All About Caramelizing Onions
The most important part of making this soup is to caramelize the onions well. Caramelization is the process of slowly cooking the onions so that they become soft and golden brown. The onions release their natural sugars, concentrating their flavor.
Theres simply no way to replicate the flavor of caramelized onions other than cooking them slowly from scratch.
I use yellow onions in this recipe, but you could also use red onions if you prefer their flavor. I would pass on sweet onions, which lack the intense flavor you need to flavor the soup.
Aim for slicing the onions about 1/8 inch thick. The shape, whether whole rounds or halfmoons, does not matter as long as they are evenly and thinly sliced. Slicing them too thin can result in a barely-there consistency and you risk burning them. If too thick, youll have to cook them for a longer time and they wont be uniformly caramelized.
Itll take 45 minutes to 1 hour for the onions to caramelize. Cook them over medium heat the entire time and stir them every 5 minutes or so. After the first 10 to 15 minutes, youll notice the volume of the onions reduce in half, theyll softened, and become translucent.
At the half hour mark, the volume of the onions will be even smaller and theyll begin to turn a deep golden yellow with brown bits forming on the bottom of the pot. When the onions are caramelized, they are a deeper golden amber color with even more brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Slow Cooker Mushroom Smothered Chicken
This easy slow cooker mushroom smothered chicken recipe is one your family will love.
We love easy recipes and this one is perfect. Its only 5 ingredients and super easy to make in the slow cooker. Its also budget friendly, which is always a good thing. We love this dish served over rice, egg noodles or mashed potatoes. You can use fresh or canned mushrooms. This dish is the perfect comfort food! You may also love this easy chicken and noodles recipe.
Make Ahead And Storage Instructions
The base soup, without the baguette and cheese, can be prepared ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Simply prepare the soup as directed, but dont top it with bread or cheese.
If youre not going to serve the soup within five days, you can portion it into zip top freezer storage bags or a freezer-safe food container and freeze for up to three months.
When youre ready to eat, use either the stovetop or microwave to thaw and reheat the soup. Then, portion the soup into oven-safe bowls, top with the bread and cheese, and place them under the broiler to melt the cheese just before serving.
Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas
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Creative And Comforting Recipes
The creative and comforting part is not only about the end result, but is so much about the cooking process.
While I always loved cooking, it wasnt until I studied it in Culinary school, that the process became more important to me. I realized that creating the best comfort foods was more than just putting ingredients together its all about how theyre put together.
This French Onion Mushroom Casserole recipe is the perfect example of this.
Learning how and when to add certain ingredients to a pan, what to finish with and why it all fascinated me. And I learned patience is imperative.
Youll need patience for this French Onion Mushroom Casserole recipe, and I promise you, itll be worth every second!
Creamy French Onion Style Slow Cooker Mushrooms
I am so happy to be back this month with a new crock pot recipe and am pretty much in love with how GOOD these mushrooms are. Seriously. Straight up drink the sauce delicious.
True story when Mr. Claire and I met many years ago he hated mushrooms. I have mentioned this before over on my blog, A Little CLAIREification and, in a nutshell, he had pretty much decided at some point in his formative years that they were just not something he liked at all.
Needless to say, this was sort of a bummer to me since I adore mushrooms. Thank God he loved cheese as much as I do but I wasnt ready to give up hope!
Fortunately, after encouraging him to try all sorts of recipes over the years, he finally saw the light and he is now a full on mushroom loving fool. Talk about a complete 180* turn.
When I mentioned that I wanted to make a slow cooker mushroom side dish there was zero hesitation as he immediately said make a twist on on our Favorite French Onion Soup using a packet of onion soup mix. Whaaa? Who IS this man?? If we werent already hitched Id marry him again.
And thus these French Onion Style Slow Cooker Mushrooms were born and oh. my. word. They turned out so great.
Mushrooms actually have a lot of moisture so most chefs will tell you NOT to wash them but rather to use a small kitchen brush to clean them up a little before cooking which is what we did.
I doubled the recipe just to be sure Mr. Claire would get a few.
Until next month, happy slow cooking!
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Deglaze Season And Simmer
When the onions have caramelized to a golden brown color, add in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Next, deglaze with the dry sherry. Continue stirring until most of the sherry is evaporated then add the thyme, Worcestershire, vinegar, and mushroom stock. Simmer on low for 20-30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ok The Simple Details
If youve ever made french onion soup, you know two things. One, its really pretty straight forward and theres nothing too complicated. Two, the onions take a second to really caramelize down. It can take a little more time than the usual thirty-minute start to finish dinner, but its worth the wait.
And I dont know, something about caramelizing onions on the stove is very relaxing and cozy. However, I am weirdIm probably the only one that feels that way.
Anyway, Ive made a lot of French onion soup over the years. Sometimes Ive taken shortcuts with the onions, but with this soup, I wanted to deeply caramelize them to ensure they make for the most flavorful French onion soup.
So, start with sweet yellow onions, butter, a touch of honey, and dry white wine.
The butter is used for obvious reasonsfat, flavor, and deliciousness. The honey helps to cook and caramelize the onions faster. I always find these ingredients to be key when trying to achieve perfectly caramelized onions. Now, the wineuse a dry white wine, which is pretty traditional in most French onion soups. Youll cook about half of the wine into the onions. Not only does this help the onions to caramelize quickly and evenly, it also infuses the onions with incredibly rich flavor.
Its delish.
If you prefer not to cook with wine, I recommend using about half a cup of apple cider or apple juice to caramelize the onions. For the remaining amount of wine , use chicken or vegetable broth.
Read Also: On The Border Chicken Tortilla Soup
Mushroom Broth French Onion Soup
You cant get the best result nor depth of flavors without using a really high-quality beef bone broth.
If youd like to check out Kettle and Fire, then take a look. And, if you decide to buy, then use my discount code ALLYSKITCHEN at checkout for 20% off your order. And, as a full disclosure, I do receive a small commission from your purchase. Believe me, I appreciate it, and it helps pay the overhead here in the kitchen. Nonetheless, rest assured, that all the opinions regarding this brand of bone broth are totally my own.
Oh, yes, I know very well that you can make your own beef bone broth or purchase less expensive brands, but the reactions youll see in the video of Candice and me eating this soup for lunch, well, its in large part because of the excellent beef bone broth.
Why We Love This Chicken And Mushroom Soup
- Its easy and it uses fresh ingredients you may already have on hand.
- Its a perfect soup for either rice or pasta. Just depends on how your feeling on your soup day.
- It makes a large pot of soup which you can enjoy for several meals.
- Its a good reason to make biscuits. If there is bread, they will come to the table.
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Healthy Mushroom Onion Soup
Theres absolutely no reason why you cant make this healthy mushroom onion soup! Once you watch the video, youll say Yes! I can!
The type of mushroom best for this soup is the baby bella. If you cant source that mushroom, then regular mushrooms work. Youll want the mushrooms to vary in size, some large, medium and small. Also, another option is to use a mushroom blend like shitake, oyster, beech, baby bellas.
Now if you want to top this soup with the ultimate croutons, yes, homemade, then you must look at my recipe for big garlicky crunchy croutons!
Related To The Japanese Onion Soup Recipe
Enjoy this Japanese onion soup as a light meal for lunch with a salad at the side such as a daikon radish salad and some bread
You can also serve this soup as they do in hibachi restaurants as a starter
The soup goes really well with the main course such as a beef steak.
I wouldnt hesitate to serve the soup with western food too because the flavors are quite universal.
Dear Reader, how are you planning to enjoy this Japanese onion soup with mushroom?
Global Food Recipes
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Read Also: Simply Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup
What Is The Best Type Of Mushroom To Use In This Recipe Would Cremini Mushrooms Taste Good Button Mushrooms
I would highly recommend using any of the 3 mushrooms in the button family. Please see below for a description of the three button, cremini, and portabello. Any of the 3 mushrooms would taste delicious and are generally easy to find in any grocery store. I have added some additional information regarding different mushroom varieties if you are interested in trying something other than the more common mushrooms.
Homemade Mushroom Stock Ingredients:
FYI you dont have to make your own stock for this recipe. In a pinch, boxed stock will totally work. That being said, it is actually very easy to make from scratch and I do think the flavor makes it worth the extra trouble. I have included my mushroom stock recipe below in case you want to give it a go. The ingredients youll need are mushrooms , onion, garlic, carrot, thyme, parsley, cold water, salt, and pepper.
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Quick French Onion Mushroom Soup
Yield:
- 6-7 cups sweet onions, French slice, thin
- 4 Tbl. Garlic, minced
- 6-7 cups mushrooms, heads only sliced, reserve stems to simmer in about a cup of water, 3 bay leaves for broth
- 2 Tbl. Arrowroot, can use flour or corn starch as thickening agent
- ½ cup marsala cooking wine
- 32 oz. beef bone broth, cooking broth
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
- Fresh celery leaves for garnish, can use fresh thyme sprigs
- SERVING:
- 8 oz. pepperjack cheese, small slices to put atop the baguette slices
- Red Chili Flakes
- Freshly grated parmesan regianno cheese
A Note About Vegetarian Cheese:
Did you know that not all cheese is vegetarian-friendly? Many kinds of cheese are made with rennet which is an enzyme that comes from the stomachs of cows.Luckily, there are a few brands that make vegetarian-safe cheeses free from rennet. While Gruyére and Emmental are the most traditional cheeses to use for French onion soup I recommend choosing an organic swiss, or even white cheddar cheese for a vegetarian-safe substitute. Organic Valley, Horizon, Applegate, and Tillamook all offer vegetarian cheeses and are readily available at most supermarkets.
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Recipe Tips And Substitutions
- Heres a guide for How to Easily Peel Pearl Onions. This will help you save a lot of time.
- While I love doing things from scratch, you can purchase already peeled pearl onions. These are typically found in the freezer section of the market. Be sure theyre completely thawed before using them.
- Vegetarian? If youd like to make this dish vegetarian, use a very hearty vegetable broth instead of the beef broth.
- If the bread on top gets nice and toasted before the cooking time is up, lightly cover the pan with foil until its done.
French Onion Mushroom Casserole
French Onion Mushroom Casserole is essentially the best bowl of French Onion Soup youve ever had, only in casserole form. The perfectly toasted French bread, the melting Swiss cheese, the caramelized onions, and all of the hearty, warm flavors of beef, garlic and mushrooms theyre all what make this one of the best comfort foods ever!
Creative and comforting food for casual entertaining.
Thats what I do here on my blog, and in my kitchen. I love cooking for others, but the entertaining part could be switched out for eating, if your prefer.
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So cozy, so comforting and just so creamy. Best of all, this is made in 30 min from start to finish so quick and easy!
Sorry, I know. Another mushroom recipe. Mushrooms are my favorite kind of vegetables and this is my sad attempt at eating clean for the new year of 2015.
Yes, eating clean as I slurp this amazingly cozy soup in 82 degree weather here in Southern California. And then dunking in some crusty garlic bread. You cant forget that.
But then again, I did swap out the heavy cream for half and half. At least thats something, right? Plus, theres carrots and celery too. So yeah, definitely clean eating happening here as I drown myself in this epic creaminess.
Is Gruyere Cheese Vegetarian
Some cheeses, including Gruyere, can be made with rennet, an enzyme from calves, which means its technically not vegetarian. Some brands make vegetarian Gruyere cheese without animal-derived rennet.
If youre not able to find suitable Gruyere cheese, you can substitute swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese instead.
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Ingredient Swaps That Work
French onion soup, including this vegetarian version, is traditionally topped with sliced French baguette and Gruyere cheese. I used mushroom broth in place of beef broth to make this soup vegetarian friendly. Here are other ingredient substitutions that would work:
- If you cant find boxed mushroom broth in your grocery store, look for mushroom bouillon. Its a seasoned mushroom concentrate. Simply mix it with hot water to make the mushroom broth.
- I havent tried vegetable broth in this recipe, but you certainly could. Some store-bought vegetable broths can be a little bland, so Id recommend making your own. Otherwise, use a store-bought vegetable broth that youve tried and like.
- Deglazing the pan with white wine is a traditional technique that adds loads of flavor. Deglazing simply means to add a liquid like the wine to help release stuck-on bits of food from the bottom of the pan. I use white wine, but you could use a dry red wine instead. Instead of wine, you could use extra broth to deglaze the pan.
- Instead of a French baguette, use any crusty loaf of artisan bread, like sourdough or Italian. You want the bread to be sturdy and have a chewy texture so it will hold its shape and does not fall apart in the soup. Dont use soft sandwich breads or brioche.
- Its okay to use only Gruyere or only Swiss cheese to top the soup.
- You can also mix it up and use any cheese that melts well. Some examples are:
- Mozzarella
- Jarlsberg
Recipe: French Onion And Mushroom Soup
French Onion and Mushroom Soup
Serves 6
Note: Caramelizing the onions slowly and using good-quality chicken stock is the key to this recipe. Feel free to leave out the mushrooms if you prefer a more traditional soup. If you have homemade beef broth, use that instead of the chicken variety, if you prefer. From Meredith Deeds.
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp. salt, or more
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or more
1/2 c. dry white wine
8 c. chicken stock or broth
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 c. cubes of rustic French bread
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 c. shredded Gruyère cheese
Directions
In a 6-quart Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.
Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the onions to the pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the onions are a mahogany brown. Add the garlic, salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Meanwhile, place the bread cubes on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until lightly toasted.
Nutrition information per serving:
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