Author Notes
This is a twist of the classic french onion soup, it can be made with vegetable broth for a vegetarian option. The use of organic kale is important since the cooking liquid is used to make the broth. Hope you enjoy this recipe! —cassandre
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Ingredients
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1 big bunches
green kale (6-8 stems)
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8 cups
water
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3
big yellow onions
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2-3 tablespoons
butter
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1 teaspoon
of kosher salt for cooking the kale + a little more for the onions
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2
bay leaves
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3 tablespoons
cognac
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1 cup
white wine ( i used cono sur viognier)
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1 tablespoon
maple syrup
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1/4 teaspoon
cayenne pepper or more to taste
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1/2 teaspoon
ground dried thyme or more to taste
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6 tablespoons
liquid chicken broth concentrate (like Bovril)
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11/2 to 2 cups
fresh grated cheese, i used half gruyere half parmesan, but a old cheddar might be good too!
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4
cloves of garlic
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4-6
slice of rustic bread, sliced one inch thick
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1 dash
freshly grated nutmeg and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
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Wash kale and make sure its really clean, since we will use the cooking liquid for the soup broth and we don't want to find a little bug or fly in there ;) . Remove stems and cook uncovered in 8 cups of salted water for about 12 min or until tender
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Cut onions in half and thinly sliced them, in a large pot (i used my large creuset) melt butter, add onions and bay leaves, sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Cook for about 15 min on low heat until translucent and very soft
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Deglazed with cognac cook for a min and then add white wine and cook on high heat for 5 minutes
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take the Kale out of the cooking liquid and add liquid to onions mixture. Set kale aside, it will be added to the soup later
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add maple syrup, thyme and cayenne pepper to the soup and cook uncovered for 25 minutes, then add the chopped cooked kale to the soup
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in the meantime toast the bread and rub each slice with garlic clove, set aside until soup is ready to assemble
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in oven proof bowls add one tablespoon of cheese to each bowl, add soup, top with a garlicky crouton and cover with cheese, broil in the oven until gold and bubbly. Add fresh black pepper and a dash of fresh nutmeg before serving, Enjoy!
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