French Onion Soup
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Gourmet French Onion Soup with Port Wine
The red wine and port wine elevate this French onion soup recipe to a gourmet level by making the flavor extra rich and really tasty. Port wine is like a sweet, fortified red wine and it balanced nicely with the overall French onion soup flavor, contrasting with the dry red wine also featured in this gourmet French onion soup recipe.
Not every French onion soup contains alcohol of course but it does help to liven up the flavor of the dish and add a wonderful aroma and flavor. Some French onion soups have white wine instead of red wine, which is also a nice touch but the red wine is bolder and heartier and goes especially well with the meaty broth.
Gourmet French onion soup is a wonderful appetizer for a dinner party. Just about everybody likes cheese, onions and beef broth and if you serve it in little French soup crocks everyone will get just enough to satisfy their hunger without filling them up too much to enjoy the entree.
The Best Gourmet French Onion Soup
Ingredients -
2 tablespoons butter
2 lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced
5 cans condensed beef bouillon, 10 ½ oz each
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups grated gruyere cheese
3 soup cans full plus 1 teaspoon water
½ cup burgundy or dry red wine
¼ cup port wine
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 slices toasted French bread
Preparation:
Add the oil and butter to a 5 quart soup pot and heat it until the butter melts.
Add the sugar and onions and cook over a medium heat for about 25 minutes, or until the pan bottom is glazed and the onions are golden brown.
Stir them occasionally so they do not stick.
Scrape the glaze off the bottom of the pan, using a wooden spoon, and blend it in with the onions.
Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
Add the water, beef bouillon and seasoning and bring the soup to a boil.
Turn the heat down and simmer the French onion soup for half an hour.
Add the port wine and red wine and adjust the seasoning again, if necessary.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Ladle the soup into ovenproof soup bowls and put the toasted bread on top.
Sprinkle the cheese over the toasted bread and bake for about 15 minutes, then broil to melt the cheese.
(Serves 8)
Photo Description:
For a gourmet French onion soup recipe, you might like to serve the soup in a French onion soup tureen or a set of matching soup crocks. French onion soup is always an exciting eating experience but gourmet French onion soup is out of this world. The melted cheese covered toasted French bread covers the soup, which is an exquisite blend of sweet yellow onions, beef broth, red wine, Madeira wine and more. If you want to seriously impress your dinner party guests, making this gourmet French, onion soup is a wonderful idea and the extra care you take making this classic recipe will be evident in the superior flavor.
What is Port Wine?
Port wine, which adds a delicious sweetness and richness of flavor to a French onion soup recipe, is sweet, fortified red wine from the Duoro River Valley in northern Portugal. A neutral grape spirit is added to the wine to boost the alcohol content and stop the fermentation. It is then stored and aged. Port wine comes in ruby (deep red), tawny (light, brownish red), and white, and also in sweet, medium or dry varieties. In Europe, anything labeled "port" has to come from Portugal. In the United States port wine from other countries is allowed to carry the "port" label.
A Guide to True Gourmet Food
What are the best ingredients to use in French onion soup for a true gourmet experience? Well, first of all, what does the word "gourmet" actually mean?
The word is used plentifully these days. There is gourmet coffee, gourmet beef and even gourmet sandwiches. If something is gourmet, it usually means either that specialty ingredients are used in the preparation or the dish itself is created with acute attention to detail as well as the finest fresh ingredients.
Gourmet food is all about quality and gourmet French onion soup means using the best ingredients to make the soup and taking care to prepare and present it perfectly.
Do not confuse the word gourmet with the word gourmand, by the way. A gourmand is someone who likes to indulge in excessive amounts of food and drink. We all get carried away sometimes, especially when the food and drink is good, but a gourmand never stops!
Adding Gourmet Touches to French Onion Soup
The base of a classic French onion soup recipe is, of course, caramelized onions in a beef broth. For a gourmet French onion soup, you should use freshly made beef broth, rather than canned broth. Of course, it takes longer; to make beef broth from scratch but the end result will be so much nicer. If you have the time to make your own beef broth, do it.
As for the onions, use the best quality butter, oil or both and perfect onions without bruises or blemishes, sliced to an even thinness. These touches will help to ensure your gourmet French onion soup is amazing.
Fresh or Dried Herbs
Fresh thyme is a traditional ingredient in French onion soup but dried thyme works equally well in some recipes because it gives the same flavor. Fresh herbs are essential in some gourmet recipes but, in others, dried herbs do the job adequately. Fresh basil, for example, is very different to dried basil, as is cilantro.
Dried sage is an exception in many recipes because fresh sage can be overpowering in flavor. Fresh herbs are often used for garnish and they add a gourmet touch, even if they are not eaten. Fresh parsley is often used as garnish but often not eaten.
Wine and Liquor in Onion Soup
There are gourmet French onion soup recipes, which call for red wine, or white wine and some call for brandy, whisky, cider, vermouth, or sherry in addition to the wine or instead of it. Adding wine or liquor to French onion soup can really liven up the flavor, as well as boosting the flavor of the other ingredients.
As with the other ingredients in the recipe, do not go over the top adding alcohol. A splash of sherry will add a refined flavor. Too much of it will ruin the delicate balance of the soup and spoil the flavor completely.
You can have too much of a good thing, so be careful when adding alcohol, wine and other strong flavors to a French onion soup recipe. Add a little, taste it, add more if necessary, rather than adding too much, and then panic about how to tone down the flavor.
The Finishing Touches
When you present a bowl of steaming French onion soup, the garnish is the first thing that is seen. It is best to decorate gourmet French onion soup in a simple and elegant way. This means nicely toasted croutons, golden brown melted cheese, and perhaps a sprig of fresh parsley.
You might have different ideas though. Some cooks like to be a bit more slapdash with the Gruyere, scattering it over the crocks so that some slips over the edges and melts down the sides. Other cooks prefer to take more care and arrange the cheese in an even layer. The final touches depend on the chef. Gourmet food is all about presentation as well as flavor, so a classic and elegant finish is probably best if you want to stay with the gourmet theme.