French Onion Soup

December 12, 2012

tags: french onion soup, french onion soup recipe

Ok – I know there are no excuses for how long it’s been since I’ve posted. But just so you don’t think I’m a total slacker, I have still been cooking new recipes regularly and photographing them in the midst of planning my wedding, working, furnishing my new house and of course, maintaining an active social life. But I know there are plenty of bloggers out there who are just as busy as me (but let’s face it, some have no lives), so I have no excuse for my absence.

Moving on to the good stuff: In the past year or so, my good friend Tara’s obsession with French Onion Soup has rubbed off on me and now I find myself craving it more often than not. There is a place here in New Orleans that makes a great version with a couple locations which both conveniently happen to be near my office and my home making it easy for me to run out and get it at a moment’s notice. However, I decided since I love the stuff so much, I might as well try to make it myself. HUGE SUCCESS!

I adapted this recipe from a couple recipes from the Food Network and used ingredients that I prefer. For example, some recipes call for Parmesan cheese, but I chose Gruyere cheese because I like the nutty richness of the cheese and it pulls and breaks up great in the broth. I also used red wine to deglaze the pan where some recipes use cognac or sherry. The fun part is putting the soup in individual crocks or ramekins, covering it with cheese and putting it under the broiler.

In true Parisian style, I served it with a frisee and mixed green salad with thinkly sliced radishes and a lemon vinaigrette. Bon Appetit! * I promise my next post will come sooner that 3 months away this time! 😉

Recipe:

2 tablespoons butter
4 Large yellow onions (about 2 lbs ), thinly sliced with the grain to hold their shape
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon flour
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
12 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
1 Cup grated Gruyere Cheese
Baguette slices, cut on the bias (about 1 Inch thick)

In a heavy bottomed Dutch oven or large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with salt, cover, and cook until deeply caramelized, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionaly and scrape brown bits from bottom of pot. Turn the heat up to medium and sprinkle the onions with the flour. Stir and allow to cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Add the thyme, bay leaf and stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed. Ladle the soup into 4 ovenproof crocks.

Heat the broiler to high. Top each crock with 2-3 baguette slices and evenly distribute the cheese on top of each. Place the crocks under the broiler just until the cheese is bubbly and browning, about 1 minute but keep you eye on them. Serve hot.