This is a weird one but I really love it. You can make this with different types of minor ingredients, the key is the apple puree broth, the very concentrated base, and the sliced onions.
-base-
finely chopped:
3 carrots
1/2 cup celery including leaves
1/2 med onion, really finely minced in the case of the base, so that there's a real contrast between them and the onion for the soup part
2 beets
2 small turnips
3 big cloves of garlic
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Bragg's Liquid Aminoes
1/2 bottle of Octoberfest
1 quart broth or water (in this case, I used the water used to boil the corn for corn on the cob, so it was a corn broth)
1/2 tsp paprika
salt & pepper, seasoning to taste
-apple puree broth-
puree:
3-4 chopped apples
1 tsp yellow curry powder
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup cream
1/2 broth or water (again, I used corn water)
-soup-
8 or so halved and sliced red onions
swiss chard, mostly de-stemmed but I still put in some--score the leaves then chop so that it doesn't end up swampy when you serve it out
1 quart broth or water
The base gets well cooked for a long time. I started with heating the oil and butter on med high, just when the butter starts to bubble, add the veggies. Stir to coat them. When you start to smell it, about two minutes in, add the beer, the Bragg's, the seasoning and about a tbs of broth. Stir well and let that cook off and reduce, then add 1/4 cup broth. Stir well to let it reduce then add more broth before it burns. Keep doing this for about 20-30 minutes. Be sure not to let it burn. While the base is cooking, prepare the puree and slice up the onions and the chard. Once the onions and puree are ready, that's probably when the base is good and base-y. (By base-y I mean everything's very tender and the flavor is very concentrated). Add the onions and chard and about 1 cup of water. Heat on high. Get everything stirred well. Let it cook on high and some of the onions at the bottom to caramelize just a tinge, then add the apple puree and enough water to cover everything. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Set to low. Simmer 30-40 minutes until the onion is meltingly tender. You can garnish with cheddar or parmesan or gruyere. It's a different flavor for certain but tasty. It's a lighter, less heavy type of soup than a French Onion, and definitely sweeter, but still on the savory side. (Thanks to Gillian for the description.)
-base-
finely chopped:
3 carrots
1/2 cup celery including leaves
1/2 med onion, really finely minced in the case of the base, so that there's a real contrast between them and the onion for the soup part
2 beets
2 small turnips
3 big cloves of garlic
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Bragg's Liquid Aminoes
1/2 bottle of Octoberfest
1 quart broth or water (in this case, I used the water used to boil the corn for corn on the cob, so it was a corn broth)
1/2 tsp paprika
salt & pepper, seasoning to taste
-apple puree broth-
puree:
3-4 chopped apples
1 tsp yellow curry powder
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup cream
1/2 broth or water (again, I used corn water)
-soup-
8 or so halved and sliced red onions
swiss chard, mostly de-stemmed but I still put in some--score the leaves then chop so that it doesn't end up swampy when you serve it out
1 quart broth or water
The base gets well cooked for a long time. I started with heating the oil and butter on med high, just when the butter starts to bubble, add the veggies. Stir to coat them. When you start to smell it, about two minutes in, add the beer, the Bragg's, the seasoning and about a tbs of broth. Stir well and let that cook off and reduce, then add 1/4 cup broth. Stir well to let it reduce then add more broth before it burns. Keep doing this for about 20-30 minutes. Be sure not to let it burn. While the base is cooking, prepare the puree and slice up the onions and the chard. Once the onions and puree are ready, that's probably when the base is good and base-y. (By base-y I mean everything's very tender and the flavor is very concentrated). Add the onions and chard and about 1 cup of water. Heat on high. Get everything stirred well. Let it cook on high and some of the onions at the bottom to caramelize just a tinge, then add the apple puree and enough water to cover everything. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Set to low. Simmer 30-40 minutes until the onion is meltingly tender. You can garnish with cheddar or parmesan or gruyere. It's a different flavor for certain but tasty. It's a lighter, less heavy type of soup than a French Onion, and definitely sweeter, but still on the savory side. (Thanks to Gillian for the description.)