French Onion Soup
Classic French Onion Soup Served in Bread Bowls
You can use whole wheat bread flour, white bread flour or a combination of the two to make the tasty bread bowls used in this recipe. If you do not have a bread machine, you can use another bread recipe to make the bread by hand. Any bread recipe will be good but keep the bread quite simple in flavor so it goes nicely with the French onion soup recipe.
If you do not have custard cups to make molded bread bowls, you can make bread rolls, slice the top off, and hollow them out, to fill them with the soup. This obviously wastes some of the bread but you can use the bits you remove to make croutons or use them in another way.
Serve each French onion soup filled bread bowl in another shallow bowl in case of leaks but toasting the bread should make it relatively waterproof (or soup-proof!) The bread bowls are edible, of course, and they will taste of the French onion soup recipe.
Homemade Bread Bowls with French Onion Soup Inside
Ingredients -
2 lbs Vidalia or Maui onions, thinly sliced
1 ½ quarts beef bouillon (not broth)
¼ cup butter
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
1 cup Burgundy wine or similar red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
For the Bread Bowls:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 ¾ cups whole wheat bread flour
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast or bread machine yeast
Preparation:
Put all the bread bowl ingredients except 1 tablespoon of the water and the egg yolk in the bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer.
Choose the dough/manual cycle. Take the dough out of the machine with floured hands, cover it, and let it rest on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes.
Grease the outsides of six 10 oz custard cups and put them upside down on an ungreased baking sheet. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll each one into a 7 inch circle, shaping them over the custard cups. Cover and let them rise somewhere warm for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix together the tablespoon of water and the egg yolk and use this mixture to brush over the bread bowls. Bake them for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown, then lift them off the custard cups and cook them on a wire rack.
While the bread bowls bake, make the soup.
Melt the butter in a big pot and add the onions.
Cover the pot and cook the onions over a low heat, stirring them now and then, until they are soft.
This will take 20 to 30 minutes.
Pour the bouillon into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Cook it for about 30 minutes or until it has reduced by about a third.
Take the lid off the pot with the onion in and sprinkle the sugar in it.
Cook over a medium heat until the onions are caramelized.
Keep an eye on them to make sure they do not burn or stick to the pan.
Add the reduced bouillon and the wine and bring the mixture to a boil.
Partially cover the pan and let the onion soup simmer for 30 minutes.
Toast the bread bowls gently all over to make them less likely to leak.
Fill each bread bowl with onion soup and sprinkle some Gruyere on each one.
The heat of the soup will partially melt it.
(Serves 6)
Photo Description:
These French onion soup filled homemade bread bowls make a really impressive appetizer. You can either mold the bread mixture over custard cups to make bowl shapes or you can make bread rolls, slice the top off, and hollow out the inside. It is important to toast the bread before you put the soup inside, else it might leak. You can see from the photo how the bread is slightly toasted. This easy French onion soup recipe is easy to make and is
Making Soup Bowls out of Other Foods
You can make soup bowls from bread or vegetables, for a delicious way to present your French onion soup, beef stew and other recipes. Obviously, you will need something, which is the correct size, either to be a serving bowl or to be individual bowls. Homemade soup bowls made from bread should be placed in a shallow dish to serve. Soup bowls made from hollowed out vegetables are great for thick chowders and soups.
Making French Onion Soup Bowls from Bread
If you are thinking of making homemade bread to serve as a crouton on your French onion soup or to dip into any thick soup or chowder, what about making it into a soup bowl? You can do this by draping the bread dough over a stainless steel bowl and baking it with the open side facing down. Spray the bottom of the dough with oil, so you can remove it easily from the stainless steel bowl. You can use custard cups to make individual size soup bowls. French onion soup and other soups look fantastic served in bread bowls and it is fun to be able to eat the bowl as well as the soup.
Using Vegetables as Soup Bowls
A bread soup bowl is a great idea but what about using a vegetable as a soup bowl? Depending on which soup you are serving, you can match the main ingredient to the bowl. For example, if you hollow out a pumpkin to make pumpkin soup, why not serve the pumpkin soup in the hollowed out shell that you would otherwise be throwing out? You might not want to serve French onion soup in a hollowed out onion but there are lots of types of vegetables you can use to make soup bowls for your favorite soup recipes and, if you are just using them for presentation, you do not have to bake them or do anything special to them.
Different Types of Soup Bowls
Apart from bread soup bowls and vegetable soup bowls, there are lots of other types of soup crocks and soup bowls that you can use. It is always nice to serve homemade soup in a matching set of bowls. Whether you are looking for French onion soup crocks (remember these need to be ovenproof), shallow soup bowls or soup bowls in a specific color or style, they are easy to find. It is usually a good idea to buy a few extra ones in case some get broken.
Why Homemade Bread is the Best
If you have ever smelt bread baking, you will know how the aroma makes your mouth water in anticipation. Homemade bread is fresh, soft, and delicious. You can make homemade bread in any shape or size. Maybe you want to make a big loaf or individual buns. Perhaps it would be fun to make a serving bowl for your French onion soup out of dough, instead of a more conventional shape. You can make whole wheat bread, seeded bread, rye bread, sourdough bread and lots more varieties. Nobody prefers store bought bread to homemade bread because it is so delicious and so special. If you are making French onion soup, why not bake some bread while the onions are caramelizing?
Do You Need a Bread Machine?
Kneading might be therapeutic but not everyone can devote a whole morning, or afternoon, to making homemade bread, as tempting as the prospect of doing that might be. Bread machines are not necessary for making bread but they do really trim the preparation time down. With a bread machine, you simply add the ingredients in the right order, press a button and leave the machine to work its magic. At the end of the cycle, you will have a delicious loaf of bread. Bread machines are ideal if you are busy but still want to make bread at home. Homemade bread goes stale faster than store bought bread because it does not contain preservatives, so if you do not have a big family you might have to freeze some or just make smaller loaves.