Almost instant French onion soup

[pacanis]

I have been reading so many variations to the recipe, beef broth, chicken broth, both... vermouth, red wine, brandy... that I'm just going to use what I have on hand and take it from there. Since I'm only going to make one crock at a time, with the onions being a constant, I should be able to easily tweak things.

[PrincessFiona60]

I like to make a really rich broth with oxtails...

[pacanis]

Originally Posted by PrincessFiona60

I like to make a really rich broth with oxtails...

I like oxtails for beef and barley soup. I don't think any liquid would make it into stock for future use

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by pacanis

I like oxtails for beef and barley soup. I don't think any liquid would make it into stock for future use

I have to be crafty and trick myself, I love Beef and Barley soup. I just buy double and split it before finishing off the beef and barley. It is horribly tempting, though!

[pacanis]

Originally Posted by Candocook

... Cook these for up to 24 hours--until the onions are caramelized well...

I can't tell if my onions are caramelized or brown from the little bit of soy sauce I added It's been about 16 hours. And you can see from the pic in the mandolin thread I barely added a tsp of soy sauce. I still have the same amount of liquid that I had this morning, too.
They are darker looking than this pic with the flash.
Question: Do you think I'll be able to freeze them right in the muffin tin and get them out easily?

[Andy M.]

I would oil the tins. Then when they are frozen, you could set the muffin tin is hot water in the sink to release the onions.

[pacanis]

Thanks, Andy. I'll hit them with a little cooking spray.
I unplugged the slow cooker, too. They seem done.

[vitauta]

all the way from Virginia, those beautifully browned onions are intoxicating, pac
!:) I can see that this is going to be a staple for me through the long winter cold season.

did you cut all those onions by hand? does that represent a three lb. bag of onions?
there will be so many uses and occasions for them. so many times I would be adding caramelized onions to my meal, if only had some,...or make onion soup...this could be transformational, go viral!--a cookbook: "101 uses for your caramelized onions"..... and so on :)

[pacanis]

I cut them on the mandolin, Vit. And yes, that is 3 lbs... 3 lbs of almost golf ball sized onions, lol.
3 lbs of onions filled two six spot muffin tins. They are in the freezer now. The plan is to pull out a puck, add it to my French onion crock with the broth of choice, nuke it a while, then add the croutons and cheese and stick it under the broiler.

[Whiskadoodle]

Those onions sure are looking tempting Pac !

I will attest that I have used chicken stock when making French onion soup. The first time we had it made this way was in Mexico, Sopa de Cebolla. Very rich & more golden/ lighter color than the French onion version. I think they don't carmelize their onions as deeply either. Still it was good, and I have done it that way quite a few times. I suspecet I put green onion tops snipped in it for color before floating the croutons and cheese. So, you can use any broth you have and any good melty cheese you have in the frig too. I like easy dinners and lunches practically on demand.

[pacanis]

Thanks Whiskas. They tasted pretty good, too
I'm looking forward to my first attempt at French onion soup. Of course, the whole house has been smelling like French onion soup since last night

[pacanis]

OK, this would qualify as pretty much almost instant.

I dropped the frozen puck into the crock, splashed a little red wine in, added some bold beef stock, a little water, then nuked it with a lid on the crock for four minutes at 3/4 power. It was thoroughly heated through, the puck thawed, and too hot to handle with bare hands, so I guess it simmered for a bit. Then I dropped a layer of croutons in, two slices of Swiss, and placed it under the broiler of the toaster oven for a few minutes. Voila, French onion soup in about eight minutes.

The hardest part was getting the pucks out of the muffin tray. I had to use a mallet and even then they were a little "moist" from the hot water I set the pan in. Maybe a silicon muffin pan would work better. I won't have to worry about that again for 11 more crocks

Sorry for the blurry pic, it looked in focus when I snapped it, and then POOF, the soup was gone

[Dawgluver]

Dang, Pac, just when I had my spoon ready...

[pacanis]

Originally Posted by Dawgluver

Dang, Pac, just when I had my spoon ready...

I've got another clean crock. I can have another bowl ready in about eight minutes.


Actually, I haven't ruled another bowl out for myself tonight

[PrincessFiona60]

Oh man, I can smell that clear over here. Yum, Pac...looks fantastic.

[Andy M.]

I'm going to give this a try. I usually make a recipe of onion soup. It makes enough for two meals for two. I freeze half the soup. If I make the onions ahead, soup would be a snap and a peasant treat on a moment's notice.

Thanks you guys.

[pacanis]

Thanks PF
I'm really glad this thread was brought back up.
The thing that always put me off of making FO soup was the work involved and the quantities, but making the onions ahead and freezing into portions is perfect for me. I'm not big on freezing soups, but freezing a main ingredient is a different story. Especially when it can be brought back to life so quickly.

[pacanis]

Just saw your post, Andy. Exactly!

[Andy M.]

I hardly ever use a crock pot so I have a question. Since the onions cook for so long, can I assume they are cooked on low? Our crock pots are old style.

[Whiskadoodle]

All this talk about Pucks and No Hockey this year.

On a separate note but same principle, this thread gave me an idea. I made sloppy joes yesterday. I had a repeat performance for dinner today. However, this time it made a bigger kettle than usual. I'm going to line a muffin pan with plastic wrap, freeze up some Sloppy Pucks. I think I will lightly oil the plastic with some EVOO first. When they are frozen, I hope they will pop right out and go into a freezer bag. One puck per sandwich down the road.

That's the theory. We'll see...