French Onion Soup Bites

For the soup:

In a 12″ skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the onions and shallots. Cook stirring frequently, until they are a deep caramel colour, 25-35 minutes. Raise the heat to medium, add the wine and cook until it has completely evaporated, 5-9 minutes. Add the beef and chicken broths and cook until reduced by about half 5-7 minutes. Add the thyme and vinegar, season to taste with salt and pepper and cook another 1 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Line a 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ loaf pan with foil and pour the soup mixture into the pan. Freeze until solid, at least 4 hours preferably overnight.

For the croutons:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, toss the bread with the olive oil, garlic, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Spread the croutons on a baking sheet and bake stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the croutons cool and then skewer 40 of the best looking croutons with long toothpicks.

For the dumplings:

Working with about 10 wonton wrappers at a time, arrange them on a flat surface and brush the edges with egg. Unmold the soup mixture from the loaf pan. Using a chef’s knife carefully cut the frozen soup into 4 long even strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 10 pieces, to make 40 in total. Put one square in the center of each wrapper and fold up the edges, pressing to create a purse like dumpling. Repeat to make 40 dumplings. Put the dumplings on a tray and freeze again for at least 4 hours or overnight before they are ready to fry. You can transfer them into a Ziploc bag once frozen.

Heat the vegetable oil in a 4 quart saucepan over medium high heat until the temp reaches 365 F. Line a tray or plate with a paper towel. Add as many dumplings into the hot oil without crowding and fry until golden brown, 2-4 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer the dumplings to the paper towel. Continue to fry the rest of the dumplings.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 450 F. Position the dumplings among 8-10 small, shallow ovenproof gratin dishes and top with Gruyere. Bake until the cheese is melted, 5-6 minutes. Stick a crouton skewer into each dumpling. Season with salt and pepper if you like.

Recipe from Fine Cooking The Best of Party Food Magazine