Photograph by T. Mike Fletcher
I first ate French onion soup at Famous Barr (now Macy’s) in their restaurant. The Swiss cheese was so thick and stringy when spooned into, it was a challenge to get it into your mouth. The good French bread served with it helped a lot as you could use it to cut the strings. No matter its shortcomings as far as eating it, I fell in love with it—and ate it often.
As an avid watcher of Julia Child, you can imagine my delight when I saw her make the soup. It wasn’t long before I was serving it often. However, as life picked up its pace, it fell from my repertoire. The other day, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. So out came my well-worn original copy of The French Chef Cookbook. I used that as the base for my updated version of this classic. I use more onions and less broth for a thicker, heartier soup. I also used sweet onions, although I must admit after cutting all of these I could hardly see. They may be sweeter, but they are no less pungent. I should have put them through the food processor using the slicing disc. Certainly will next time!
Remember when you see this huge pile of onions that they will reduce down to a small fraction of what you started with since they are almost all water. Speaking of reducing, low and slow is the mantra for caramelizing the onions. If you try to hurry this step, the onions will not caramelize equally, or, worse yet, they will burn. The ideal is a deep, deep golden brown. The more they are caramelized, the sweeter they get.
I also use canned broth. I use a combination of beef and chicken along with white wine to give the soup a depth of flavor along with the onions. This isn’t a difficult soup to make, but the onions will take about an hour to caramelize so you need to plan your time to be in the kitchen to stir often.
While often made with Swiss cheese, Gruyere cheese is excellent and adding Parmesan for part of the cheese is fine. One last tip: be careful not to over-salt. It is easy to do as the cheese adds a lot of salt. Under-salt the soup if you are using the cheese. If not, salt to taste.
So thank you Famous Barr and Julia Child for a wonderfully satisfying meal and for introducing it to me.
Classic French Onion Soup – This soup is even better made a day or two ahead.
3 pounds of onions
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
2 – 15-ounce cans of beef broth
1 – 15-ounce can of chicken broth
1 cup white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
1 teaspoon black pepper
Additional salt if needed
Slice the onions into half-moons about ¼ inch thick. Use a processor if possible. Add the oil and butter to a dutch oven and heat until the butter is melted. Add the onions and stir to coat them. In the beginning, the heat can be fairly high but as they reduce and start to caramelize, reduce the heat also to prevent burning. Stir often so they caramelize evenly. Towards the end, add the sugar and salt.
When they have caramelized to your satisfaction, add the flour and stir to make a paste with the onions. If it doesn’t form a paste, add a bit more butter or oil. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Add one can of broth, stirring constantly. It will be thick. Add the remaining broth, wine, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. Adjust salt if necessary.
To Gratinée:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
I use a chewy, stale sourdough bread that is untoasted for the croute. I prefer this as it really soaks up the soup and doesn’t sink to the bottom like a lightweight bread will. Simply cut the crust off and cut it to fit the soup bowl. If you wish to toast the bread you are using, brush it with olive oil and put it into a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Shred as much cheese as you like for each bowl. Use a minimum of ¼ cup but ⅓ to ½ cup is even better. For purchasing information, 1 pound of cheese yields about 4 cups shredded.
The soup must be hot, so if it has been made a day or two ahead, reheat it. Ladle it into serving bowls, top with the croute and pile on the cheese. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and heat it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the soup is bubbly, the cheese melted, and it is running down the side of the bowl.
Yield: 4 servings
©Copyright Helen S. Fletcher, 2010. All rights reserved.
By Helen Fletcher, The Ardent Cook, helensfletcher@sbcglobal.net
