Since Ed and Gina are off gallivanting on a vacation in SF (lazy, both of them) I thought I would take the time to update Meals Across America, the very neglected blog-child of ours. I hope they appreciate all the effort I put into our 1/2 of this baby.
I have been craving French onion soup for the last few weeks, but haven't had the time or energy to learn how to make it. With winter break, and relatively no homework, I pulled out the Cuisinart and Julia Child's recipe for French onion soup, and set to work. I was very diligent, and took lots of photos along the way. It took about two hours, maybe longer to make the soup. Aside from caramelizing the onions, the soup is really very simple and easy, and a child with a sharp knife could do it. I really recommend the soup, and not the child-knife thing.
I also really recommend using a Cuisinart to slice the onions rather than doing it all by hand, because you'll be crying like a baby. I only teared up a little bit when using the Cuisinart, and the slicing blade cut the onions perfectly thin, just like Julia would have wanted. I was free to have a beer while the onions practically sliced themselves. Then I did the mixing and more slicing, and a lot of stirring. We had the soup for dinner and lunch the next day, then we froze the rest to eat in a few weeks, when classes have started again, and we're a little too tired to chop 2 lbs of onions.
Ingredients:
5-6 cups yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
6 cups beef stock (preferably homemade of course, but I used some from Whole Foods)
1 cup wine (dry red or white, I used French red wine)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
salt and pepper
12 ounces swiss cheese, grated
4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 raw yellow onion
2-3 tablespoons cognac
8 slices French bread (about 1 inch thick)
4 tablespoons olive oil, for drizzling
Directions:
-Place heavy bottom stock pot or dutch over over medium-low heat.
-Add 1 Tbs cooking oil, 2Tbs butter to pot.
-Add sliced onions and stir until they are evenly coated with the oil.
-Cover and cook for about 20 minutes until they are very tender and translucent.
-To brown or caramelize the onions turn heat under pot to medium or medium high heat.
-Add 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently until the onions have browned and reduced significantly.
-Once caramelized, reduce heat to medium-low and add 3 Tbs flour to the onions.
-Brown the flour for about 2-3 minutes trying not to scorch it. (If the flour does not form a thick paste, you can add a bit more butter here).
-Stir in about 1 cup of warm stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to get up all of the cooked-on bits.
-Add the rest of the stock, wine, sage, and bay leaf to the soup.
-Simmer for 30 minutes.
-To make the "croutes" (toasted bread), heat oven to 325 degrees F.
-Drizzle each side of the bread slices with a bit of olive oil and place on baking sheet.
-Cook the croutes for 15 minutes in oven on each side (30 minutes total).
-Check the soup for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
-Remove the bay leaf (if you can find it).
-Transfer to a casserole dish.
-At this point you can add the 2-3 Tbs cognac and grate the 1/2 raw onion into the soup.
-Add a few ounces of the swiss cheese directly into the soup and stir.
-Place the toasted bread in a single layer on top of the soup.
-Sprinkle the rest of the cheese in a thick layer on top of the bread making sure to cover the edges of the toast to prevent burning.
-Drizzle with a little oil or melted butter.
-Place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
-Turn on broiler and brown cheese well.
-Let cool for a few minutes, otherwise your tongue will be ruined forever.
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