Thursday, September 12, 2013

Creamy Onion Soup




A few weeks ago I enjoyed lunch with a friend and we had lunch at her private club.  The chef has been utilizing local farms for some of his ingredients and I was curious to try his "creamy onion soup with Raab Farms candy onions".  It was fabulous.  Not too rich, but hearty enough with chunks of sweet onions and a creamy, silky background.  I have been obsessed with it ever since. 

This week and next I have the opportunity to work at a local farm that employed me as a teenager.  I worked at J-Mar Farms in the summers during high school and college.  If you can believe it, the last time I worked there was the day before Josh was born.  I'm working there as a substitute and I have to say, it's a little surreal.  It's almost like I've traveled back in time, but hopefully with a little more maturity!  I am enjoying it, it's like a break from being me, which is always nice for a bit. 

I do have a point here, and I promise you it's about "candy onions".  J-Mar Farms sells them and they also supply the chef at the country club with ingredients.  I kept hoping he'd come in this week so I could beg him for the recipe, but it seems I missed him.  So, after fixating on creamy onion soup for two weeks, I did a little research on google, used the ingredients I have here and I think my soup can rival his. 

One little note:  after taking pictures, I actually tasted the soup and the onions needed softening.  So, I just simmered the soup for another hour on low and the consistency is now perfect. I've adjusted the recipe below to reflect the desired outcome (soft onions!).  I ate mine with buttered french bread that had been broiled briefly - because I love bread. 




Creamy Onion Soup
2 sweet onions, sliced
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup cooking sherry
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup half-and-half

1.  In a medium-sized stockpot, saute onions in butter and olive oil for fifteen minutes.  Add thyme, pepper, and granulated garlic. 
2.  Sprinkle flour over onions and stir for a minute.  Add sherry and stir mixture. 
3.  Slowly add stock while stirring onions until thick (this will take several minutes). 
4.  Add half-and-half and simmer on low for about one hour or until onions are soft.  Serve with buttered bread or croutons sprinkled on top. 

4 comments:

  1. It looks divine. Seriously.

    I think Mr. P would love this . He adores anything onion. Im going to have to do a special hunt for sweet onions though as I dont recall seeing yellow onions at my local grocer...(and I only know they're yellow because I just googled "sweet onions"

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  2. I had a comment written out but Bloglovin ate it, grrrr.
    Short version, thanks Shay for googling it, and it's too hot here for soup.

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  3. Oh, my! I can't wait to try this for lunch one day soon. Do you think Vidalia onions would work? They are the only sweet onion I know.

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  4. There is nothing better during the cold winter months than soup, My family loves soup and this recipe looks easy and cool. will definitely try it. thanks for the information. Estpet

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