Onion Soup

I’m so glad I’m getting back to using The Moosewood Cookbook again. This recipe has been modified and thus is no longer strictly vegetarian. I had to do something with the Thanksgiving turkey carcass. So I made turkey broth and it is delicious. Anyway, what I love about turkey is that it subs well for beef in many things. French onion soup is traditionally made with beef broth, so what better way soup to make with turkey broth than onion soup? I would posit none!



Even though this isn’t vegetarian anymore, it is still delicious. You can use water instead of turkey broth, like in the original recipe, or veggie broth, which is what I usually have on hand. A small warning though: this will make your house very, very oniony and your eyes may sting for some time afterward. Fan your place out. Seriously.

Onion Soup from The New Moosewood Cookbook:

Makes 6 servings

2 Tb. butter
4 large yellow onions (I used 5 since mine were on the small side), thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. dry mustard
A dash or two of thyme
4 c. turkey broth
2 Tb. soy sauce
2-3 Tb. dry white wine (optional. I went for it)
A few dashes of white pepper
Thin slices of Swiss cheese
Olive oil
A few small slices of baguette
A few garlic cloves



Melt the butter in a kettle or Dutch Oven. Add onions and salt, and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mustard and thyme; stir and cover. Continue to cook very slowly, about 35 more minutes. The onions will be exquisitely soft and simmering in their own liquid. Also, the bottom of my pot was covered in burnt on onion. A bit more butter or stirring or something may have prevented this. The rest of the onion, though, was as advertised.

While the soup is simmering, make the croutons. Brush thin slices of baguette on both sides with olive oil. I crushed a few cloves of garlic into the oil first. Bake on a tray in a 350 degree oven until crisp, 8-12 minutes. Check on them frequently. They can look underdone one minute and burn the next. Mine cooked for a bit over 12 and were perfect.





Add water, soy sauce, optional wine, and white pepper. I didn’t realize this while cooking, but we were out of soy sauce. We have teriyaki sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sweet and sour sauce, but no soy sauce. A quick look online suggested Worcestershire as an acceptable substitute. I think it worked out. Simmer at least 10 minutes more. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve topped with croutons and Swiss cheese. If you’re serving the soup in ovenproof bowls (like I did), you can put them under the broiler briefly to brown the cheese. Be careful handling the bowls!

This was so delicious and wonderful. I loved this soup! It was salty, but not too, and so well flavored. The onion is soft and perfect with bread. Hopefully I’ll have soy sauce on hand next time. And I’ll try veggie broth too. Still, fantastic soup. Go make it. But maybe crack a window.