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French Mermaid Onion Soup

Your typical French Onion Soup with a twist, added shrimp and scallops and made in an IPA beer broth.

Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Fish and Seafood, French
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 8 Tbsp butter plus some for spreading on toast
  • 4 lbs Mix of Spanish white and red onions sliced 1/8 inch thick
  • 5 shallots sliced 1/8 inch thick
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • ¾ cup Dry Sherry
  • 1 artisan French bread stick cut in 16 slices
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • 1 lb of gruyere cheese grated
  • 1 lb of mozzarella cheese grated
  • Freshly minced chives for garnish
  • 1 lb 21/25 raw shrimp
  • 1 lb 20/40 raw scallops

Broth

  • 4 IPA Black beers
  • 1 cup seafood broth
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 sprigs of Fresh Thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

Instructions

Cook the onions

  1. - In a large stainless sauté pan melt butter over med-high heat, add shallots and onions and cook for about 20 minutes.
  2. - Keep cooking and deglaze with dry sherry until onions are golden brown for about 1 ½ hours in total. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Make the broth

  1. - While the onions are cooking, in a separate pot, add the beer and seafood broth, thyme and bay leaf and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. - Add the sugar and the lemon juice and rectify bitterness. If the broth still too bitter, add more lemon and sugar but not too much as the onions are sweet too.
  3. - When the onions are ready, discard the thyme stems, the bay leaf and add to the broth, mix and set aside.
  4. - Pre-cook the scallop and shrimp in a skillet with butter and olive oil only until pink on the outside but not completely cooked. Approximately 80% cooked. Set aside.
  5. - Toast the artisan bread slices
  6. - Lightly add butter
  7. - Rub the toast with the garlic clove

Assemble

  1. - Pre-heat the oven on broil in High and place the oven rack at the top position
  2. - Assemble the soup by ladling a small amount of broth to cover the bottom of the dish, place two toasts, place four shrimp and four scallops, cover them with broth and then the cheese mixture. Add two more toasts, cover with broth and top with cheese.
  3. - Place the bowls in cooking sheet. Broil until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Garnish with chives and serve.