A wonderful thing happened the other day.  As I do most days, I was dreaming about a future where my blog becomes uber famous and I can do it for a living.  Have a cookbook and just be plain awesome.  But for now all I can do is come up with killer recipes for you fine folks that do read, and take notes from a lady who is living my dream.  I have talked about Joy the Baker before, but she is a food blogger that loves butter and sugar as much as I do.  She also likes Arrested Development which makes her just about 1000x cooler.  Any-who, I have been wanting to make her French Onion Soup Sandwiches for a while now, but never had good bread in the house.  Cut to Wednesday at work when it dawns on me, I HAVE PUFF PASTRY.  And yes I got that excited.  The thought of combining the two was too much for me to handle, especially considering I had all of the ingredients.  The key to making this is patience. Trust me it will be worth it.

Butter, olive oil, onions, thyme, salt, pepper and sugar.

Then let those cook…… for a long time… until they look like this-

Once the onions are cooked,  scoop then in the middle of your prepared puff pastry.

Then sprinkle that with gruyere cheese and start folding over the puff pastry.

And brush with egg wash.

Then bake!

 And sprinkle with gruyere!

Print
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French Onion Soup Braid


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced
  • 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 scant teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
  • pinch of granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons beef broth, beer, or white wine
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded Gruyere cheese
  • 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Place a medium, heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil and stir until butter is melted. Add the onions all at once. Stir to coat the onions in the butter/oil mixture. Allow onions to cook, undisturbed, for about 4 minutes. Add salt, thyme, and pepper and stir. Place lid on the pan and allow to onions to cook for about 4 minutes at a time. Lower the heat if the onions are browning too quickly. Remove the lid to stir the onions every so often. The onions will begin to brown, break down, and resemble an onion jam.
  3. When onions are entirely browned and completely soft (this may take as long as an hour) add your liquid (beef broth, beer, wine, or water) to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape any burned bits off the bottom of the pan as the liquid evaporates. This takes about 30 seconds.
  4. Lay your puff pastry street down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat. Use a rolling pin and flatten sheet slightly to make it longer. Cut slits one inch apart at an angle (see above) from each other on both sides of the puff pastry. Scoop onion mixture into the middle of the puff pastry. Starting at one end, fold the pastry strips over the filling, alternating sides, to cover the filling. Repeat with the rest of the sheet. Once braid is complete, in a small bowl mix your egg and water. This will create an “egg wash”. Brush egg wash on braid with pastry brush.
  5. Place in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes (depending on oven). Check braid often and take out when golden brown. Let cool slightly and enjoy!