French Onion Soup

[Olive]

I am looking for a recipe for French Onion Soup. Does anyone have a favorite that is not sinful?
Thanks

[Mamasue]

I know this recipe is not French Onion Soup but let me tell you this is delish and you could leave out the mushrooms and skip the tenderlions and would wind up with French Onion Soup.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Beef Tenderloins with French Onion Sauce

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beef Main Dishes


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 tsp. Butter or stick margarine
2 c. thinly sliced onion
3 c. cremini or button mushroom caps -- halved, 1/2 lb.
2/3 c. water
1 10 1/2 oz. can beef consommé
1 tsp. Dried thyme
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper, coarse
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder
4 4-ounce beef tenderloin steaks (1 inch thick)
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 slices French bread, toasted -- about 1 inch thick,


Melt one teaspoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in water and consommé, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cover and cook 10 minutes. Remove onion mixture from pan.

Combine thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Rub the thyme mixture over steaks. Melt one teaspoon butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add steaks; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove steaks from pan; keep warm.

Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in onion mixture; bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute. Return steaks to pan; simmer 1 minute.

Place one toast slice in each of 4 shallow serving bowls, and top each slice with steak. Spoon the onion mixture over each serving. Serve immediately.

Description:
"If you love French Onion Soup...you will love this!"
Source:
"Cooking Light, July/August 1999"

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Per serving: 61 Calories (kcal); trace Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 475mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[Mamasue]

Here is Julia Child's recipe. Haven't tried it though.

* Exported from MasterCook *

French Onion Soup

Recipe By :Julia Child
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Onions Soups/Stews


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 stick Butter
8 cups Thinly-sliced onions - (abt 2 1/2 lbs)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Flour
8 cups Homemade beef stock
(or good-quality store bought stock)
1/4 cup Cognac, or other good brandy
1 cup Dry white wine
8 slices French bread - (1/2" thk) -- toasted
3/4 pound Coarsely-grated Gruyere

Heat a heavy saucepan over moderate heat with the butter and oil. When the butter has melted, stir in the onions, cover, and cook slowly until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Blend in the salt and sugar, increase the heat to medium-high, and let the onions brown, stirring frequently until they are a dark walnut color, 25 to 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour and cook slowly, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, then whisk in 2 cups of hot stock. When well blended, bring to the simmer, adding the rest of the stock, water, Cognac, and vermouth. Cover loosely, and simmer very slowly 1 1/2 hours, adding a little water if the liquid reduces too much. Taste for seasoning
Divide the soup among 4 ovenproof bowls. Arrange toast on top of soup and sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Place bowls on a cookie sheet and place under a preheated broiler until cheese melts and forms a crust over the tops of the bowls. Serve immediately.
This recipe yields 4 servings.

Recipe Source:
COOKING LIVE with Sara Moulton
Recipe adapted from Julia Child, "The Way to Cook"
From the TV FOOD NETWORK - (Show # CL-9072 broadcast 02-24-1998)
Downloaded from their Web-Site - http://www.foodtv.com

Formatted for MasterCook by Joe Comiskey, aka MR MAD - jpmd44a@prodigy.com -or- MAD-SQUAD@prodigy.net

09-01-1998


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Per serving: 151 Calories (kcal); 12g Total Fat; (90% calories from fat); trace Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 31mg Cholesterol; 387mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[Peggy]

Olive,

Have you seen the French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley recipe in the Jan/Feb 2000 issue? I made it earlier this year and we liked it. I'm not sure if you were looking for something with only onions in it or for a more traditional recipe. If you don't have access to it and are interested, I would be happy to post it for you.

My favorite "Non-Cooking Light" traditional recipe is as follows:

French Onion Soup

2 tsp butter or margarine
2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 teas flour
3 cups beef broth
4 slices french bread, toasted
1/4 cup grated swiss cheese
1/4-1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Melt butter in medium sauce pan and brown the onions. Add flour and stir. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15-30 minutes. Divide soup into two oven-proof bowls. Top each bowl with two slices of bread. Mix cheeses together in a bowl. Sprinkle the bread slices with the cheese mixture and brown under the broiler being careful not to burn the top.

Serves - 2

Peggy



[This message has been edited by Peggy (edited 08-23-2000).]

[lindrusso]

Here's a recipe from Betty Crocker. It doesn't list itself as FRENCH onion soup, but when I made it it was close. Instead of the croutons, I have made it with a slice of French bread toasted (plain bread will cut the fat as opposed to the croutons) and topped with either mozzarella or provolone.

GOLDEN ONION SOUP

Parmesan Croutons (recipe below)
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 large onions (3/4 to 1 pound each), cut into fourths and sliced
2 cans (10 1/2 ounces each) condensed beef broth
2 soup can water

Prepare Parmesan Croutons; reserve. Reduce oven temperature to 325º. Heat margarine in a 4-quart ovenproof Dutch oven until melted; stir in brown sugar and Worcestershire suace. Toss onions in margarine mix.

Bake uncovered, stirring every hour, until onions are deep golden brown, about 2 1/2 hours. Stir in broth and water; heat to boiling over high heat. Serve with Parmesan Croutons.

Parmesan Croutons

1/4 cup margarine or butter
3 slices bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400º. Heat margarine in rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches, in oven until melted. Toss bread cubes in margarine until evenly coated. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.

Golden Onion Soup with Mozzarella: Spoon soup into ovenproof bowls; top with croutons. Sprinkle each serving with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Place bowls in oven until cheese is melted.

[Shelly]

The French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley from J/F 2000 was excellent! I highly recommend it. If you make this one, be sure to use the cheese they specify rather than substituting regular Swiss (I think it's Emmenthaler - can't remember). That cheese made the dish. As soon as it's cold, this one will be one of the first soups I make.

[MrsReber]

For anyone who looked at this recipe, Ruby found an error I had made. There should also be beef broth in the listing of ingredients. I have fixed it:

Here's a CL French Onion Soup recipe:

1 Tbs stick margarine or butter
Cooking Spray
6 Cups thinly sliced onion, separated into rings (about 3 large onions)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp black pepper
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4 (14 1/2 ) oz cans of fat free beef broth
1 (14 1/2 oz) cans beef consomme, undiluted
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
9 (1/2 in thick) slices french bread baguette, toasted
9 thin slices (2 1/2 oz) gruyere cheese

1. Melt the margarine in a large, heavy Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add onion and stir well. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Stir in sugar and pepper. Uncover and cook over medium-high heat 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Sprinkle flour over onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, consomme, wine and salt; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire sauce.

2. Preheat broiler. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 9 ovenproof soup bowls. Top each serving with 1 bread slice and 1 cheese slice. Broil 30 seconds or until cheese melts. Yield 9 servings.
155 calories (24% from fat) Fat 4.1g, (sat 1.7g ,mono 1.5g, poly 0.7g) Protein 6.6g, Carb 20.6g; Fiber 1.9g; chol 15mg; iron 0.8g, sodium 433mg, calc 97mg.

[This message has been edited by MrsReber (edited 08-30-2000).]

[JeanneW]

I second Shelly's motion. The French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley was wonderful! I'd make it without the beef and with more mushrooms. Shelly is absolutely right about the cheese too. It called for gruyere and it absolutely made the soup. I can't wait for fall to make it again!

[Marcie]

Someone refresh my memory - CL did a feature last year on big bowls, one of which was a french onion beef bowl. It may have even been the cover recipe. It is excellent. Can anyone come up with the specifics?

[Mamasue]

Marcie...funny you should ask! I was breezing through some of my CL Cookbooks/magazines last night and came across this recipe and thought it looked good (picture of course). I typed it from The Best of Cooking Light, special edition magazine. Here it is:

* Exported from MasterCook *

French Onion-Beef Bowl

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beef

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 pounds boned sirloin steak, -- thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
4 garlic cloves -- crushed
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
6 cups vertically sliced onion
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
1 16 ounce can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 10 1/2 ounce can beef consomme
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups hot cooked soba noodles
2 cups garlic-flavored croutons
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere or Jarlsberg Cheese

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 to 4 hours. Remove steak from bag.

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sugar, and cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir flour into onion mixture, and cook, uncovered, 2 minutes. Add water, wine, broth, and consomme, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Add the beef mixture, worcestershire, pepper, and salt; cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Place noodles into each of 6 large bowls; top with broth mixture, croutons, and cheese. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup noodles, about 1 2/3 cups broth mixture, 1/3 cup croutons, and about 1 tablespoon cheese.

Source:
"The Best of Cooking Light, special edition"

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Per serving: 412 Calories (kcal); 12g Total Fat; (40% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 35g Carbohydrate; 31mg Cholesterol; 850mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[This message has been edited by Mamasue (edited 08-29-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Mamasue (edited 08-29-2000).]

[JodiL]

I made the French Onion Beef Bowl when it first came out and it was great! The same thing goes with the cheese as above, I used swiss but I bet it wouldv'e been better with the Gruyere. I will definitely be making this again in the fall. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[MrsReber]

Just wanted to bump this back up in case anyone else wanted to try the CL soup that I posted. Apparently I had left out an ingredient, as Ruby so kindly pointed out! I have fixed the original post above.