Tag Archives: French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup

Posted on by

For the longest time I wasn’t a fan of French Onion soup.  It was always overpowering and heavy on the stomach.  Then I met my husband who loves this soup.  But he had the same problem of finding a decent recipe.  We found one from Hannafords and then changed it a bit and now we have a soup that is very easy to make and we all love eating it.

To start melt 2 T of butter in a saucepan.

I thinly slice about 1 1/2 large onions and saute in the butter.  Cook until they start to soften and then add a tablespoon of sugar.  Stir well.  I found a lot of recipes called for 3 large onions but it would be too much of an onion flavour and you wouldn’t get a balance of all the flavours.

Saute for another 5 minutes or so.  Add 4 cups of broth.  We use the veg broth though most recipes call for a beef broth.  Heat until simmering.  Add a few squirts of stone ground mustard, 3 T of cognac, 3-4 T of Worcestershire sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I like it to simmer for awhile if I have the time for the flavours to really come together but once it is heated through it can be served.  I butter some bread and toast them to top the soup.  Then grate some Jarlsberg cheese over it all.  Broil until melted and serve.

This is perfect on a cold day or when your schedule is hectic.  And if you want a variation of this try the french onion grilled cheese sandwiches.   A big hit in my family.  🙂

French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Posted on by

My family is a big fan of French Onion soup but in the summer time it is way too hot to think about soup.  I came across a pin on Pinterest for French Onion Grilled Cheese sandwiches.  Problem was the recipe didn’t appeal to me at all.  Very picky about my french onion!  So I decided to modify our recipe for the soup to make the sandwiches.  The inspiration was from the Hannafords magazines they have.  I modified that as well to make it the way we like it.  I can’t help myself! 🙂

This recipe makes four sandwiches:

1 large red onion sliced somewhat thinly

1 T butter

1 tsp sugar

1 T Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base Organic (this is really good!)

1/2 cup hot water

couple of squirts stone mustard

2 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T brandy or cognac

Melt butter and saute the onions in the butter with the sugar until softened.  Dissolve the bouillon into the hot water.  Traditional French Onion calls for beef bouillon but I like the veg version for a more layered taste.  Add to the onions and bring to a simmer.  Add the Worcestershire sauce and cognac and cook down until the sauce is reduced.

Slice the bread and butter the outside of each slice.  Place slices of cheese of your choosing onto the bread.  We use jarlsberg for most dishes that require some sort of swiss but that is our preference.  Spoon some onions on the cheese and top with the second slice of bread.

Grill on the griddle or frying pan until the cheese is melting.  Serve immediately.

This meal only takes about 30 minutes to make and goes down a treat.