I had completely forgotten about this recipe, it’s a variation on my classic French soup, that usually takes days, but I figured out a quick version that tastes almost as good as the classic version.
Then I was trying to figure out something different to do with chicken thighs and then I thought about doing a riff on the quick version of the onion soup but replacing the toasted bread with chicken, it was really good and even better the second day – Enjoy.
I have listed the quick onion soup recipe at the end of this recipe.
Ingredients
Chicken
2 to 3 lbs. of bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Avocado Oil
Sauce/Soup
3 cups of homemade beef, chicken or veggie stock – unsalted
3 onions, quartered and sliced very thin
1 cup port wine
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
3 egg yolks
2 to 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Bread
A 1 loaf of French bread cut in half.
2 tablespoons of melted butter
½ cup of grated Gruyere Cheese
A handful of Italian Parsley, chopped and stems removed
Direction
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Start with the soup, melt butter in a deep stockpot, then add onions and sauté until golden to a deep brown. Next, add the stock to the pot and salt and a dash of pepper to taste. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
Place a large deep, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter then drizzle with oil and sauté to combine. Working in batches, brown chicken on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Once all chicken has been browned set aside. (note: a Dutch Oven will also work here).
Next, pour “Soup” into the skillet, and place chicken back into to skillet in a single layer, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, or until chicken has cooked through.
Whisk together the port and the egg yolks and set aside.
Remove chicken from skillet, whisk the port mixture into “soup” in skillet slowly to prevent “Scrambling” the yolks. Once combined, return chicken to skillet, top off with cheese, and place in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese has melted. Remove and let stand for 10 minutes before serving – meanwhile …
Brush bread with melted butter, sprinkle with cheese and parsley, and place in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes to melt cheese to a golden brown. Remove and cut into the next big pieces and serve with the chicken.
I just place the skillet on the table as a serving dish – Enjoy
Quick Onion Soup
Ingredients
3 cups of homemade beef stock – unsalted
3 onions, quartered and sliced very thin
1 cup port wine
1 1/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese
3 egg yolks
2 to 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
and about half a loaf of French bread cube into about 1-inch cubes
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Place bread cubes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and toast up in the oven.
Melt butter in a deep soup pot, then add onions and sauté until golden to a deep brown. Next, add the stock to the pot and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
In a large oven-safe soup tureen layer, the toasted cubes of bread on the bottom (about a third of the bread) followed by a sprinkling of the grated cheese and repeat for three layers: note leave enough cheese at the end to sprinkle of the soup.
Now fill the tureen with the hot soup and top off with the remaining cheese. Place tureen uncovered into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and port wine and set aside.
Remove tureen from the oven, bring to the table, make a hole in the cheese crust, and pour in the wine egg mixture, fold mixture into the soup and serve.
Enjoy Cooking