French Onion Soup

The Soup

8 cups high quality beef broth (home made if possible) http://recipesbysuneday.blogspot.com/2012/02/beef-stock.html
1/4 red wine - Merlot is good
1 TBS Kitchen Bouquet
1 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves stems removed

Place all of the above in a pot and reduce to 1/2 (4 cups). This takes about 20 minutes over medium heat.

The Onion Mixture

1 Large sweet onion sliced very thin
1 Large Granny Smith Apple - peeled, cored & grated
2 Large baby Portabella Mushrooms sliced very thin
2 TBS Canola or Vegetable Oil
2 TBS Butter
Salt & Pepper
1/8 cup red wine

Sauté the onions, apple, mushrooms, salt & pepper in the oil and butter until they are caramelized and a rich Carmel color. Deglaze the pan with the wine and remove from heat.

The Assembly

3 pieces of French bread cut into about 1/2 thickness, toasted broken into large pieces.
1/4 cup Swiss Cheese - freshly grated
4 Slices Provolone
1/4 cup Parmesan or Asiago Cheese - freshly grated

Split the onion mixture between four oven safe serving bowls. Ladle the soup into the bowls leaving a little room at the top. Divide toasted French bread pieces between the bowls. Cover the soup, onion & bread mixture with the cheeses in this order, Swiss Cheese, Provolone Cheese then finish with the Parmesan or Asiago Cheese.

The Baking

Place your oven rack in the center of your oven and turn on the broiler. Place your 4 soup bowls onto a rimmed cookie sheet. Carefully place the cookie sheet into your oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

The soup bowls will be hot.....when I serve this to my family I place the hot soup bowl into a slightly larger soup bowl so the bowls are easier to handle and I don't have to worry about scorching my table.

Brown & Serve Meatballs

1 lb Hot Italian Sausage
1 lb Very Lean Ground Beef
1 Egg 1 TBL Dried Basil
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Mix all the ingredients together well. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls. Spray steamer top with cooking spray place meatballs into steamer, making sure they do not touch. Steam until each meatball is firm when pinched between tongs about 5 minutes at high altitude. Remove from steamer and cool on cooling rack, transfer onto a cookie sheet but do not allow them to touch. Freeze. When frozen, package into serving size packages and return to freezer. When you are ready to serve, you can thaw first then brown and serve or just toss into sauce to thaw.

Dishes Using Brown & Serve Meatballs

• Meatball Subs
• Spaghetti & Meatballs
• Swedish Meatballs
• Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Sidenote:

Add 2 heaping tablespoons of ground flax seed to the meat mixture to maximize fiber.