French Onion And Barley Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Coat a large deep pot with olive oil. Add the onions and sprinkle generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium heat. Stir the onions to coat with oil. Cover the pot and sweat for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Once the onions have gotten very soft and let off a lot of water, remove the lid and let the onions cook looooow and sloooooooooow. That's right low and slow to really develop their rich brown color and sweet flavor. There is no shortcut or rush for this, DO NOT TRY! Caramelized onions take a long time, about an hour, accept it and move on.
• When the onions are very brown and have gotten considerably smaller, add the sherry and cook until the sherry has reduced by half. Add the bay leaves, thyme bundle and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 hour. TASTE for seasoning, you probably will need to season with salt. If the stock reduces too much add water to keep the liquid level up- this IS a soup after all. When done, the soup should be thick and very full flavored. TASTE! You may need to resason, caramelized onions are very sweet and require a fair amount of salt.
• Toast or grill the baguette slices. Fill ovenproof crocks 3/4 of the way with the onion soup, float 2 toasts in each bowl and top with grated Gruyere. Place the crocks under the broiler to melt the cheese and make it brown and bubbly. Top with chopped chives.
• Voila!!

Steps:

• chop all the veggies and garlic and sauté in olive oil in a medium soup pot until just starting to caramelize.
• add water, broth cubes, and barley and bring to a boil.
• add the herbs, liquid smoke, wine (if using) and "beef" pieces. simmer on med for about 25 min, until barley is swelled and softened. if you think it's too watery you can add 2-3 Tbs of corn starch, dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water and cook until thickened.
• adjust salt and pepper, serve topped with a handful of croûtons or the slice of stale or toasted bread, and sliced or shredded cheese. broil briefly if your bowls will take it or microwave just long enough to melt the cheese if they wont. serve with salad and the rest of the red wine.

Steps:

• Combine boiling water and shiitakes in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 minutes. Drain the shiitakes in a colander over a bowl, reserving liquid. Slice shiitakes, discarding stems.
• Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, shallots, ginger, and garlic; sauté 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Add the shiitakes, button mushrooms, sugar, and beef.
• Sauté 10 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add reserved mushroom liquid, 4 cups water, and the next 4 ingredients (water through consommé); bring to a boil.
• Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until barley is tender. Stir in 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
• Preheat broiler.
• Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 ovenproof soup bowls; top each serving with 2 bread slices and 2 tablespoons cheese.
• Broil 3 inches from heat 1 minute or until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Melt butter with olive oil in an 8 quart stock pot on medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. Do not brown the onions.
• Add beef broth, sherry and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven broiler.
• Ladle soup into oven safe serving bowls and place one slice of bread on top of each (bread may be broken into pieces if you prefer). Layer each slice of bread with a slice of provolone, 1/2 slice diced Swiss and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Place bowls on cookie sheet and broil in the preheated oven until cheese bubbles and browns slightly.

Steps:

• Heat 1 can of broth in microwave(in a microwave-approved container, of course) for a couple of minutes. Add to empty crockpot and dissolve the onion soup mix in it. Add remaining ingredients, except herb mix, to crockpot, reserving 1/2 can of broth. Cover and cook on low for at least 6 hours. 1 to 2 hours before ready to eat add the herbs that have been crushed together with a small pinch of sea salt to the soup mixture. (If you add this at the beginning the soup will be bitter!) Also, at this stage if the soup needs more liquid, add the remaining half-can of broth. This is a thick, hearty soup, but barley can be just like rice, one day needs a little more liquid, another, a little less. Leftovers freeze well, though there are rarely any here.
• Sometimes I will substitute or add little bits of frozen veggies from cleaning the freezer, like a cup of corn or green beans or carrots to the mix. If adding instead of substituting, you may need to make adjustments to your broth amount.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, brown the ground beef. Remove beef from pan; drain and set aside.
• Add the onions to the Dutch oven. Cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
• Add the browned beef, broth, pepper, and bay leaf; mix well. Bring to a boil. Add barley. Reduce heat; simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until barley is tender.
• To serve, remove and discard bay leaf. Ladle soup into 4 individual soup bowls. Top each with 2 toast quarters and 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese.