Weekend Cooking... Irish Onion Soup

First of all, I have no idea why this is called Irish Onion Soup. It may be because of the original cheese the recipe, from Tasting Table, calls for...

First, Mooney displaces standard beef stock with an intensely flavorful broth made from dried shiitake mushrooms. For robustness, he cooks both sharp white and sweet red onions until deeply caramelized. The soup's powerful flavors are as bottomless as they are clear.

Mooney's mushroom stock alone would be plenty distinctive. But he one-ups himself by topping the soup with slices of house-baked sourdough, the familiar Gruyère and a phenomenally rare Knockanore oak-smoked cheddar. This Irish cheese, all stretch and wood perfume, is not being served anywhere else in New York, as far as we know.

We scored the recipe from Mooney  Since home cooks probably won't be able to secure Knockanore's smoked cheddar, Mooney suggests using an Italian delicatessen staple: smoked provolone.

I know that a few of Weekend Cooking are vegetarians, so when I came upon this recipe, I thought it might be something good to try. Of course, you would have to be someone who eats cheese, because what it Onion Soup with that melted layer of cheese on top?
Ok, to be totally honest, I made this as an excuse to eat a nice little lump of melted cheese. But I was interested to see how the mushroom stock would turn out too. Because as you see, if you read the recipe, the stock is made with just poring boiling water over dried shiitake  mushroom and letting them soak, then draining them through a coffee filter to catch any grit.I can't say that i found it quite as flavorful as the write up said...so see a couple of my additions after the recipe.

Irish Onion Soup
Recipe adapted from John Mooney, Bell Book & Candle

Makes 4 servings
• 2 quarts water
• 12 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil, divided
• 5 medium white onions, thinly sliced
• 3 medium red onions, thinly sliced
• 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated
• 6 ounces smoked provolone cheese, coarsely grated
• 8 slices toasted baguette

1. Make the mushroom stock: In a saucepan, bring the 1
quart of water to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the
mushrooms and place a plate or something heavy on top
of them to keep them submerged. Let steep for 30
minutes, then strain through cheesecloth or a coffee
filter and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in each of two large saucepans
until shimmering. Add the white onions to one pan and
the red onions to the other and cook, stirring often,
until well-browned but not burnt, about 30 minutes. (If
the onions start to stick to the pan, add a small amount
of mushroom stock to loosen them.)
3. Preheat the oven to 500°. Add the white onions to the
red onions. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Season
to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle the soup among 4 ovenproof crocks. Place 2 of the
baguette slices on top of each crock. Combine the two
cheeses in a bowl, then sprinkle the cheese mixture on
top of the bread in each crock. Place the crocks on a
baking sheet and bake in the oven until the cheese is
golden brown, about 4 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.

Ok, I was a little upset by the short list of ingredients, so before the onions were added to the stock I added about 1/2 cup of red wine and let that cook down. Then after they were added to the stock, I added a couple of bay leaves and about 1/2 teaspoon of thyme and let that all simmer together. I also think it need a fair bit of salt, since there is none in the stock and a nice bit of pepper.
And, of course, cheese. Lots and lots of cheese!

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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