Guinness and Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Crouton

March 16, 2011 in soup

If you haven’t bought your Guinness yet, you may just be out of luck! Yesterday morning I ran to Target for ingredients for this soup and they had one package of Guinness left! One! I really had no idea that so many people celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day. And by “celebrate” I obviously mean “eat corned beef and drink Guinness”.

If you already have some Guinness in your fridge, you need to set aside a can for this soup! It is the best onion soup ever and that’s saying a lot because I’m very picky about my onion soup. Most of the time it tends to be too onion-y or too beefy for me or not onion-y enough or not beefy enough. This one is just the right amount of onion, beef, thyme, and garlic with an extra layer of flavor from the Guinness. I’m very mad at myself for only making half a batch!

I had some people on Twitter tell me that they’re scared of how involved onion soup seems but let me tell you, it’s really not. Yes, it does take awhile but most of the time is spent waiting for onions to caramelize or waiting for the broth to boil. It’s not difficult and all, I promise.

Guinness and Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Crouton
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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (about 2 large onions)
  • Salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups Guinness Draught (not Stout)
  • 6 cups beef stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Country bread loaf, cut into six 1/2-inch thick slices, then toasted
  • 1/2 lb Irish Cheddar, thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a 6 quart Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until just fragrant. Add the onions, season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium-low and saute the onions for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until they are a deep amber color.
  2. Add the thyme, vinegar and beer. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, then add the beef stock and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 more minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler and set out individual oven-proof soup bowls. Discard the bay leaf, then use a ladle to transfer the soup to the individual bowls. Top with toasted bread slices, then 3-4 slices of the cheddar cheese. Broil until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Serve piping hot.


from Food Network via Pennies on a Platter

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