canister, and set a clean kitchen towel over the lid. Blend until smooth, scraping down the inside of the canister once or twice. Pour the puree into a large bowl, then continue on, blending more. Finally, stir the blended mixture back into the soup. If your blender is too small to handle half the soup, particularly for the large batch in the large slow cooker, you’ll then need to work in batches.
• A fairly sweet white wine like a Viognier would complement the corn.
• Some heat might be welcome here; consider adding up to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes for the large batch (less for the smaller ones).
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW The top knob of the blender lid can be removed, specifically to help prevent blender explosions with hot ingredients. Pressure buildsunder the cap, creating a little vortex. Soon enough, you have filthy kitchen cupboards. That said, when you remove that top knob to alleviate some (but not all!) of the pressure, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel to forestall a small mess.
french onion soup
EFFORT: A LITTLE • PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES • COOK TIME: 8 HOURS • KEEPS ON WARM: 5 HOURS THROUGH STEP 2 • SERVES: 4 TO 10
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 tblsp unsalted butter
4 medium yellow onions, chopped
5 cups (1 quart plus 1 cup) low-sodium beef broth
2 tblsp brandy
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed
1 bay leaf
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
4 slices of baguette, about 1 inch thick
4 ounces (about 1 cup) Gruyère cheese , grated
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 tblsp unsalted butter
4 large yellow onions, chopped
8 cups (2 quarts) low-sodium beef broth
3 tblsp brandy
1 tblsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed
2 bay leaves
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp ground black pepper
6 slices of baguette, about 1 inch thick
6 ounces (about 1½ cups) Gruyère cheese , grated
6- TO 8-QUART
5 tblsp unsalted butter
7 large yellow onions, chopped
12 cups (3 quarts) low-sodium beef broth
⅓ cup brandy
1½ tblsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed
3 bay leaves
½ tblsp salt
½ tblsp ground black pepper
10 slices of baguette, about 1 inch thick
10 ounces (about 2½ cups) Gruyère cheese , grated
1 Melt the butter in a large skillet set over medium-low heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring often, until they are soft and glistening, about 20 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring almost constantly, to brown the onions a bit, about 5 minutes.
2 Scrape the onions into the slow cooker. Stir in the broth, brandy, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until sweet smelling and rich.
3 Before serving, position the oven rack 4 to 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler. Lay the baguette rounds on a large baking sheet; divide the cheese among them, about ¼ cup on each. Broil until melted and bubbling. Float one of these on top of each bowl of soup.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• The slow cooker makes a simple job of this bistro favorite. The only hard part is getting those onions soft and sweet
before
they hit the slow cooker. That said, you don’t need to cook them as long as you might if you were simmering the soup on the stovetop because those onions are going to go even longer in the cooker.
• Don’t use frozen chopped onions for this dish. They’ll be too soft and wet, and won’t caramelize well.
• Originally, cognac would have been added to the soup, but brandy works just fine.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED There’s not much good beef broth out there. The USDA sets the required formula at 1 ounce of beef (trimmings) for every gallon of water. Clearly, this ratio leads to a lack of flavor, which some brands fix with chemical additives including MSG (often labeled as “natural flavorings”). The best varieties are made with condensed beef stock, an ingredient on the label that ensures more beefy flavor in every spoonful.
vegetable “penicillin”
EFFORT: NOT MUCH • PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES • COOK TIME: 4 HOURS/6 HOURS • KEEPS ON WARM: 2 HOURS
• A fairly sweet white wine like a Viognier would complement the corn.
• Some heat might be welcome here; consider adding up to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes for the large batch (less for the smaller ones).
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW The top knob of the blender lid can be removed, specifically to help prevent blender explosions with hot ingredients. Pressure buildsunder the cap, creating a little vortex. Soon enough, you have filthy kitchen cupboards. That said, when you remove that top knob to alleviate some (but not all!) of the pressure, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel to forestall a small mess.
french onion soup
EFFORT: A LITTLE • PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES • COOK TIME: 8 HOURS • KEEPS ON WARM: 5 HOURS THROUGH STEP 2 • SERVES: 4 TO 10
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 tblsp unsalted butter
4 medium yellow onions, chopped
5 cups (1 quart plus 1 cup) low-sodium beef broth
2 tblsp brandy
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed
1 bay leaf
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
4 slices of baguette, about 1 inch thick
4 ounces (about 1 cup) Gruyère cheese , grated
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 tblsp unsalted butter
4 large yellow onions, chopped
8 cups (2 quarts) low-sodium beef broth
3 tblsp brandy
1 tblsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed
2 bay leaves
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp ground black pepper
6 slices of baguette, about 1 inch thick
6 ounces (about 1½ cups) Gruyère cheese , grated
6- TO 8-QUART
5 tblsp unsalted butter
7 large yellow onions, chopped
12 cups (3 quarts) low-sodium beef broth
⅓ cup brandy
1½ tblsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed
3 bay leaves
½ tblsp salt
½ tblsp ground black pepper
10 slices of baguette, about 1 inch thick
10 ounces (about 2½ cups) Gruyère cheese , grated
1 Melt the butter in a large skillet set over medium-low heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring often, until they are soft and glistening, about 20 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring almost constantly, to brown the onions a bit, about 5 minutes.
2 Scrape the onions into the slow cooker. Stir in the broth, brandy, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until sweet smelling and rich.
3 Before serving, position the oven rack 4 to 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler. Lay the baguette rounds on a large baking sheet; divide the cheese among them, about ¼ cup on each. Broil until melted and bubbling. Float one of these on top of each bowl of soup.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• The slow cooker makes a simple job of this bistro favorite. The only hard part is getting those onions soft and sweet
before
they hit the slow cooker. That said, you don’t need to cook them as long as you might if you were simmering the soup on the stovetop because those onions are going to go even longer in the cooker.
• Don’t use frozen chopped onions for this dish. They’ll be too soft and wet, and won’t caramelize well.
• Originally, cognac would have been added to the soup, but brandy works just fine.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED There’s not much good beef broth out there. The USDA sets the required formula at 1 ounce of beef (trimmings) for every gallon of water. Clearly, this ratio leads to a lack of flavor, which some brands fix with chemical additives including MSG (often labeled as “natural flavorings”). The best varieties are made with condensed beef stock, an ingredient on the label that ensures more beefy flavor in every spoonful.
vegetable “penicillin”
EFFORT: NOT MUCH • PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES • COOK TIME: 4 HOURS/6 HOURS • KEEPS ON WARM: 2 HOURS
Similar Books
