Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée

It's french.

My sister recently asked for a french onion soup recipe. I've never made it and to be honest I can only remember having this soup once at a restaurant, in southwest MN. (where only the finest soups are served) Wasn't really a fan.  Turns out I am a fan I just didn't like the crappy soup the restaurant served me. I won't name names. From what I remember it was salty beef broth with very few onions and a layer of bland cheese on top. Sounds good right?  The more I cook and improve my skills in the kitchen the more I wonder why restaurants serve garbage when making it well takes little effort.

For this particular soup you need to let the onions caramelize. Not just get a little color; you want a deep rich brown color. The few onions I had in the bland soup I mentioned had little to no color on them. In most cooking color on your food means more flavor. Take your time and let the onions do their thing. Also, I apologize for this being kind of a pic heavy post. I was able to cook with no one home and had time to take some pics.

This soup is amazingly simple but is big on flavor without being overpowering. I'm often surprised how easy some food is to make. I always try to make things complicated when I should be trying to dumb things down. This recipe comes from a chef I know of that spends much of his free time helping other out that like to play chef at home but need help from time to time. Since this soup is kind of new to me I didn't really stray too far away from his recipe.

3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp olive oil
5 medium yellow onions
pinch of sugar
one sprig of fresh thyme

couple of bay leaves

1 tbps minced garlic
1 C dry white wine

3 C low sodium chicken stock

3 C low sodium beef stock
salt and  white pepper to taste

Per bowl:
toasted french or baguette bread-sliced about an inch thick
1/3 C good quality Swiss cheese such as Gruyère or Emmentaler. You can sub provolone too. You need enough to cover the bowl you're using so the quantity can very
1 tsp freshly grated Parmegiano Reggiano  per bowl

Slice the onions and heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onion, sugar, thyme and bay leaves and a pinch of salt and toss to coat evenly. This next part will take a little time but it's worth it. Let the onions cook down for about an hour. You'll need to keep an eye on them so they don't burn so stir every so often. Also make sure the fond or "the stuff stuck on the bottom of the pot" doesn't burn.





Cook time will vary depending on the pot used, thickness and so on, but you will want them to cook for at least 40-45 minutes. To get mine where I wanted it took a closer to an hour. When you are satisfied with the onions push them to the side of the pot and add and stir the garlic for about a minute and then combine everything. Pour in the wine and raise the heat to high to bring to a boil. One the wine is boiling reduce to medium and at this point the thyme leaves will have come off so take the stem and bay leaves out and cook a few minutes to evaporate most of the wine. Be sure to scrape any of the fond off the bottom of the pot too.

Pour in the chicken and beef stock and raise the heat to high again to bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling reduce down to medium-low for a gentle simmer. Let it cook for a solid hour so the flavors can mingle. After an hour give it a taste and adjust for salt and add a little white pepper if you have it. If not black pepper will be fine.

Done

If you don't want to mess with the bread and cheese go ahead and eat. I may have had a small helping when I made it. Again, I was kind of shocked I liked it as much as I did. I am kind of a pig so I don't know why I'm ever surprised I like something. For those that want to go all the way add the soup to an oven safe bowl and top with the toasted bread and cheeses. Place it a few inches under the broiler but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

If you do some poking around you'll find recipes that call for red or white wine and some with sherry. When you come across recipes that can use either and don't know what to do, use what you like to drink and generally you can't go wrong. That usually will work.  When I drink wine, I prefer red but seem to prefer cooking with white so it isn't a fool proof plan. I like cooking with both but just like how white brightens flavors and in a dish like this I think red might be overpowering for my taste. No one can tell you the right answer so get some wine, try it out, experiment and eventually you'll start to figure out what you like best.

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