The Nation Has An Appetite

French Onion Soup, the easy(ish) way.

16 Comments

As I said last night I'm not really a soup kind of person. Though, now that I think about it I actually have become more of a soup person over the years. We make a green chili stew when it's not hotter'n the blazes - which here is like 2 months of the year - and I'll order pho over bun every day ... and we've been making this white bean and corn soup ... and we've been making crab and corn bisque ... I'm a soup guy? That doesn't line up with my self image. anywho ...

This is lifted from America's Test Kitchen

4lbs onion - yeah, seems like a lot ... it isn't
3 tbs butter cut into three slices
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 cups of water plus additional for deglazing
4 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of beef broth - I used better than broth - its my secret weapon for beefy magic flavor
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
crusty baguette
shredded gruyere

Method:
Cut onions in half through the roots, and slice pole to pole in 1/4 inch slices. Preheat oven to 400˚. Put onions into a well oiled dutch oven, top with butter and a 1/4 tsp salt. Put dutch oven in oven covered for an hour. (their method has you then take the pot out of the oven and stir the onions, replace the pot in the oven with the lid cracked for another 1.5 to 1.75 hours- I just cranked up the heat on the burner and stirred the onions to keep them from burning. You're looking for the liquid to evaporate and for the pot to run dry. When a dark crust begins to form on the bottom of the pan add a quarter cup of water to deglaze the pan. Continue to run the pot dry several times until the onions are dark brown - but not burnt! - and are beginning to break apart. the last time you deglaze the pot use the 1/2 cup of dry sherry and cook until the liquid evaporates. Add the water, stock beef broth (or better than broth), bay leaf, and thyme stir to combine, and then bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Slice the baguette into thick slices and bake dry in the oven - drying these out will improve the crunchy texture of the crust when they're submerged into the soup - once dry top with shredded gruyere and broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown on top. Serve in a deep bowl with cheesy bread dunked into the bowl.

This was phenomenal. The hardest part is standing over the pot making sure the onions don't burn.

16 thoughts on “French Onion Soup, the easy(ish) way.”

    1. The folks at serious eats say that commercially available beef stock isn’t very good. I’d have to agree which is why I use the better than boullion.

      1. And my home made chicken stock is amazing. Though the organic Trader Joe’s stuff ain’t half bad either.

  2. there was an onion dip i would make that involved caramelizing onions (and some shallots) on the stove for a good hour or so. had to keep an eye on it, but the results were worth it.

  3. Speaking of onions, this was a good listen. There was also a pod cast somewhere that explained why trading onion futures is now federally banned. Maybe planet money or some such.

  4. So, I am at Walmart, because they advertised an unlocked Galaxy S8 for $507 plus tax. I get to the store. Nooo, that is the online price. Actual is $718. But if you do an UPGRADE, the phone is $505 paid over 24 months through Verizon, plus the activation fee. Just pay the sales tax.

    Or I could pay $655 to pay up front. Huh?

      1. I guess it might help if I checked which post I was on before writing an LTE.

        Did you guys hear that Tom Petty died?

    3. also, that online price of $507 included the option of picking it up IN THE SAME STORE. Which is step one of why I was weirded out.

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