French Onion Soup
French Onion Soup with Lamb Broth and White Wine
This lamb broth recipe for French onion soup is very similar to the classic French onion soup recipe. The only different ingredients are the lamb broth instead of beef broth, and the rosemary instead of thyme. Thyme actually suits lamb broth French onion soup recipes but rosemary is extra special and has a real affinity with lamb.
The white wine adds depth and the sugar helps to make the onions extra sweet and juicy. The French baguette bread and gruyere cheese finish off this classic dish in the traditional style. It is best to use stale baguette bread, if possible, because it toasts better and makes it less likely that the French onion soup cheese will melt right through it. You can use any bread you happen to have to make the croutons but baguette bread, sliced on the diagonal, is especially nice.
If you do not have a baguette, you can use sliced bread or any type of loaf. All bread toasts and is fine for making croutons with, so it is just down to what you have and what you personally like.
Lamb Broth French Onion Soup with Rosemary
Ingredients -
2 ½ lbs thinly sliced onions
½ stick butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 cups lamb broth
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
8 thick slices French baguette bread, toasted
¾ grated gruyere cheese
Preparation:
Heat a heavy pan over a medium heat and add the oil and butter. Stir in the onions, cover the pan and let them cook for about 15 minutes or until they are soft and translucent.
Blend in the sugar and salt and turn the heat up to medium high. Let the onions brown, stirring them often, until they are very dark. This should take about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle in the flour and cook the onions for 3 more minutes.
Remove from the heat, let the onions stand for 2 minutes, then whisk in 2 cups of hot broth.
Bring the soup to a simmer, and then add the wine, the rosemary, and the rest of the broth.
Cover the pan loosely, then simmer the French onion soup gently for an hour and a half, adding extra water if the liquid is reduced by too much.
Taste the soup to check the seasoning.
Divide the soup between 4 soup bowls and top each one with a slice of toast.
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the bread.
Put the soup bowls on a cookie sheet and broil until the cheese is melted and has formed a crust over the bowls.
Serve right away.
(Serves 4)
Rosemary - The Fragrant Herb
Rosemary is chewy and woody, so it is mainly used for flavoring foods. If you add a sprig of rosemary to an onion soup recipe or another recipe and then pick it out before serving, the food will have the most amazing flavor. Rosemary is often paired with lamb in lamb recipes because it is strong enough to stand up to the strong lamb flavor but fragrant enough to be the ideal partner for lamb. Lamb broth is quite unusual and it is actually an acquired taste, on account of being quite fatty, but if you like it, add some rosemary for the best flavor.
Other Uses for Rosemary
As well as using it for flavor in a lamb broth based French onion soup recipe, you can use rosemary in a lot of Mediterranean recipes. It is very healthy and is high in calcium, vitamin B6, and iron. Rosemary scented bread is incredibly tasty and this herb is also flavorful with any richly flavored game meat. Rosemary is only used for its fragrance and not for its flavor, so it is used to add a delicious aroma rather than a strong flavor. If you fry rosemary and garlic in oil, you can make garlic rosemary oil, which is delicious for frying most meats.
Rosemary Cures
Rosemary, which is also known as compass plant, compass weed, polar plant, Romero, and old man, is not only an ingredient in a French onion soup recipe. It can also be used, according to folklore, for treating colds, flu, dandruff, epilepsy, vertigo, and arthritis, amongst extra ailments. Throw a handful on the grill if you are being plagued by flies or gnats, because it repels them. The smell of rosemary also increases concentration and increases the appetite, so throw some on the grill just before you serve dinner, for an extra hungry and appreciative pack of guests!