I use a French Onion Soup recipe of an old ballet friend’s mom as a guide, then tweak things a little here and there. My ballet friend’s name was Paige and even though I haven’t seen her since high school, I loved her so much I named my second daughter after her. She was just a sweet dose of sunshine in the world. My daughter is, too.
And this soup is, too.
You need butter.
You need 4 large or 6 small/medium yellow onions.
You definitely need a big glass of chardonnay or other dry white wine, unless you need to avoid alcohol in your cooking. If you don’t, but you think you just don’t like wine, please, please try it here. It makes a world of difference in the flavor of the soup.
But again, I watch “Intervention” weekly. So if you have any sensitivity at all to alcohol, the soup is just great without it.
“Intervention” has changed my life.
You need some beef broth. Just basic stuff.
You need chicken broth, too. I always try to buy low sodium chicken broth when I can. It’s best that way. You can always add salt. You really can’t take it out.
You need some garlic…
And some Worcestershire sauce…
You need a few slices of French bread or baguette. The crustier the better, but heck—this was storebought Earthgrains from the bread aisle. We’ll crisp the heck out of in a little while.
And I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry. But you NEED Gruyere cheese. I corrupted you with the beauty of Gruyere back around Thanksgiving when I made that ridiculously evil Turnip Gratin, and I’m still begging forgiveness for introducing such excess into your life.
Begin by slicing up the onions.
Thin is good. Not paper thin, but thin.
Heat 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter in a heavy, ovenproof soup pot or dutch oven over medium-low heat.
(And you can cut it down a little if you’re into that whole EATING HEALTHY thing.)
Throw in the onions.
Give ’em a good stir, coating them all with the melted butter.
Cover the pot and continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, give the onions a stir and place the pot into a 400-degree oven for 1 hour. Keep the pot covered, but crack the lid a bit to give the onions a chance to get brown. I learned this oven trick from Cooks Illustrated, and I love it because it eliminates the need to babysit the onions on the stovetop. Plus, they get much more brown in the oven.
***Stir the onions halfway through the cooking process***
After an hour, the onions should be pretty brown. If it looks like they need a little more color, stick ’em back in.
When you pull the pan out of the oven, turn the heat on medium. Scrape the bits off the side and bottom of the pan.
Whether it’s sausage gravy or French onion soup…it’s all about the dark brown bits, baby.
Cook the onions over medium heat, stirring gently, for about five minutes. Turn off the heat.
Immediately pour in the glass of wine—a generous cup. Then turn the heat back on medium.
I just don’t want to be responsible for any singed eyebrows out there.
Now, cook the onions and wine for about five minutes, or until the wine starts to reduce.
And go ahead—take a whiff. Butter. Onions. Wine. It’s seriously out of this world.
After about five minutes…
Pour in 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth…
Followed by 4 cups beef broth.
(Pssst. If you were to pour in the beef broth first, I wouldn’t tell anyone.)
Now just turn the heat to simmer.
Grab two cloves of garlic…
And mince it up pretty finely.
Toss it into the soup. Mmmm. It’ll make a difference later.
*Also throw in a couple of dashes of Worcestershire at this point.
Now just simmer the soup, covered, for about 30 to 45 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, take this opportunity to grate the Gruyere.
Also, butter the slices of French bread and throw them in the oven under the broiler.
I like to broil them on low heat so that the pieces of bread will become a little on the crispy side. It’ll need to be crispy before getting plunged into the soup.
Because the soup is so rich, I’m going to serve it in small ramekins (the same ramekins, by the way, that I used for Baked Fudge the other day.) So I found a biscuit cutter around the same size and cut rounds out of the bread.
Here’s the finished soup. Come to Flavor Country.
Begin by ladling soup into the ramekin or bowl so that it’s a little over half full.
Place the bread round on top of the soup…
Then generously sprinkle Gruyere on top.
Or, if you have a—ahem—“heartier appetite”, ladle the soup into a larger bowl.
And just throw the “croutons” right in.
Next comes the cheese.
I realize this is an obscene amount…but Gruyere is obscenely delicious.
Note: you may use Swiss, Asiago, Mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, or any combination of cheeses instead of Gruyere.
Um, Gruyere is expensive. It’s definitely not an everyday chiz.
Place the ramekins/bowls on a cookie sheet under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Keep the broiler a little on the low side if you can control that setting, and be sure to watch it constantly so it won’t burn to a crisp.
But you definitely want it melted and bubbly.
Ladies and Gentlemen? You’re looking at greatness here. And I’m not kidding this time—this soup is absolutely, positively, undeniably out of this world.
Try it! You’ll love it.
