ISO French onion soup recipe

JustinR

Member
Anyone have a good one? Ill have free time this weekend. Never cooked french onion soup before. Thanks in advance!
 
This is one of my failures so I can't help but to give you a hint. The best I've had was 15 km North of Ottawa, Canada in '73 at a steakhouse. The word from the owner was that it was baked all day. Good luck.

Hilditch
 
There are dozens of recipes and techniques, but onion soup is pretty hard to mess up. It doesn't require a lot of seasoning to be good. Getting the onions cooked to the right consistency and sweetness is key. Better results can be had by making your own beef stock, but store-bought can do in a pinch. You can even try chicken stock for a different take.

I make a multi-onion soup with one each large yellow, white, and red onion, one leek, four scallions, and four cloves garlic. Cut onions in half root to tip, then slice as thinly as possible lengthwise. A mandolin works well for this; watch your fingers. Clean leek well before slicing thin crosswise. Slice scallions thin as well. Heat 1/4 C. olive oil in a large pot (5+ qt.) over med-high heat until it shimmers. Add all onions, leek, scallions, and be prepared to stir every couple of minutes for 30-45 minutes. It needs to cook until onions are soft and darkened, but not necessarily completely caramelized dark brown. Add the garlic (minced) and cook for about another minute. Add 1/2 C. sherry and cook until liquid is reduced almost completely.

If using store-bought stock, how much you need depends on the brand you use. Some are heavier and can stand some thinning, so start with two quarts and thin it to your liking or add more if thin enough to start. A gallon of stock is about right for this amount of onions. Add to cooked onions and simmer for 30 minutes to marry flavors. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.

Rather than make croutons and a cheese "cover" for the bowls, I make a "cheese crouton raft". Cut about 1" thick slices of a hearty, crusty bread to fit snugly in the tops of your ovenproof serving bowls. Arrange on a baking sheet and top with 2 T. shredded Gruyere. Heat in 400°F oven until cheese melts. Leave oven on. Place serving bowls on a sturdy baking pan, fill with soup and float croutons cheese side down on top of each. Put another 2 T. Gruyere on top of each crouton and (carefully) return to oven for a few more minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Carefully remove from oven and serve, cautioning diners that soup and bowls are blazing hot.

If you want to make your own beef stock: 3 lbs. beef bones, 1 gal. water, 1/2 t. marjoram, 2 bay leaves. In large pot, brown beef bones well first. Add rest and bring to boil. Lower to simmer and cook for min. 2 hours. Strain all solids before using. Can be made in advance and refrigerated.
 
I have made a multi-onion soup that sounds almost exactly like DougD's and it was delicious. You want to go very low and slow on your onions. That's what brings out the sweetness. I also agree that a good homemade stock is preferable... IF you make a good homemade stock. If not, there are some pretty good commercial stocks out there today. I prefer Kitchen Basics because it has pretty much the same ingredients that I'd use for my own, and nothing that I wouldn't.
 
Thank you all. I tried Tyler Florence's online recipe adjusting to our tastes. I think Id like to spend the time to make my own stock next time but it seems like a soup that is easy to make and hard to screw up. Like chili. Ive never made the same pot of chili twice. I can see this soup being the same way!
 
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