French Onion Soup
Warm and homey. Cheesy and comforting. This soup recipe was constructed after I had gotten one too many onions in my winter farm share. As an onion hater (married to an onion lover), I had no idea what to do with all of the roots sitting on my counter and at the behest of my darling husband, this was created. This recipe has opened a lot of onion doors for me but I still absolutely won’t eat them raw.
cheese makes the world go round, cubed croutons make life better
What you’ll need:
6-8 onions (I like to use sweet, yellow, purple or a mix like below)
6 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
10-14 tablespoons butter (this is not a diet recipe)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup sherry cooking wine
8 cups beef stock
3 tablespoons Flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
~ 1 tablespoon thyme
Cheese (gruyere, swiss, asiago all work)
Bread for croutons, I have used baguettes or sourdough with great success
This recipe makes about 6 crocks of soup.
The process:
Remove skins and slice all onions, its ok if you cry a little, this part can be emotional.
Next, melt a stick of butter (8 tablespoons) in a heavy bottom pot on medium heat. I adore my enameled cast iron for soup making.
After butter is melted, add onions to pot and throw a couple more tablespoons of butter on top for good measure. Saute onions on medium/medium low heat for 10-15 minutes stirring every 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook onions down for an additional 25-35 minutes until onions look like this…
The onions will cook down a lot, do not fret
Add olive oil and a couple more tablespoons of butter, increase heat to medium high, saute another ~5 minutes.
Add flour and stir vigorously to cover all onions, cook 3-5 more minutes, ensuring you scrap the delicious brown bits off of the bottom of the pan.
Make sure to scrape up any of these little bits
Once you have scrapped up any and all brown bits, add sherry to pan to deglaze, allow to cook off for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the beef stock, worchestershire sauce, bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat down to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, start on your croutons.
Preheat oven to 400f. Cut whatever sort of bread you are using into half inch-ish cubes. Add cubes to a sheet tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Bake at for 5- 7 minutes, enough time to crisp up the exterior of the bread but not dry it out completely.
I prefer this method to the traditional slices of bread because it is easier to eat and adds fantastic texture.
Shred your cheese and set up your crocks or oven safe dishes.
mmm cheese
I like to put my crocks on a sheet pan for ease of retrieval.
Add soup to crocks, top with croutons, then put cheese over croutons. Finally, add thyme to the top of the cheese.
Put oven on high broil and place these in the oven for 3-5 minutes, checking often and ensuring that you rotate the pan if your oven has a hot spot. Remove from oven when cheese is golden brown and gorgeous.
Let cool for 10 minutes, use a hot mitt to remove from sheet tray and place on a plate to help prevent you burning yourself.
Be careful! this stuff will still be hot!
Just let it cool down to eating temperature and enjoy!
plate for safety, spoon for consumption
None of the nonsense:
What you’ll need:
6-8 onions (I like to use sweet, yellow, purple or a mix like below)
6 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
10-14 tablespoons butter (this is not a diet recipe)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup sherry cooking wine
8 cups beef stock
3 tablespoons Flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
~ 1 tablespoon thyme
Cheese (gruyere, swiss, asiago all work)
Bread for croutons, I have used baguettes or sourdough with great success
The process:
Remove skins and slice all onions. Next, melt a stick of butter (8 tablespoons) in a heavy bottom pot on medium heat. After butter is melted, add onions to pot and throw a couple more tablespoons of butter on top for good measure. Sautee onions on medium/medium low heat for 10-15 minutes stirring every 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook onions down for an additional 25-35 minutes until onions are cooked down and soft.
Add olive oil and a couple more tablespoons of butter, increase heat to medium high, saute another ~5 minutes.
Add flour and stir vigorously to cover all onions, cook 3-5 more minutes, ensuring you scrap the delicious brown bits off of the bottom of the pan.
Once you have scrapped up any and all brown bits, add sherry to pan to deglaze, allow to cook off for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the beef stock, worchestershire sauce, bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat down to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, start on your croutons.
Preheat oven to 400f. Cut whatever sort of bread you are using into half inch-ish cubes. Add cubes to a sheet tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Bake at for 5- 7 minutes, enough time to crisp up the exterior of the bread but not dry it out completely.
Shred your cheese and set up your crocks or oven safe dishes.
Add soup to crocks, top with croutons, then put cheese over croutons. Finally, add thyme to the top of the cheese.
Put oven on high broil and place these in the oven for 3-5 minutes, checking often and ensuring that you rotate the pan if your oven has a hot spot. Remove from oven when cheese is golden brown.
Let cool for 10 minutes, use a hot mitt to remove from sheet tray and place on a plate to help prevent you burning yourself.
Be careful! this stuff will still be hot!
Just let it cool down to eating temperature and enjoy!
