Danish Onion - Champagne Soup
Lavish Danish onion soup simmered with an entire bottle of dry champagne, Camembert cheese, and a silky port wine egg yolk liaison. Served over butter-fried bread. This is not your average onion soup.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minTake everything you know about French onion soup and turn it up several notches. This Danish version swaps beef broth for an entire quart of dry champagne and melts Camembert (or Brie) right into the broth.
Ten sliced onions go golden in butter, then simmer with water, bay leaves, and a whisper of cayenne and nutmeg. The champagne goes in next, and the kitchen starts smelling like a celebration.
The finishing touch is pure luxury: egg yolks beaten with port wine, stirred into the hot soup off the heat. It creates a velvety, rich body that coats the back of a spoon. Each bowl gets a slice of butter-fried bread to soak it all up.
Chef Tips
- Use dry champagne or a dry sparkling wine. Sweet varieties will throw the balance off.
- Do not let the soup boil after adding the egg yolk and port mixture, or the eggs will scramble into sad little curds.
- Camembert with the rind on is fine. It melts right into the soup and adds body.
- A leftover bottle of champagne that’s lost its fizz works perfectly here. The bubbles cook off anyway.
Ingredients
Directions
Sauté the onions in butter until they begin to turn golden.
Add the cups of boiling water, salt, pepper, and a dash or cayenne and nutmeg.
Add also the bay leaves.
Stir well and bring the water to another boil.
Reduce the heat to low-med. and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
Add the entire bottle of champagne and bring the soup to yet another boil.
Then add the cheese and take care to mix it well in the boiling soup.
Beat the egg yolks together with the port wine and add the egg-wine mixture to the soup.
Stir well.
Turn off the heat and let the soup rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
(The soup must not boil again after the egg-wine mixture has been added.)
Place 1 slice of fried bread in the centre of each bowl and ladle the soup on top.
Serve hot.
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