french onion soup *for canning

    While I make a wonderful french onion soup from scratch (it is in the recipes listed on my site) and never pass up the chance to make some - I liked the idea of making a few quarts or pints for pressure canning - quick to grab, use in recipes and enjoy! 

French Onion Soup
 *for Pressure Canning
makes approx. 4 quarts or 8 pints

Ingredients: 
6 pounds organic onions, sliced
1 Tbs butter
pinch of sugar
12 cups beef broth (your own, homemade broth... or store bought will do)
3/4 cup red wine
1 bay leaf (remove before jarring broth) 
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
3/4 tsp. garlic powder (or 1/2 tsp minced garlic) 
salt (canning or sea salt) and pepper to taste 

Directions:

• Slice onions and place into a large stockpot with 1 Tbs butter and a pinch of sugar, you can caramelize the onions in batches and place all back into pot to keep hot. However, since canning really cooks them down - I basically "sweated" the onions in the stock pot until translucent and cooked down a bit. 
• While the onions are cooking down, prepare jars, lids, rings and canner. It's also a good time to start your broth.  If you have homemade - its a great use but, store bought is fine too.  I brought my broth to a quick boil - adding in all my spices and bay leaf and lowered to a simmer for a good 20-30 minutes or until onions are ready for jarring. 
• When onions and broth are ready, use tongs (and funnel over hot, clean jars) to add 2 cups of onions to each Quart jar (or 1 cup of onions to each Pint jar.) 
• Top all your jars with the prepared broth to 1 inch head-space.
• Fill all your jars with onions first, then split the broth between all the jars - that way, if you run short on broth - just heat up some more plain beef broth and top off the jars.
• ​Make sure to use your de-bubbler tool to get any trapped air out, and add more broth if needed to bring back up to 1 inch head-space. 
• Using a damp cloth moistened with white vinegar, wipe the jar rims and add hot lids and rings, tightening on to fingertip tightness and place into canner. 

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Process Quarts of soup in Pressure Canner for 75 minutes. Process Pints for 60 minutes.
NCHFP "Soups" Guidelines Here
Make sure to check your altitude before canning!! 


To serve:  
Slice a baguette on a diagonal into 1/2″ pieces.  Butter bread and toast lightly in a hot oven, add 2-3 Tbs. grated Gruyere or Emmentaler cheese and broil until bubbly and brown.  
Heat the soup to a low boil for at least 10 minutes.
Serve each bowl of soup with a couple of cheese toasts.
*Adding a dash of cognac before serving is optional but, traditional.

Kitchen Tip:  Use a Pint of this soup when making savory beef dishes like Pot Roast, Steak Tips & Gravy - it adds a depth of flavor to your final dish.  

Recipe and Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home

PINTEREST PIN:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/530510031080591533/