French Onion Soup

I love French Onion Soup. It is one of those little comforts that hits the spot on those days when you need something to warm you up. While the weather has not been conducive to hot soup lately, I was still craving this stuff and so I cooked up a batch.

What's interesting about French Onion Soup is that it has quite a history. Originating back to ancient Rome, onion soups were plentiful because onions are cheap and easy to grow. The modern form of the soup emerged in 18th century France and was widely seen as a food for poor people (take notice college kids). Finally, the soup was revitalized in the 1960's in the United States due to an increased interest in French cooking.

Process

If you haven't noticed with my recipes so far, I like doing dishes that look and appear fancy but really are super easy to make. That's the trick. My French Onion Soup isn't any different. It also doesn't taste exactly like a traditional French Onion Soup but it's still good. Ask Ashley. She is not a huge fan of the stuff but she liked mine.

Begin by slicing four large onions as thin as you can. Don't worry if they don't look perfect, they are going to be caramelized and put into a soup. Sauté the onions into a skillet with butter and olive oil until they are golden and caramelized.

Add the salt and pepper to the skillet. Feel free to add as much pepper as you want, it really is what drives a lot of the flavor. Splash a fair amount of the wine of your choice in. I used a Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. Cook until reduced half-way and then add in the beef and chicken broth and simmer for about 30 minutes.

At this point the soup is more or less done and can either be prepped to serve or stored until needed. When ready to serve, place the soup in a bowl (I used a ramekin) and top with French bread and cheese. For this recipe, I prefer using Gruyère as it compliments the soup without being too overwhelming. Feel free to pick your own. Regarding the bread, I would recommend doing one of two things: 1) if the bread is fresh, toast it first or 2) use day old bread. This helps the soup from being absorbed too much by the bread and gives a better texture in the end.

After the soup is topped with the bread and cheese, place in a broiler until the cheese is bubbly. Serve and enjoy but be careful as the ramekin will be super hot from the broiler.

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

4 yellow onions, sliced
2 T olive oil
1 T butter, unsalted
pinch of Kosher salt
lots of ground pepper
splash of red wine
4 cups beef broth
1 cup chicken broth
French bread (day old or toasted if fresh)
slices of Gruyère 

Directions

1. Sauté onions in butter and olive oil until caramelized.
2. Add salt and pepper. Put in a splash of wine and reduce about halfway.
3. Combine with chicken and beef and let simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Put soup into bowls and top with bread and cheese. Place in broiler for a few minutes until bubbly.