Unlike French toast, French fries and that orange stuff they call French dressing, French onion soup is actually French. Except of course, they just call it soupe à l’oignon, onion soup, they don’t need to be reminded of its national origin. The first time I ate this in France, it was at a New Year’s Eve dinner party. My friends pulled it out at the end of the night, after lots of eating, drinking and dancing and told me that it was a great late night (or early morning) food that helps prevent hangovers. With all the salt, liquid and carbs, they might be right.
When I made veal stock last week, this is the first thing I did with it. It’s really easy and lets the flavor of the stock really shine. There are just two things you need to be careful with for this soup. First, you need to caramelize the onions really well without burning them. Second, I like to use a little flour in my onion soup to thicken it just slightly and add to the silky mouth feel without adding extra fat. This is especially important if you use store bought stock, which generally doesn’t have the gelatinous quality of the homemade stuff. You have to be careful though as when adding any liquid to a roux, the mixture of flour and butter that this recipe calls for; make sure the stuff in your pot and the liquid you add into it are about the same temperature and you’ll be sure to avoid the dreaded lumps. One more thing, when we think of French onion soup, we automatically think of the ooey gooey cheesy greasy stuff you get in restaurants here. The French soupe à l’oignon gratinée is a little more restrained. Rounds of bread are topped with cheese, the cheese is melted and topped with the soup.
For me, French home cooking is comfort food at its best. Rich complex flavors coaxed out of simple, high quality ingredients. Sitting down to eat this on a cold winter day with people you care about is memory making.
French onion soup
- 5 lbs onions (about 6-7 large onions), peeled, quartered and sliced
- 2 T butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 T all-purpose flour
- 2 quarts veal stock (or beef stock)
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 cup white wine (optional)
- 1/2 baguette, sliced (about 12 slices)
- 3/4 lb grated comté (or gruyère)
Melt butter over medium high and add onions. Stir occasionally and lower heat as necessary until onions are browned but not burned (the water and sugar content of the onions make a big difference in cooking times here, it could take a half an hour or more depending on the water and sugar content of your onions). Meanwhile, heat the stock until it is barely at a simmer. Add garlic and cook for about two minutes. Sprinkle flour over onions mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and slowly add stock (having the contents of the pot and the liquid you want to add to it at roughly the same temperature will help avoid lumps). Whisk constantly until all of the stock is incorporated, then add wine if you wish. Simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. Taste and add more salt if desired. While the soup is simmering, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, place baguette rounds on a cookie sheet and top them with the grated cheese. Bake for about 8 minutes until cheese is bubbling. Place two baguette rounds in each bowl and top with soup.
Makes 6 servings.
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