French Onion Soup
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Veal Broth French Onion Soup with Shallots
This veal broth recipe captures the essence of French onion soup, in that it blends the most flavorful ingredients to make a truly mouthwatering dish. The onions are cooked in bacon grease, which imparts a lot of flavor, and the subtle flavored shallots contrast nicely with the sweet onions. The burgundy wine adds a richness to this French onion soup recipe.
If you are a fan of French onion soup, you will really like the sumptuous flavor of this veal broth French onion soup recipe. It is a bit lighter than beef broth and the sweetness of the caramelized onions really shines through the delicately flavored, meaty broth.
This is an easy French onion soup, which anyone can make, even beginner cooks. All you need to do is fry the onions, add the other ingredients, and let it cook until it is rich and perfect. Making French onion soup might sound ambitious because it is such a classic dish, but the truth is that there are lots of easy French onion soup recipes than anyone can make successfully.
French Onion Soup with Veal Broth and Oregano
Ingredients -
4 strips bacon
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¾ cup burgundy wine
2 shallots, chopped
3 quarts veal broth
6 sweet onions, sliced thinly
4 toasted baguette slices
8 tablespoons grated Swiss cheese
Chopped parsley, to garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Fry the bacon in a pan over a medium heat until it is crisp.
Reserve the bacon for use in another recipe.
Sauté the shallots and onions in the bacon fat for about 10 minutes, or until they are soft.
Add the wine, oregano and balsamic vinegar and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often, or until the onions are golden brown.
Add the veal broth and simmer the onion soup gently for an hour, stirring it occasionally.
Season the soup then ladle it into 4 ovenproof soup bowls.
Float the croutons on top and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
Broil the soup until the cheese melts, then garnish with the parsley.
(Serves 4)
Types of Frying Fats
If you are frying onions for French onion soup, the recipe might tell you to use butter, oil, bacon grease, duck fat, goose fat, or a mixture of these. So, does it actually make that much difference? If you have ever had roast potatoes in goose fat, you will know that the difference between these and potatoes roasted in lard. Goose fat or duck fat is the best grease for frying the caramelized onion you need for a French onion soup recipe but these are not cheap. Butter and oil is a common combination for caramelizing onions - the butter for flavor and the oil for its ability to withstand heat.
Using Bacon Grease for Frying
Bacon grease gives a salty, meaty flavor and, if you are cooking bacon anyway, you might want to reserve the fat for frying. Bacon grease keeps for a couple of days in the refrigerator or a few months in the freezer. Frying onions in bacon grease gives them a great flavor. Bacon grease also burns at high temperatures, so make sure you keep the onion caramelization temperature low. Bacon grease is only used for giving flavor and therefore not suitable for frying at high temperatures. Streaky bacon fat is best because the flavor is in the fat and you get more fat from streaky bacon than lean bacon.