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French Onion Soup Dumplings (with Counterfeit French Onion Soup Onions)

FrenchAppetizerMedium
Prep
30 min
Cook
70 min
Total
min
Serves
15–20
✦

Ingredients

dumplings

  • Counterfeit French Onion Soup Onions (recipe below), or 1 to 1½ cups reserved onions from French Onion Soup
  • 15 to 20wonton wrappers
  • 1 cupGruyère, grated
  • 0.333 cupParmesan, grated
  • chives, or twigs of thyme, for garnish
  • a pat of butter

counterfeit french onion soup onions

  • 1 tablespoonbutter
  • 1 tablespoonolive oil
  • 2red onions, thinly sliced
  • 1sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 0.5 tablespoonsugar
  • salt and pepper
  • 0.25 cupcognac
  • 0.5 cupdry white wine
  • 1 cupbeef stock
  • 1bay leaf

Method

  1. 1Preheat the broiler.
  2. 2To make the dumplings, spray 2 individual gratin dishes with nonstick cooking spray, and set them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Take a wonton wrapper in your hand, and dip your finger into the strained broth (reserved from the Counterfeit French Onion Soup Onions, step 8), moistening the entire wrapper. This procedure will not only allow the dumpling to adhere and keep its shape, but will also steam the wrapper itself while the dumplings are in the oven. It's a messy job, but if you want French Onion Soup Dumplings, you've got to do it.
  3. 3Take about a teaspoon of drained onions, and place it into the center of the wonton wrapper. Fold one corner of the wonton wrapper up to meet the opposite corner, and press the sides of the triangle together. Take the other two sides, and bring them up to the central point, and twist, forming a little beggar's purse, or dumpling. Place the dumpling seam side down in the baking dish. Keep making dumplings until you have packed both gratin dishes.
  4. 4Top each gratin dish with half the Gruyère and half the Parmesan. Dot little dabs of butter all over the top of the cheese. This will allow the cheese to brown and toast like on real French Onion Soup.
  5. 5Sit the dumplings under the broiler, until they look like French Onion Soup after about 5 minutes. The cheese should be bubbling and golden.
  6. 6Stick a decorative toothpick into each dumpling, and scatter chives or thyme stems over the top. Serve right from the oven.
  7. 7COUNTERFEIT FRENCH ONION SOUP ONIONS — Heat the butter and oil in a sauté pan on medium-low heat. Add the onions, sugar, salt and pepper, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may have to turn the heat up or down to keep them from caramelizing too quickly. You want them very soft, but not burnt.
  8. 8After 30 minutes, add the cognac, and let it reduce for 1 minute. Add the wine and beef stock and bay leaf and thyme. Season again with salt and pepper. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes. Afterwards, set the onions into a strainer over a bowl to cool almost completely. You will want to have both the onions, and the broth that drains from them — the broth is used to moisten the wonton wrappers in step 2.

Notes

Page 5 of 5 was missing from the source printout; the final sentences of the Counterfeit Onions method (use of reserved broth) have been reasonably inferred from step 2 which references 'the strained broth (see above)' for moistening the wonton wrappers. The author also notes that ingredient substitutions for Gruyère include Comté, Emmenthaler, or plain Swiss; that a mix of red and yellow onions is preferred; and that cognac can be substituted with similar brown liquor. The author suggests serving these instead of — or alongside — classic French Onion Soup at cocktail parties.