Urgent Thanksgiving cooking question

13 years ago

I haven't posted for awhile but I'm asking for your help now. I finished my big kitchen remodel earlier this year. Now, it's getting it's first big workout...I got selected to host the family for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, my family does a soup and salad course a couple of hours before the main meal (instead of the chip & dip, snack type items). I'm planning on making French Onion soup (never made it before so hope it works). Anyway, I'm having a hard time figuring out which bowls to use for the soup because they need to go in the broiler to melt/brown the cheese on top of the bread. I have Pfaltzgraff but I looked online and it says NO to the broiler. So, I've been looking in stores and am not finding anything. Does anyone know where I can find some bowls suitable for French Onion soup that can be broiled for a short period of time?

I'm out of time for internet ordering so looking for standard stores like Target, Bed Bath & Beyond etc. There is not a Crate & Barrel or those higher end type stores near me

Suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

P.S. If you know a great French Onion Soup recipe, please let me know. I tried one from Cooks Illustrated that involved carmelizing onions in the oven...got burnt onions so I'm trying again tonight or tomorrow night. Thanks!

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Comments (18)

rococogurl
13 years ago
These will work under the broiler and are what most use for onion soup.

Here is a link that might be useful: Onion Soup Crocks
melaska
13 years ago
Hi there.

I've made the Cook's Illustrated French-Onion Soup - it's the best I've ever had. The several caramelizing steps you do after you take it out of the oven is the secret.

Maybe your oven is too hot? Get an oven thermometer. Also, it really helps to use a heavy-bottomed pan for the oven.

I linked an example of broiler-safe bowls below. What a great way to start your Thanksgiving dinner. I'm flying to Anchorage to spend it with my daughter. She's begging me to make the soup LOL

Good luck in whatever you do - let us know how it turns out :) And "Happy Thanksgiving"!

Here is a link that might be useful: Broiler-safe bowls
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Well, it depends on your definition of wonderful. I've done similar meals, and I find it incumbent on me to have some decent protein for vegans/vegetarians. Gourmet nut cheeses are delicious, but not very nutritious, for instance. This is a recipe for Vegan Gluten Free Bean and Lentil Loaf which I developed and posted some years ago. It's a big bother to make the first time, but it tastes good and lends itself to gussying up. It would freeze fine (I can't remember if I've done it, but it should work). But it's probably too close to Thanksgiving to want to go there. In terms of protein content, I prefer saitan. It's gluten, however, rather than GF, but really is a protein, whereas beans and legumes are plants with protein in them (at the most 15%). :) Saitan should be made with soy (usually it's done with soy sauce) to have complete protein, or you could use Bragg's Aminos. You can grill (stove top or oven) saitan to get some caramelized seared edges and layer it up in a strata with long thin slices of pumpkin or kabocha, zucchini, carrots, parsnips, etc., fresh herbs, and make a binder from egg replacer, or chia, or a bechamel made with hemp milk, or whatever. I don't have a recipe, however, since I usually just cook. Speaking of "balls", you can make quinoa and cranberry balls, or quinoa and sweet potato balls. Quinoa gets really boring fast, but if you make it Thanksgiving flavored it could be a hit. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Vegans are used to being odd man out and eating the sides. As you've figured out with your spinach balls, most sides can be made vegan just by not using animal products. :) The hardest to replace is eggs, but it can be done. Apparently, the goo from canned garbanzo beans is an excellent replacement for eggwhites. I haven't had a chance to try it, but you're supposed to be able to whip it, and it's supposed to make decent glue for casseroles and such. Oh. Yummy vegetarian. In this context, I take that to be lacto-ovo. I make a really yummy pumpkin lasagna, but it has tons of cheese and eggs. And it also takes a long time to make, so I'm not going to bother posting it unless you really want it. It does freeze well. I've never tried to make a vegan version.
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home4all6
13 years ago
I've not made french onion soup, but it does sound divine...
But I do have some wonderful oven-able crocks/bowls that we got for a steal at (Cost Plus) World Market. I love them!

Here is a link that might be useful: soup crocks
bmorepanic
13 years ago
BBB
Rachel Ray ramekins 7oz 4 for $13
BIA porcelain bakers 16oz $5
BIA chili bowl 16oz $3
BIA is roughly what our local restaurants use.

Every challenge can be solved. I've always wanted one of the below AND you can use it for soup.

Here is a link that might be useful: Random one from Amazon
friedajune
13 years ago
I see your post said there's not enough time for online ordering before the holiday. I know Walmart has the "Better Homes & Gardens Cast Iron Onion Soup Bowls". I'll link to the red ones, but they also come in blue, kiwi green and yellow (an assortment would be pretty!). Walmart has a handy feature on its website where you type in your zip code, and can see which Walmart stores near you have the item in stock on the shelf right now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Walmart's Cast Iron Onion Soup Bowls
John Liu
13 years ago
Go to hardware store, $15 for a small propane torch, will brown the cheese fine and you can keep the flame away from the edges of the bowls. Also useful for other cooking tasks, creme brulee being the standard example.

Later on, if the logs in the fireplace just won't catch and you're sick of doing the Boy Scout kindling thing, 30 sec with a propane torch takes care of it.
warmfridge
13 years ago
A place that sells pottery will have heavy bowls suitable for the broiler.
eks6426
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you everyone for the quick responses. I went out at lunch today and got the BIA porcelain bakers at BB&B for $5 each. They look like ramekins on steriods. The BIA stuff says it is broiler safe so I think these will work.

Thank you so much!
breezygirl
13 years ago
Glad you found what you needed. But do try the CI soup recipe again. It is WONDERFUL!!
kevinw1
13 years ago
I know you already got yours, but near us thrift stores always have multiple french onion soup bowls. They make great single-serving casseroles too.
sabjimata
13 years ago
You can go to a restaurant supply shop and get French onion soup bowls. Will be a good price, too.
User
13 years ago
I know the bowl problem for the OP has been taken care of, but I wonder what your opinions are of the following idea: Could you put the toasts on a baking sheet, top with cheese, broil it into melty gooey goodness, and THEN place the toasts on each soup bowl? Would the bread soak up enough of the broth, or would it remain too crunchy?

It might be easier for a crowd than moving many heavy bowls of sloshy soup in and out of the oven, and you wouldn't need your bowls to be broiler-safe. Does it sound like it's worth trying, when I have a kitchen again?
melaska
13 years ago
mnerg - I did that very thing but for a different reason. I live in a remote town in Alaska and the 'bakery' here only has pansy bread...meaning soft, pillowy - NOT the kind you'd need to stand up to French-onion soup! It worked out just fine. I prefer not to have my bread soaked, anyway.

But, I think if I were to ever make it again with some really good hard-crusted bread I can get in Anchorage, I will try the broiler method...just so I can say "I did it!" I may go back to the other way...we'll have to see.

I think part of the French-onion soup experience is the cutting into the gooey, stringy cheese along with the soup & stringing it up to your mouth :)
User
13 years ago
Ah, I suppose it would be hard to get the same quantity of cheese without the sides of the bowl to hold it in. It's nice to know that in a pinch it could work, though. Thanks.
boxerpups
13 years ago
You found your bowls, I am a little late but I could not
help myself. It looks so yummmy.
I love French Onion soup in a tasty bread bowl.
~boxer
eks6426
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, I love the bread bowl idea. I will definitely have to use that one in the future.

I took another stab at the Cooks Illustrated French soup recipe that carmelizes the onions in the oven..reduced the oven temp and time and it worked out great. Soup is very tasty. It is now chilling in the fridge and will be heated Thanksgiving morning.

Thanks for the help everyone and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)
13 years ago
I just might have to try French Onion Soup. My daughter loves it but I have never actually tried it. Boxerpups-your picture looks awesome-but isn't that soup in an onion? Wouldn't get much in there, so I'm guessing that one is more about presentation. Ok, now I'm really hungry :)
weedmeister
13 years ago
No, that is soup in a hollowed-out ball of bread.

Urgent Thanksgiving cooking question

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