling. This recipe does take a long time but you can prep a lot ahead of time and do this on the fly.



First thing that you need to do is caramelize the onions. This will take quite a while but if you do this while at home one day the onions will keep for a while. Slice the onions and add to pot with the pad of butter. i add butter so that it starts the sweating process of the onions. Set stove to low heat and let reduce. I use a cast iron pot and have found that his works amazing well for caramelizing onions. I would not recommend trying to cut time by raising the heat because then the onions start to scorch. You want the onions to sweat and cook in their own sugars. I would cook the first hour or so with the lid on so help the onions release the moisture and then toward the end uncover to help brown. This took me about 3 hours to complete. The photo has bout 5-6 large onions because i wanted to keep caramelized onions on hand. The onions will turn a light brown color. you will be able to take a taste of the onions and they will be sweet without any bitterness.
after you have caramelized the onions add the stock, wine and vinegar. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Keep uncovered and reduce to about half the size, add salt and pepper to taste. I use a reduced sodium stock because I am not a salt lover. Just remember that you will be adding cheese and a toasted baguette so you will probably be better off not to over salt the stock.

After you are content with the strength of the flavors you can either pack it up for later or move on to the next steps.







Toast some breads. I used a baguette, but I have also used rye bread and sourdough. It is a person taste but i have been happy with all. The key is to make sure that it is dry so that it can soak up the loveliness that is the soup. I sometimes toast ahead of time and make sure that they are fully dry before using with the soup. Cover with they cheese that you selected. and then broil until the cheese is gooey and slightly browned. I find that by making this in larger ramekins the portions are perfect.

This is also a dish where you can store the soup toast the bread ahead of time and whip together at the last second for french onion soup.