Friday, January 9, 2009

Wintery French Onion Soup

I'm super cold and lazy as of late, so I've reintroduced myself to soups for the season. This particular french onion soup recipe is easy and absolutely delicious. The key is not allowing the onions to burn and simmering the broth for at least 45 minutes. It's perfectly complemented by a toasted slice of olive bread and melted gruyere.

4 large yellow onions, sliced lengthwise
4 (or more!) gloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups beef broth (this can be substituted by vegetable broth, however, stay away from chicken broth. trust me!)
some salt and pepper

Cook the onions and garlic in butter and olive oil on medium-high heat until they start to brown. Make sure they first become translucent and soft though, because if they brown too quickly, you'll have burnt soup. And please please please do not substitute the butter. Here's the deal: butter adds intense flavor, especially to french dishes. In the end, you'll only be consuming 1/4 tablespoon of butter, so just enjoy the taste of the butter and don't feel guilty about it.

When you feel the onions are at the perfect texture and color, add the broth. I recommend allowing the soup to simmer for 45 minutes (at least!), before turning the heat down. The longer the soup cooks, the more intense the flavor of the onions will be. This is lovely.

If by the end of cooktime, your soup feel too thin/liquid, you can add a teaspoon of flour. Please make sure to sift the flour in slowly though, as it's imperative to avoid flour clumps.

Serve hot with some toasted bread and cheese.

Delicious!

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