Soups

Famous Barr's French Onion Soup

Aug 18, 1999

One of St. Louis's favorite soup recipes was recently printed in the Post-Dispatch. I remember going to St. Louis when I was young and my family going into the department store's restaurant for this famous soup. Enjoy! Famous-Barr's French Onion Soup
SERVES 16 , 4 quarts (change servings and units)

Ingredients
5 lbs onions, unpeeled
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons paprika
1 bay leaf
7 (16 ounce) cans beef broth, divided (recommended Swanson's)
1 cup dry white wine (optional)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour or instant flour (such as Wondra)
caramel coloring (optional) or Kitchen Bouquet (optional)
2 teaspoons salt
French baguette (optional)
swiss cheese (optional) or gruyere cheese (optional)

Directions
1Peel onions and slice 1/8 inch thick, preferably in a food processor.
2Melt butter in a 6-quart (or larger) stockpot. Add onions; cook, uncovered, over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3(The long cooking time makes the onions mellow and sweet.) Stir in pepper, paprika and bay leaf; saute over low heat 10 minutes more, stirring frequently.
4Pour in 6 cans broth and wine. Increase heat and bring to a boil.
5Dissolve flour in remaining 1 can broth.
6Stir into boiling soup.
7Reduce heat and simmer slowly for 2 hours.
8Adjust color to a rich brown with caramel coloring, season with salt. Refrigerate overnight. To serve, heat soup in microwave or on stove top.
9If desired, pour into ovenproof crocks or bowls.
10Top with a slice of bread and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Heat under the broiler until cheese melts and bubbles, about 5 minutes.
11Leftover soup can be frozen.

On Jan 6, 2010

This was excellent soup. Totally forgot to take a pic of it though. But I will next time I have it. I used sweet vidalia onions. I also had put in about 2 Tbs. of Worchestire sauce instead of Kitchen Bouquet and did not put any salt in it. I did use the wine but I think I would like to try sherry the next time. I find it adds a little different taste. The house smells so good when this is simmering. I chose to go with gruyere cheese. Personally I find this is the perfect cheese for this soup. Delicious flavor of sweet onions and a fantastic broth. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe Bill it was much appreciated.

On Jan 3, 2010

Awesome soup!!! I think it rivals Panera Bread's French Onion Soup. This will be the ONLY French Onion Soup recipe that I use for now on. Thank you very much for posting.

On Dec 4, 2000

The French Onion soup recipe is one of the most popular dish served at the Famous Barr (also part of the May Dept store group) restaurants found in St.Louis. Based on my travels to the various countries including Europe, Asia and US, this version of French Onion soup is one of the best I've had. My husband who is from London just loves this recipe. It is robust and hearty in beef and onion flavour and quite thick so you can enjoy this as a meal in itself (you might say it's great comfort food). Be sure to use the broiler until the cheese bubbles and turns golden brown over the French bread. Tip: Try to use the fresh French bread which is a bit chewy in texture. Bon Appetit.

On Oct 5, 2002

I finally got around to making this and kick myself for not doing so sooner. This is just a fabulous French Onion soup. The only "drawback" is processing the onions. Believe it or not, I put on swim goggles processing them!!! Maybe I just had extra potent onions??? But once that was done the rest was just a matter of time and the results were outstanding. I have several frozen lumps of French Onion soup to enjoy for some time to come (like tonight). Thank you for posting this one Bill. I usually don't say I'll do this one again but. . . . I'll do this one again.