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Onion Bacon Fennel Mushroom soup gratin Recipe
by Foodessa

Onion Bacon Fennel Mushroom soup gratin

Sizzling bacon, caramelized onions and fennel accompanied by a complimentary mushroom addition.
French Onion soup is the inspiration that created this very comforting soup gratin.
For a dedicated post...refer to:
http://www.foodessa.com/2012/03/onion-based-french-style-soup-gratin-4.html

Rating: 4/5
Avg. 4/5 1 vote
  Canada Canadian
Cook time: Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • . > (American / Metric measures) <
  • . 1/4 cup -1/2 stick (60ml) unsalted butter
  • . 1/8 cup (30ml) grape seed oil
  • . 2 bacon slices, thinly sliced
  • . 6 cups (1.5L) 4 large, sweet onions, thinly sliced
  • . 1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
  • . 10 medium crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • . 1 Tbsp. (15ml) Dijon mustard
  • . 1/4 cup (60ml) dry White wine
  • . 1/2 cup (125ml) apple juice (non-filtered)
  • . 1 cup (250ml) water
  • . 4 cups (~1 Litre) Vegetable stock
  • . 1 tsp. (5ml) sea salt (or more to taste)
  • . 6 thick slices of crust bread, cubed and lightly toasted for croutons
  • . 12oz. (350g) from Cheese selections: Emmental, Comté, Gruyère, Monterey Jack

Directions

  1. . Refrigerate onions before thinly slicing them. Also thinly slice the fennel, mushrooms and bacon.
  2. . In a large saucepan, melt together the butter and oil on MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the bacon and cook for a few minutes.
  3. . Add the onions and fennel to the pot. Sauté, while stirring them for no more than 10 minutes. Now, add and stir in the mushrooms and Dijon mustard.
  4. . Lower the heat to MEDIUM and continue stirring them once and a while for another 15 minutes. Pour in the White wine and stir to deglaze the bottom browning bits. Again, lower the heat to MEDIUM-LOW so that the onions can cook down to a deep caramelized stage.
  5. . Place a cover over the saucepan with it slightly ajar to have moisture escape slowly. This will take another 20 minutes or until the onions have reduced into a deeply rich jam-like consistency.
  6. . Towards the end, increase the heat back to MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the apple juice, water, vegetable stock and salt. Once it has reached a boiling point, reduce the heat back again to MEDIUM-LOW and simmer for the final cooking of about 20 minutes or so. Taste to see if more (optional) salt is needed.
  7. . > ASSEMBLY: Meanwhile, if the bread croutons were not made ahead of time, the bread can now be cubed and lightly toasted. Set aside. Same goes for preparing the slices of selected cheese.
  8. . Prepare a baking sheet to soon place the oven-proof bowls. Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4 and position oven rack in the center. Once the onion soup is ready, ladle it into the bowls, 3/4 of the way. Add a bit of cheese, followed by a few toasted croutons and finally topped with more cheese.
  9. . Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted with its anticipated golden edges. They are ready to serve.
  10. . Enjoy Claudia's flavourful wishes at FOODESSA.com