Irish Onion Soup
Ever since eating awesome French Onion Soup in Paris & then again in Quebec, I decided I needed to make my own once the weather turned. So at the very first sign of fall, I pulled out my trusty Le Creuset Dutch oven & got to caramelizing onions!
I researched a few recipes and the one that ended up really catching my eye, was actually Irish Onion Soup. Essentially the same, but with a few splashes of Irish whiskey & a fair amount of Guinness. And let’s face it, Guinness really can’t hurt anything, right?
It ended up adding a nutty, subtle smokey flavor to the soup making it the flavors that much richer & deeper! I topped it with the traditional sliced baguette pieces & Comte cheese, which melts beautifully under the broiler.
With a winter as long as we have, this recipe will be on repeat, possibly paired with a Croque Monsieur to really take us back to Paris.
Irish onion soup, adapted from Tasting Table & Williams Sonoma
Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 medium yellow onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/3 cup brandy (we were fresh out of Irish whiskey)
- 3 Tbsp flour
- Pinch of kosher salt, plus 2 tsp
- 1 cup Guinness Stout (or similar dark beer)
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 12 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Day old baguette slices
- Sliced or grated Comte cheese (gruyere or Irish cheddar work too)
Method:
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter, cook onions over medium, medium/low heat for an hour, careful not to burn/brown the onions. (They’ll brown as they caramelize, but you don’t want them browning like you would sautéing) Stirring every so often.
- Add whiskey, flour, pinch of salt & cook for about 4 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, cook til fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add Guinness and summer until reduced by 1/3, about 5 minutes.
- Add broth, thyme, pepper and remaining salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Remove thyme.
- Ladle into oven safe bowls and top with day old baguette slices and sliced or grated comte cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese is bubbly & toast is browned – be careful- some broilers are super hot & don’t take more than a minute!