Half Microwaved Half Baked French Onion Soup Bett

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Half Microwaved/Half Baked French Onion Soup: Better Soup, less crying!by compatta on January 15, 2011

Table of Contents

Half Microwaved/Half Baked French Onion Soup: Better Soup, less crying! ..................................................................

Intro: Half Microwaved/Half Baked French Onion Soup: Better Soup, less crying! ...........................................................

Step 1: Cut the Onions and...Microwave them! .....................................................................................

Step 2: Caramelize and Deglaze the onions. ......................................................................................

Step 3: Add onions to crock pot, have on high for 3 hours (or more!) ....................................................................

Step 4: Pour and Serve ......................................................................................................

Related Instructables ........................................................................................................ 1

Comments ................................................................................................................ 1
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Author:compatta

i am just like any other guy. i like to build stuff and make stuff (yes, that does include cooking and not neccesarily mechanical car work)

Intro: Half Microwaved/Half Baked French Onion Soup: Better Soup, less crying!I have a good feeling that a lot of our members at Instructables have probably never ever tasted what really good french onion soup tastes like because just like any gsoup, its takes lots of sweat, tears, and time to make a really good French Onion Soup. As i've made some pretty good French Onion Soup in the past, I want to sharewith you a new technique of how to prepare French Onion Soup. (I believe its French because it supposedly involves the use of sherry in the Soup). The essentials ofmaking really good french onion soup are:

-Not merely sweated or sauted onions, but rather a nice golden brown onion sliversthat have a bit of gooeyness, sweetness, and intensity of flavor due to converting the naturalstarches within the Onion to nice Caramel overtones.-Twice as much Onion as a regular recipe. I really love the onions and can't get enough of it.-Piece of stale/Toasted bread to go on top of the French onion Soup. (Croutons)-Time to simmer in all the flavors.

The recipe that i have been really successful with is:

10 lbs Yellow Onions, unpeeled1/2 cup Real, unsalted butter (1 stick)1 1/2teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground2 tablespoons paprika3 sprigs of thyme3-14 oz cans of beef broth, divided (recommended Swanson's)3-14 oz can of chicken broth1.5 cup dry white wine (optional-I used Chardonnay. Sherry will do fine also)1/2 cupall-purpose flour(Optional)

3 teaspoons Kosher salt(more to adjust for preference)French baguette or Croutons Swiss, Mozzarella, or Gruyere Cheese.

Note : If your going to use Dry white Wine, Use 5lbs of Sweet Onion. Otherwise Any White winewill do (and if your not 21 yet, white grape juice will do fine). Overall, i would recommend users to cook with Yellow onions as A) they are more available and B) May not be as sweet, but than again we don't want to eat candy soup do we?

Image Notes1. You should have about 10 onions, assuming they weight about 1 lb each. Cutinto two polar pieces (meaning cut from top of the stem to the bottom of the root)

Image Notes1. at the last 10 minutes, make sure it is uncovered so that it can release a bit its steam.
http://www.food.com/library/baguette-783http://www.food.com/library/salt-359http://www.food.com/library/flour-64http://www.food.com/library/wine-184http://www.food.com/library/broth-154http://www.food.com/library/paprika-335http://www.food.com/library/pepper-337http://www.food.com/library/butter-141http://member/compatta/http://member/compatta/


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Image Notes1. The browned onions after 45 minutes of slaving on the stovetop. This is whatthe onions look like without the onion juice (which i separated in the microwaveand using a collander). Make sure whe your delglazing, to scrape off all thefrond/flavor on the sides of the pan (it looks burnt but its seriously reallydelicious).

Image Notes1. Afer deglazing the onions with Chardonnay and making sure to scrape all thfrond (flavor) off the sides of the cooker, this is the result of all the onions.Imagine only half of this as the original recipe only commanded for 5 lbs ofonions.

Image Notes1. Notice how i threw the garlic in. As Garlic is definitely an aromatic ingredient, ita slight garlic aroma that i really like. Since i didn't slice and dice it, i can removethe Garlic pieces after i think it is done.

Image Notes1. French Onion Soup in a Porcelain Bowl.

Step 1:Cut the Onions and...Microwave them!What ingredients are involved in this step-10 lbs of onions. sliced.-1 stick of butter.-Salt-Crushed Black pepper.

Yes! The true secret to making really good French Onion soup is making sure that:

-The onion is cut into slivers.-The onions are sufficiently sweated.-There is that nice amount of gooeyness to the onions and are naturally brown(you can't really get that from putting them in an oven...you loose that gooeyness)-More Onions are always needed!

You ask yourself, "How am i supposed to sweat and caramelize 10 lbs worth of onions?" Well, if you were to use the old style of sweating and caramelizing the onionsyou would **EASILY** consume 3 hours with at least 2 cast iron pans constantly attempting to sweat all those onions correctly and making sure we don't introduce anbitter burntness into the onion themselves.

*** How to Reduce Crying ***

In my mind, the easiest way to reduce crying is simply...Wear goggles. (wearing goglesprevents the sulfuric gases from reacting with the moisture in your eyes...causing you to cry)Don't Have Googles? Place the onions in the refrigerator until they are cold to the touch. (The ideal gas law we learned in chemistry says that gases will stay insolution if they are at a colder temperatures). Don't like doing either? Have a little fan by your cutting area to "blow" the fumes away from you. I am aware there


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technique to prevent the release of gasses by cutting the onion a certain way, but i even deem that too advanced.

***The No Sweat Technique*** to sweating and cooking onions.

By basically putting them into a microwave and covering them with plastic wrap, you are slowly cooking them at 220 degrees Fahrenheit, which happens to be the boilpoint of water, and converting the starches inside the onions into sugars without burning them! In order to make the soup extra interesting, we will be:

-If doing 4 lbs batches, cover for 15 minutes with plastic wrap.-Add salt and crushed black pepper (about 1 teaspoon-your will have about 3 batches),-mix together. Microwave for an additional 10 minutes uncovered.

(Note: You can increase the speed of sweating your onions by using 2 microwaves)

Once you sweat them all initially, you want to place them on a plastic collanderwhich sits on a tiny bowl inside of a bigger bowl. This allows for it to further cook

while also separating the "onion juice" from the onions itself, helping it furtherdecrease the hydration of the onions.

You can taste-test the sweetness of the onions by cooking it in 10 minute intervals and tasting the sweetness of the onions . As long as there is a sufficientmass of moist onion, it will not burn or get too dry. After microwaving each batch for about 20 minutes, pour the liquids into another dish and either A) drink it or B) Useto Caramelize your onions after they turn brown. Start to immediately Caramelize those ones. Be sure to save that liquid! We will be using it later.

By the way, if you ever want to make some really good toasted red potatoes and carrots, marinate them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and microwave them for about 5minutes covered. This ensures they are moist on the inside and than throw them in the oven to develop a nice crust.

SO overall the steps are:

10 minutes covered, add salt, 10 minutes uncovered (repeat for each of the 3 batches)Put all the sweated onions in a collander on top of a bowl inside a larger bowl for 10 minutes.Mix around and sweat for another 10 minutes.

(Note: The method is somewhat similar to the Cook Illustrated method, except the Cook Illustrated method assumes you have a dutch oven. By using indirect heat, itallows it to cook the onions at a fast speed without having to slaving the onions for about an hour. This step eliminates the need to sweat it initially and it reduces the

volume of the onions so that you can use it for the next step...ideally in the oven inside a crockpot.)

Image Notes1. This literally made my house reek of nice onions. ummmm....

Image Notes1. You should have about 10 onions, assuming they weight about 1 lb each. Cinto two polar pieces (meaning cut from top of the stem to the bottom of theroot)

Image Notes1. When cutting onions, make sure to curl your fingers so that your don't cut

Image Notes1. Imagine you knuckles here. Your knife should be no higher than your


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yourself. the knife should be right in front of your knuckles. knuckles when cutting onions.2. Notice than when you cut it, the "poles" of the onion should now beperpendicular to your knife. if your confused at all, make sure the sides you cutat 45 degrees are horizontal to you.

Image Notes1. These were cut 45 degrees on both ends to help take off the skin and make iteasy to cut.

Image Notes1. This is the onion with both sides cut at 45 degrees. Notice the poles look likethe magnetic poles of the earth (somewhat).

Image Notes1. Notice all the onions, Mis en place (everything in place), just ready to cut.When i was cutting my onions, i only cried a bit, but you can definitely decreasethe amount of cutting by not placing your head directly above the onions whenyou cook them.

Image Notes1. The first 10 minutes in the microwave, make sure they are covered so theysteam and cook at a faster rate.

Image Notes1. at the last 10 minutes, make sure it is uncovered so that it can release a bit of


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its steam.Image Notes1. This improved Onion cooking technique allows you to slowly dry the onionswhile also being able to separate the juices from it (so that its not braising theonions in its own juice).2. Pretty Self Explanatory. Make sure to place the bowl below the PLASTIC (noMETAL!!!) collander when placing it inside the microwave.

Image Notes1. In this modification, it allows the moist onion juice to separate from the onionsitself while it cooks in the microwave.

Image Notes

1. This is the remains of theOnion Juice which separated from the onions usingour plastic collander device. Seriously addictive stuff. Otherwise, i boiled i t a bitto reduce its moisture independent of the onions i tself.

Step 2:Caramelize and Deglaze the onions.Ingredients involves in this step-1.5 Cups Chardonnay-All the onions-1 stick of butter-2 pans (the fastest way)

Time = Flavor (and love)

Two ways to caramelize onions

You can either do the traditional way, which involves 45 minutes of manually stirring the onions on high heat, or you can do the Cook Illustrated method of caramelizinonions (Here is a good illustration: [Link HERE ]. For the container, you can either use a Dutch oven (recommended) or you can use a Crock pot at 400 Degrees

(Remember-Caramelization happens at 410 degrees!). I did it the traditional way and it involved 45 minutes of slaving over the onion, slowly!(I only did this because i didn't wanted to be caught placing my momsCrockpotin the stove!)

But, if you have a dutch oven or crockpot, i would recommend the Cook i llustrated method in which you place the onions inside a crockpot at 400 degrees Fahrenheitinside your home oven and let it slowly caramelize. (no mixing is involved either!) As i did 10 lbs of onions as opposed to 5 lbs, overall the microwave method will saveyou another hour.

**** Deglaze the onions ****

Once you are confidant with the browning and flavor development of your yellow onions, place about 1 cup to 1.5 cups of Chardonnay, white wine, or Sherry (Never pred wine in it! Its bitterness and tannins will definitely kill the flavor!!!!) and make sure to scrape the frond on the sides and bottom of your pan to get all those caramelizflavors into your soup.

**** Pour the onions into the Crock Pot ****

Pour all the onions into the Crockpot. Simple enough right? Well, in order to get the rest of the flavor, i decided to deglaze the pan again (maybe i wanted to clean themwith broth...) with Beef broth and made sure all the sides are clean (all onions and flavors should now be submerged in the beef broth). Clean the pans with broth anddump into the crock pot.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/02/french-onion-soup/


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Image Notes1. This is the remains of theOnion Juice which separated from the onions usingour plastic collander device. Seriously addictive stuff. Otherwise, i boiled it a bit toreduce its moisture independent of the onions itself.

Image Notes1. Melt 1 stick of butter and let it melt until it is clear. Add the onions. Notice this a Non-stick Saucier type pan. As long as its non-stick and has high sides,your good to go.

Image Notes1. The browned onions after 45 minutes of slaving on the stovetop. This is whatthe onions look like without the onion juice (which i separated in the microwaveand using a collander). Make sure whe your delglazing, to scrape off all thefrond/flavor on the sides of the pan (it looks burnt but its seriously reallydelicious).

Image Notes1. If you were using the Cooks Illustrated method to caramelizing your onions,you would use either a crockpot or dutch oven to slowly caramelize the onionsIndirect heat prevents burning!

Image Notes1. You'll need your oven at least 400 degrees for at least 1 hour to caramelizeyour onion (or slower due to convection being less efficient than conductive heat)

Image Notes1. When deglazing with chardonnay, notice all this Frond on the walls. Pour 1.


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cups of chardonnay and make sure to scrub the walls with a spoons toincorporate all that flavor.

Image Notes1. Afer deglazing the onions with Chardonnay and making sure to scrape all thefrond (flavor) off the sides of the cooker, this is the result of all the onions.Imagine only half of this as the original recipe only commanded for 5 lbs ofonions.

Image Notes1. This step was about deglazing the pan itself with Beef Broth. Other thanensuring it was clean, it definitely contributes to flavor.

Step 3:Add onions to crock pot, have on high for 3 hours (or more!)Ingredients involved in this step-2 Teaspoons paprika-6 cloves of smashed garlic-64 oz of Garlic Broth and 28 oz of Chicken Broth

***** Garlic *****

Take 6 cloves or pearls from the garlic and cutt the ends off. Put the knife on top of the garlic and smash with your hand. By Smashing with your hand, you crush thegarlic and make it easier to separate the skin from the garlic. Throw all 6 of the smashed garlic cloves into the soup. If your a bit more adventurous and have theresources, i would recommend adding either shallots, green onions, or Leeks on top of the pot. Anything from the Onion family will definitely help to improve its flavor.

**** Paprika ****

Mix in 2 tablespoons of paprika into the soup (enough said!). Give it a bit of spice.

**** Thyme ****

Mix in 3 sprigs or branches of Thyme into the soup. (Aromatics)

**** Cooking settings ****

-If you want to eat it within 3 hours, put it on high.-If you want even better flavor, put it on low for at least 6 hours.-If your crazy about flavor, but it on high for 3 hours and let it mingle on the off settings for the remainder of the night. (it will have at least 12 hour of slow flavor! Yumm

As a good cook, make sure to taste your soup and adjust it your preferences.

Image Notes1. This is the exact mixture of Beef Broth and Chicken Broth that i used. If youfeel the mixture is too thick, add a bit more water.

Image Notes1. Notice this end of the garlic is cut off to make it easier to separate the skin frothe garlic itself.


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Image Notes1. You literally crush the garlic with your hand on the knife itself.

Image Notes1. Notice how i threw the garlic in. As Garlic is definitely an aromatic ingredient, a slight garlic aroma that i really like. Since i didn't slice and dice i t, i can removethe Garlic pieces after i think it is done.

Image Notes1. Just Throw 3 branches of thyme in.

Step 4:Pour and ServeAfter a sufficient amount of time and the Soup has simmered just a bit, If you like a bit thickerconsistency, consider adding 1 cup of hot soup to 1/2 Cup of flour and make sure to mix it throughly. Once you mix it thoroughly and it is without clumps, mix it back inthe soup.At this step, it is a good idea to taste your soup and adjust it for your preference.

-Add a bit moresalt if you think its not salty enough-More pepper if you think it needs a bit of kick,-Add Cayennepepper if you think its too sweet.-Add a bit ofWorcestershiresauce to give it more complexity (i forgot mines...)

**** How to serve French Onion Soup ****

-Now with our delicious French Onion soup, ladle a bit of hot French onion soup into a bowl.(doesn't have to be a Fancy Crock bowl...any bowl will do fine.)

Throw some croutons on. (Crouton never go stale...cause they already are stale. If it was mybet, get either a crusty French Baguette or Sourdough to accompany your soup)

-Throw some shredded mozarella on the top.(Many suggest Gruyere and Fonntina, But what am i going to use those for? Besides, there expensive and i make lots of pizza anyhow.)

-Garnish with a bit of sea salt or kosher Salt to finish it off.

-Broil. (you don't need to broil as the heat from the soup wil l naturally melt the cheese anyways)

Your good to go!!!

I hope you've learned a good amount of what it takes to make really good french onion soup. Though i could have improved it with making my own broth, its a almost(almost) painless way to make French Onion Soup.


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Image Notes1. French Onion Soup in a Porcelain Bowl.

Image Notes1. 99 cents Baby!

Image Notes1. With Croutons

Image Notes1. With Cheese

Image Notes1. Melted with sharp cheddar and Cotija Cheese. Generally, the dryer the bread,the more liquid that is absorbed. It basically becomes deliciously soggy bread andyummy onions.


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Comments

3 comments Add Comment

mdeblasi1 says: Jan 30, 2011. 10:24 AM REPI made this last week for my partner's birthday. Where the garlic idea was concerned I took a cue from French garlic soup. Put the cloves in whole to cook,then pureed the thoroughly softened garlic & returned it to the pot to help thicken the soup. I used about 5 very large cloves for the pot.

the one snow man says: Jan 27, 2011. 8:00 AM REP"Ogres are like onions!"

mikeasaurus says: Jan 21, 2011. 3:25 PM REPmmm onions!
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