Featured Recipe: Onion Soup with Gruyere Cheese soufflé topping

• 
• Pronounced Grew-yair

 

Shopping list:

3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

8 cups low fat chicken broth

Small bunch fresh thyme

1 lemon

6 slices of sour dough bread

¾ – 1 lb grated Gruyere cheese

(usually found in the deli section) save 6-8 slices of cheese before grating remainder

¼ c. parmesan cheese

6 egg whites

¼ c. white wine

2 tbsp. Olive oil

1 tbsp. Sugar or sweet n low

4 tbsp. Unsalted butter

4 tbsp. All purpose flour

1% Milk 1½ cups

Cayenne pepper

 

Serves 6-8

Prep time: 1 hour

Baking time: 20 – 30 min.

 

Preheat oven to 400

Soup Base:

In a large sauce pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions.

Cook 30-40 min. until caramelized.

Raise heat to high and add white wine.

Boil for 1 min.

Add the Chicken broth, & thyme

Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 min.

Stir in sugar & 1 tbsp. lemon juice.

 

While soup base simmers, trim the bread slices to fit the inside of the individual bowls. I use a cup turned upside down and cut the perimeter of the bread.

Toast the bread and set aside

Soup base can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen for later use.

 

Soufflé’ Batter:

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and whisk continuously until the roux is well blended.

Add ¾ c. milk whisking continuously, until the milk is blended and no lumps. Repeat with the remaining ¾ c. milk.

Raise heat, continue to whisk until sauce is thickened to consistency of pudding.

Add grated Gruyere cheese and stir until melted into the sauce.

Add Cayenne, 2 tbsp. wine, (drink 1 glass of wine first) and add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Remove from heat, set aside.

 

In a large bowl with a electric mixer, beat the egg whites to a medium stiff peak. Pour the soufflé batter into another large bowl.

With a rubber spatula, gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter. Repeat with remaining egg whites and stir in the parmesan cheese, folding the mixture until completely combined.

 

Baking: Fill ovenproof soup bowls ¾ full of soup base. Top with 1 toasted bread, and then add a slice of Gruyere.

Using a rubber spatula, Spoon 1/6^th of the soufflé batter on to the bread.

Place the soup bowls on a baking sheet and transfer to oven.

Bake until Soufflé is well risen and golden brown, about 20 – 30 min.

Serve immediately.

 

Serve as an appetizer or main dish.

Serve with bread.

 

Onion Soup goes well as a 1^st coarse before serving steak, sausages, red meats.

 

Wine suggestion: white – Chardonnay or Pinot Gris. – Gary Perman