Dinner Recipe: Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyère (2024)

FAQs

How do you deepen the flavor of French onion soup? ›

A few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf elevate the soup even more, but I take it a step further, adding a splash of fish sauce for complexity and depth—don't worry, it won't taste fishy—and a hit of cider vinegar to balance some of that oniony sweetness.

Combine 1 ½ cups of shredded Gruyère, 1 ½ cups of shredded Mozzarella, and ½ cup shredded Parmesan in a bowl. This is my favorite combination of cheeses, but you can use whichever cheeses you have on hand.

Frenched chicken breasts are a dream to cook and savor. The breasts are skin-on and boneless, except the wing drumette is still attached which makes them easy to turn and handle while cooking. This same cut is known by a number of different names, depending on where you are from and who is doing the talking.

The key to good French onion soup is to cook the onions so long that they threaten to melt into a viscous, dark brown paste, à la Marmite. As has already been extensively reported in Slate, there are no shortcuts when you're caramelizing onions; it always takes at least an hour, usually longer.

The caramelized onions for this soup cook more quickly due to a pinch of baking soda but still have that deep, slow-cooked flavor. Topping the soup with hot, cheesy toasts prepared while the soup simmers, eliminates the need to bake the soup in specialty French onion soup bowls.

What Are the Best Gruyère Substitutes? There are plenty of other premier cheeses that can serve as good substitutes for Gruyère cheese. Depending on whether you're melting cheese or adding more variety to your charcuterie board, you might consider Beaufort, Comté, Jarlsberg, Emmental, or Fontina.

American Swiss Cheese

You'll likely be able to find this cheese at any grocery store. It's made in the Swiss style and it closely resembles Emmental cheese. Use it in place of Gruyère when you want a more affordable option.

Brought to you by Mila, Produced in Italy. This cheese is enclosed in a firm, dry, rustic rind. The inside of the cheese is pale yellow in color and is completely solid without holes.

French onion soup is traditionally served in lionhead bowls, which are deep but not very wide porcelain bowls. Here are four reasons why these bowls are perfect: Plenty of soup. Even as the bread on top starts to soak up some of the soup, there's still plenty left underneath.

A Caesar salad is a great starter to pair with French Onion Soup. Its crisp romaine lettuce, creamy dressing, and crunchy croutons offer a refreshing contrast to the rich soup. The tangy flavors of the Caesar dressing complement the savory notes of the soup, making it a balanced and flavorful addition to your meal.

What to add to bland French onion soup? ›

Fix a bland onion soup by using supermarket broth and mild white onions, tasteless oil for sauteeing, stale plain white bread instead of croutons, and mild white cheese. Start by reducing the broth. Simmering out some water will intensify the flavor of the broth. Once you get it to the right point, add some salt.

Today the poulet de Bresse has the reputation of being the best quality table chicken in the world. The chef Georges Blanc, who is from Bourg-en-Bresse, has been president of the Comité Interprofessionnel de la Volaille de Bresse, the association which oversees the product, since 1986.

The Bresse chicken (pictured above) is seen as 'the' French breed, as it has blue legs, a white body and a red comb, the three colours of the French flag.

The lack of chalk in Bresse means that their chickens have lighter, thinner skeletons. As a result, the buyer gets more actual meat for the money. Furthermore, the acids in the soil of Bresse act as a bleach, rendering the feathers white and the feet blue.

Use fresh vegetables, high-quality meats or broth, and fresh herbs to add depth of flavor. Add acidity: A squeeze of lemon or lime juice, a dash of vinegar, or a splash of wine can brighten the flavors of a soup and make it taste more complex.

Herbs and sources add flavor, aroma, and intensity to the soup broth. You can pick fresh or dried herbs like basil for tomato-based soups or fresh parsley for clear broths. You may also add more spices like turmeric, ground ginger, ground paprika, or nutmeg for a touch of spice and color to your soup broth.

A squeeze of citrus, a dollop of yogurt or a drizzle of cream, a dusting of cheese or a good chile powder, a sprinkling of some herbs or croutons — all can take a perfectly fine soup into the realm of the delectable. Even a spiral of good olive oil to finish and some coarse sea salt can do wonders.