Onion Jam Soup with Cheese Toast
Hours of onions reduced at home, rehydrated in one pot at camp with a raft of cheese on toasted bread.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated onion jam | 1 cup | 5-7 onions cooked down at home, then dried |
|---|---|---|
| Beef bouillon | 3 cubes or 3 tsp | powdered base, not liquid concentrate |
| Tomato paste | 1 tbsp | the squeeze tube keeps without a fridge |
| Worcestershire sauce | 2 tsp | dropper bottle |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| All purpose flour | 1 tbsp | |
| Sourdough | 4 thick slices | stale is fine, better even |
| Garlic clove | 1 | whole cloves keep for weeks |
| Gruyere or provolone | 3 oz | waxed rind travels best |
| Grated parmesan | 2 tbsp | |
| Bay leaf, dried thyme, salt, pepper | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oil in the pot. Stir in the flour and cook it a minute until it smells like toast, not raw paste.
- Add the dried onion jam, tomato paste, bouillon, worcestershire, bay leaf, and thyme. Pour in 600 ml of water.
- Simmer 10 to 12 minutes, stirring. The onions have to fully rehydrate or the broth stays thin and the onions stay chewy.
- Fish out the bay leaf. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Toast the bread dry in a pan or over the fire, then rub the cut garlic clove across the hot surface.
- Lay the toast on the soup, pile the sliced cheese and parmesan on top, and cover the pot for two minutes off the heat. The steam melts it.
French onion soup is an hour and a half of standing over a pan, which is not a thing anyone does at a campsite. So the long part happens at home: cook five to seven sliced onions down slowly in oil and butter until they are dark and jammy, deglaze with a splash of brandy, then spread the jam thin on trays and dry it. A cup of dried jam weighs almost nothing and rebuilds into the same soup with boiling water.
The flour and oil at the start are what give the broth body without cream. Everything else is shelf-stable by design: bouillon instead of stock, tube tomato paste, hard cheese with a rind. The toast goes on top of the pot rather than under a broiler, and a lid for two minutes does the same job.
Packing
Onion jam and parmesan go in one bag, the dry seasoning and bouillon in another. Cheese and bread ride on top of the pack so they do not get crushed.
Variations
- Chicken or vegetable bouillon works if beef is not on hand.
- Two tablespoons of bacon crumbles stirred in at the simmer replaces the bacon fat.
- No bread? Stir in a handful of croutons at the end and let them go soft.
https://www.maritimeglutton.com/roy-chois-french-onion-soup