"sannich" in Soup

~Leslie~'s Note:

This recipe is from Food and Drink magazine, and it's really delicious! Comments from the magazine: Elegant French onion soup becomes hip with this gooey grilled-cheese "sannich" Australian slang for sandwich;slid into the bowl. For onions, choose sweet varieties such as large Spanish or red, as they caramelize well. And if Swiss cheeses are not favourites, medium or old cheddar is a delicious stand-in. Be warned, most purchased broths are quite salty, so season only after the soup is finished.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 10

Yield: 10.0 bowls

Soup

• 1 1/2 lbs sweet onions, about 2 to 3 medium
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 cups beef broth
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 dashes black pepper
• salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Sannich

• 1 baguette
• 2 -3 tablespoons soft butter
• 1/2 lb emmenthaler cheese
• 1/2 lb gruyere
• additional parsley

Directions:

1. Slice onions very thinly preferably using a mandoline or food processor. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onions all at once; adjust heat upwards towards medium-high as needed to cook onions.
2. Stirring occasionally, sweat onions for 25 minutes or until onions are pale golden, greatly reduced in volume and a deep brown slick is forming on pan bottom. (Watch carefully towards end of cooking time to prevent burning.).
3. Stir in broths, wine, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprig. Stir in vinegar and black pepper; taste and add pinches of salt if needed. Stir in parsley.
4. Slice bread on a slight diagonal into ½-inch-thick slices, 2 slices for every portion intended to be served. Lightly butter 1 side of each slice. Slice cheeses. Make a sandwich, buttered-sides out, with a slice of each kind of cheese inside (trim cheese to fit as needed). Take remaining cheese slices and scraps and cut crosswise into long thin pieces.
5. Heat soup until very hot, but not boiling. Using a large frying pan or griddle, slowly grill sandwiches over medium-low heat for 10 minutes per side or until bread is golden on both sides and interior cheese is melted. Heap remaining cheese pieces on top of sandwiches while still in pan; broil 1 to 2 minutes or until melted.
6. Ladle soup into bowls. Slide a sandwich into each portion and serve immediately sprinkled with additional chopped parsley.

Reviews

[Diana #2]

Beautiful flavour, excellent presentation. What a novel idea....grilled cheese IN the soup. I especially loved the addition of thyme. Leslie, this is just too good to only get 5 stars. ;) The only change I made was in the cheese. I used mozzarella. Honoured to make this as a "Thank You" for voting for Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia in the 2010 Kraft Hockeyville Competition.

[Galley Wench]

Cut the recipe in half and made it an open faced 'sannich'. . . had problems getting the bread thin enough! The biggest problem I had with the recipe is that within in minutes the onions began to stick and burn. I think it needs more butter and to saute. not sweat, the onions. If necessary add a tiny bit of sugar to get them to brown. Thanks Leslies. Made for ZWT5