Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Exclusive products / Toothbrushes / Applebee's Baked French Onion Soup

If I use that Shoppers coupon before August 31, I can get the exclusive products: Coast body wash / Method soap (that's what I saw at the townhouse, anyhow) / Life goat's milk soap. Sounds interesting... 1000 points isn't a bad thing, either. Maybe I'll do that next week or the week after! Yeah, I'm getting to be a consumer whore lately... especially since I wish I had enchiladas or quesadillas now, too! The toothbrush that Uncle Andrew gave me last week IS thin enough to reach my back teeth, but the bristle area is too small for my liking. Oh well, I guess I'll get used to it... or become thoroughly annoyed!

Applebee's Baked French Onion Soup

Don't even try to find this one on the menu at Applebee's because it isn't there, though it's the most popular soup served each day at this huge restaurant chain. This is the first of several big-time soup clones we'll unveil here in the next few weeks to help get you through the cold winter months. And they're all a cinch to make. Just be sure you have some oven-safe soup bowls for this one, since we'll have to broil it a bit before serving. Under the gooey melted Provolone of the original version you get from Applebee's is a unique round crouton that's made from bread similar to a hamburger bun. So that's exactly what we'll use in our clone.

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 medium white onions, sliced
8 cups beef broth (Swanson's is best)
1 cup water
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 plain hamburger buns
10 slices Provolone cheese
10 teaspoons shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Add 3 tablespoons oil to a large soup pot or saucepan over medium / high heat. Add the sliced onions and sauté for 20 minutes until the onions begin to soften and start to become translucent. You don't want them to brown.

2. Add the beef broth, water, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper to the pan and bring mixture to a boil. When soup begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

3. To make the croutons, cut off the top half of each top of the hamburger bun so that the bread is the same thickness as the bottom half of each bun. Throw the tops away. Now you should have 10 round pieces of bread -- 5 bottom buns, and 5 top buns with the tops cut off. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place the bread in the oven directly on the rack and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until each piece is golden brown and crispy. Set these croutons aside until you need them.

4. When the soup is done, spoon about 1 cup into an oven-safe bowl. Float a crouton on top of the soup, then place a slice of Provolone cheese on top of the crouton. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of shredded Parmesan cheese over the Provolone.

5. Place the bowl into your oven set to high broil. Broil the soup for 5 to 6 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown (you may need to broil longer if you are making more than one bowl at a time). Sprinkle an additional 1/2 teaspoon of shredded Parmesan cheese over the top of the soup and serve. Repeat process to prepare remaining servings. Makes 10 servings.

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