Week 3: Slow Cooker Onion Soup

Bruises and Onion Soup

I feel like onion soup is one of those treats that gets forgotten about until you see it on a menu somewhere.  Salty soup topped with bread and cheese?  Yes, please!  This is definitely one of those dishes that I can’t eat without thinking of a very memorable time in my life.   I worked at a small restaurant that specialized in soup while I was in college.  I don’t remember seeing onion soup on the menu even once!  However, it was served at a bar I used to frequent, and it was there that I developed a fondness for a bubbly crock of onion soup.  It was also around this time that I engaged in some college shenanigans, as college students do, that resulted in me getting a gnarly black, purple, brown, yellow, and blue eye.  The icing on the cake was a bloody split eyebrow.  No, this wasn’t the result of too much time spent eating soup and having a few drinks at my favorite bar.  Long story short, I suddenly found myself an active participant in an impromptu game of tag.  My friend, whose nickname was Moose by the way, was IT.  The game ended when he burst through a door that then collided with my face.  Ouch.  A few days later, I had my wisdom teeth pulled.  This resulted in a black, blue, yellow, and tender jawline.  Yep.  My face took a beating that month.  A friend, not Moose, was kind enough to make me homemade onion soup.  Ahhh... memories.

This week’s recipe for Slow Cooker Onion Soup came to us by way of my brother-in-law, Mark, and was found in an article written by Melissa D’Arabian in the Portland Press Herald (found here).  The only thing that I changed from the original recipe was that I used Swiss instead of Gruyere cheese.  It was extremely easy to make, considering that the crock pot did most of the hard work.  I had never thought to caramelize onions this way.  A suggestion in the article was to save some of the onions for other things, such as topping hamburgers, before turning them into soup.  Great idea!  This recipe was perfect for a cold New England night, and I will certainly be making it again.  

Mom:

“Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, 

and sometimes you weep.”

        ~ Carl Sandburg

Well, I sure did weep when I peeled 5 medium sized onions!  But, the outcome was worth every tear!

I was a bit dubious that my slow cooker would actually caramelize the onions, but I followed the recipe and prepared the onions before I went to bed.  Several times, during the night, I awoke to the pungent smell of onions and wondered how long the house would hold the odor.  At -17 degrees below zero, I was not about to throw open the windows!

Lifting the slow cooker lid, the next morning, I found beautifully caramelized golden onions.  it was simple completing the recipe.  The fragrant broth was beefy with sweet, mellow onions, and  a touch of sherry.  It was the perfect supper choice on a bitterly cold winter day, managing to warm our house and our bellies!

Bottom Line - It passed the "Honey, Would you eat this again?", with five "yums" up.  It's on the Make Again List.

Slow Cooker Onion Soup

Approximately 10.5 hours

Serves 6

Caramelized Onions:

• 5 cups sliced yellow onions, (about 4 large onions)
• 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and ground black pepper

Soup:

• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1 teaspoon dry thyme
• Small sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 6 thin slices baguette, toasted until golden and quite dry
• 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1. Coat a 4-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray. Add the onions, shallots, garlic and oil. Toss well, then season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low until the onions are richly colored and sweet, 8 to 10 hours.       
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Once the onions are ready, sprinkle them with the flour and stir until well-combined. Add the sherry, thyme, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, both broths and the water, then cover and cook for another 4 hours on low or 2 hours on high. Once soup is done, stir in the lemon juice and adjust the seasoning.   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. When ready to eat, set the broiler on high. Ladle the soup into broiler-safe serving crocks. Top each crock with a thin slice of the toasted baguette and a heaping tablespoon of Gruyere. Place the filled crocks on a rimmed baking sheet and broil just until cheese is golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not leave the crocks unattended as they will burn quickly.