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Essential French Onion Soup

Source of Recipe

From "Smitten Kitchen Keepers" by Deb Perelman


Recipe Introduction

"French onion soup is not just a forever favorite of mine; it's what I consider a core recipe in my arsenal because it aligns with so much that I think is important in cooking: It's totally budget-friendly (and downright cheap) to make. It's made from buy-anywhere ingredients and very few of them�99 percent of the flavor comes just from onions, cooked very slowly, transformed by a technique you need no advanced cooking skills to master. And it has a depth of flavor that is unparalleled by almost anything else I know how to make. Up until a few years ago, I only made it one way: Julia Child's. But, through repetition and real life, I've tweaked it a bit to make my favorite soup even more perfect for me: more onions for heartiness, and nixing the small amount of flour, which didn't seem necessary for the soup body, especially with the higher proportion of onions. And I try to keep it as doable as possible, because I remember how daunting even so-called simple recipes were when I started cooking. Don't have ovenproof bowls? Make a casserole of it, like a giant pot pie. You can also broil individual cheese toasts and float them on the soup. Want it vegetarian? Use a good dark vegetable stock, or a mushroom broth. Cannot possibly imagine spending an hour or longer frequently attending to caramelizing onions? Sigh, I'm sorry, but that's the whole soup, where all of the magical flavor comes from. I find I can trim off a little of the hands-on stirring time by using a lid at first, but I do know, as you're attending to the later stages more carefully, as your kitchen smells like heaven on earth, that the remainder of the recipe is virtually hands-off, and ends with charred-edge melted cheese toasts, as noble a cause as any."

List of Ingredients

◦ 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
◦ 3 pounds yellow onions, halved, thinly sliced
◦ Kosher salt
◦ � cup dry sherry, vermouth, or white wine (optional)
◦ 2 quarts (8 cups) beef, chicken, or vegetable stock, the more robust the better
◦ 1 bay leaf, and a few sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
◦ Freshly ground black pepper
◦ One �- to 1-inch-thick slice of bread for each bowl of soup
◦ 1 clove garlic
◦ � cup grated Gruy�re, Comt�, or a mix of Gruy�re and Parmesan, per toast
◦ Minced fresh chives and/or flat-leaf parsley, to finish (optional)


Recipe

Melt the butter in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in butter, and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let them slowly steep for 15 minutes. They don't need your attention.

Uncover the pot, raise the heat slightly, and stir in the salt�I start with between 2 and 3 teaspoons of kosher salt. Cook the onions, stirring every 5 minutes (you might be fine checking in less often in the beginning, until the water in the onions has cooked off and they feel like they're sticking more to the pot), for about 40 to 90 minutes longer. (What? I know this range is crazy. Stoves vary so much, even my own. If your onions are browning before 40 minutes are up, reduce the heat to low, and if it's still cooking too fast, try a smaller burner. The longer you cook the onions, the deeper the color, the more complex the flavor, but when you're happy with it, you can stop�the ghost of Julia Child will not haunt you or anything.)

Onions are caramelized when they're an even, deep golden brown, sweet and tender. Add the sherry or vermouth, if using, and scrape up any onions stuck to the pan. Cook until the liquid disappears. Add the stock, herbs (if using), and a lot of freshly ground black pepper, and bring the soup to a simmer. Partially cover the pot, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed; discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs, if you used them.

While the soup is finishing, heat your broiler (if you don't have a broiler, heat your oven as hot as it goes). If your bread is fresh and soft, toast it lightly, until firm. Gently rub each slice of bread with the raw garlic clove. Line a baking sheet with foil, and arrange the soup bowls/vessels on top.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Place a piece of toast (trimming the edges if needed) on each bowl. Sprinkle it with cheese. Run the bowls under the broiler until the cheese is melted and brown at the edges. Garnish with chives or parsley, if you wish.

Serves 6 to 8






❧ Note:
Because this is a rich soup, I use 12-ounce (or 1 �-cup) ramekins/baking dishes. However, I know some people prefer it in 16-ounce or 2-cup bowls, in which case, you might end up with only six servings.