Who We Are

Monday, October 22, 2012

Soup-er!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  As some long-time readers of the Ao4 Digest may know, I'm a huge fan of kitchen appliances.  As a Drill Sergeant, it is my duty to inspect new equipment and help test it out.  Imagine my delight when the FedEx man dropped this baby off on our doorstep last week:

IMG_1636 Drill SGT Zim
"A slow cooker that also roasts, browns/sautés, and steams?!?  WOWZERS!"

Wowzers!  How exciting is that?!?   There was only one thing to do -

IMG_1644 Zim
"Let's fire this baby up, Mom!"

We had to test drive it - right?!!?

I suggested we make some steamed Stinky Goodness, but Mom opted for Onion Soup instead.  Hmm.  Does anyone know what "Not a snowball's chance at the Equator" means?  Hmm.  She must have wanted to try out the sauté feature.  Fair enough!  Mom shared a couple pix on FaceBook and her friends wanted the recipe.  It's Mom's old standby recipe that is in her head, not written down, so I thought I'd take a shot at writing it up for everyone.  PLEASE NOTE:  Absolutely NO onion soup for us pups and kit-cats!!!  Sorry.  Bipeds only.

Ready to start cooking?  Here's what you'll need:

10 large sweet onions (use Vidalia if you can, yellow otherwise)
3 Tablespoons of butter (or for our friends in the south, buttah)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
+/- 2 cups white wine  (Mom used a lovely Riesling; the better the wine, the better the soup)
2 cups chicken broth (or half chicken, half beef)
10 oz. apple juice or cider
basil, thyme, etc. to taste (I have no idea what that means - add green dried herbs that smell good together)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Now for the action!  Peel and trim the ends off the onions.  Slice into half-moons.  Set the new appliance to Sauté/300℉.  (If you're doing this on the stove, heat a Dutch oven on medium/low.)  Melt butter ...

IMG_1727 Onions going into the pot

... then start layering in the onions -- some onions, then Kosher salt, more onions, more salt, etc.  Do NOT stir until the onions have sweated down - 15 minutes or so.  (Mom has a hard time with that one - but really, it's best.  Leave it alone.)

IMG_1728 Sautéing onions
"Leave it!" as they say.

After the onions have cooked down, stir occasionally until they're a wonderful, rich caramel color like this:

IMG_1731 Caramelizing onions
Mom wanted to eat them right then and there.  Just to let you know.

That could take anywhere from 30-60 minutes, depending on how your heat source is doing.  Be patient!

Now add enough wine to cover the onions.  Increase the heat, stir often, and reduce the wine to a syrupy consistency.  (If you're on the stove top, crank up the heat to high!)  Add the broth, apple juice and herbs.  Reduce heat, switch over to crock pot mode, cover, and leave for a couple hours.  (On the stove, turn to low, cover, and simmer until you're hungry.)

In the meantime, do this:

IMG_1783 Zim and Dave
"Eyes... RIGHT!"

Dave and I like to work on our military drills while out on patrol.

Where were we?  Oh, right.  The soup.  By the time you get home, this is what your soup should look like:

IMG_1737 Onion Soup
Soup's on!

All that's left to do now is to enjoy!  Sometimes, Mom ladles it into bowls, tops with a slice of crusty bread and shredded Parmesan, then sticks it under the broiler to brown the cheese.  This weekend, she skipped that stage - she made some flatbread to have on the side and just tossed some Parm on top of the soup like so:

IMG_1744 Onion Soup

Looks like a soup-er Fall meal to me!  (Oh, please - you had to see that one coming, didn't you?  Ha roo roo roo!)

I'll add this recipe to our sidebar, in case anyone wants to refer back to it.  If you try it out, please let us know what you think -- and remember, no onions for us quadrupeds!  (But treats and walks are great ideas!)

Play bows,
Zim

18 comments:

  1. My mom said that soup made her mouth water...she loves onion soup just not when she makes it...yummy....i was a hoping that cooking thing wuld really do ALL the cooking and not need robot moms help!
    stella rose

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  2. We are suddenly starving
    Benny & Lily

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  3. Cool we loved the soup and the cheesy croutons. Wow what is for main course? Great gadget. Have a lovely Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  4. the new toy looks good to the mom, but she doesn't like onions, so no soup for her either MOL

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  5. Can you please send me some of that soup????

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com

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  6. That looks souper yummy. But I know., none fo rme. But I do believe my MOM would love some. At Christmas caroling time at church, when all these peeps go out and sing to our shut-ins, they have a big soup lunch and MOM is always asked to make her French Onion Soup. I di believe she will use your recipe this year. Thanks.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  7. Oooh, I bet the house smells SO good while that's cooking! Momma's always a little afraid to use her crock pot during the day, because she's afraid the kitties will Do Something to it and the whole house will burn down or something.

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  8. Oh yum yum!

    It looks delicious!

    Sam

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  9. Our mommy loves onion soup but has never made it before. She says that's about to change! Thanks for the recipe Zim! Hope your mom made you stinky goodness anyway!

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  10. So judging from the Delicious LOOK of that SOUP... your new kitchen appliance gets the ALL PAWS UP.

    My mom LOVES onion soup. She just may give your mom's recipe a whirl.

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  11. Oh that looks so good. Were gonna have to try that, probably in about December here, the weather will be perfect for it.

    The silvers and more

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  12. I am not a fan of onion soup Zimmie but that certainly looks delicious!

    Auntie Trace

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  13. Hi there, I love onion soup but don't eat it to much because it gives me indigestion. It looks like an easy recipe though, so I might have to try it. Love the slow cooker-wow, it does everything but clean itself. Have a great evening.
    Hugs, Noreen & Hunter

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  14. Our mom wants to know what time dinner will be served? She's grabbing her purse and running out the door. She's on her way, ready or not!

    Love ya lots,
    Mitch and Molly

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  15. Oh I bet that made the house smell good while that was cooking! Wish I was there to share some.

    Cindy

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  16. YUMMY!!!
    Mommy loves loves loves soup!!
    Me too, if there are chunks of beef and carrots in em!

    Cheers,
    Maxx

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  17. The military precision of your walkie action was quite impressive. Momma is slobbering over that nommy soup. I averted my eyes since no onions for doggies.

    Kisses,
    Dexter

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  18. thanks very much for visiting Diamond's blog and leaving your condolences. I appreciate that and miss Diamond every day.
    best wishes,
    Lynettea

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