As a little girl, it was a dish I observed my father always ordering again and again. It didn’t matter if he had had it the previous day, or if he had never had it from a particular restaurant. It was always one of his favorite go to items. Sometimes, we would share a bowl. Yet, as I got older we each needed our own.
Babz Goldman Nartowicz
BABZ BITES
The month of January always has my taste buds craving French onion soup. In fact it’s hard to recall a winter that didn’t involve eating a delicious bowl of it. That’s right, a bowl. It’s rarely offered in restaurants as a cup, but if you’re making it at home you can decide exactly how you would like it.
As a little girl, it was a dish I observed my father always ordering again and again. It didn’t matter if he had had it the previous day, or if he had never had it from a particular restaurant. It was always one of his favorite go-to items. Sometimes, we would share a bowl. Yet, as I got older we each needed our own.
The only complaint I remember my father ever having about French Onion soup was it being too salty or too rich. It wasn’t until my mid twenties I attempted the dish. It was my mother’s sixtieth birthday dinner and it was the perfect accent for a personalized special sit down meal. However the recipe was so complicated I didn’t attempt it again until years later cooking at a French cafe. It was there I discovered and developed a recipe I still use today. What makes this version of French onion soup so unique and special is the chicken base in replacement of the traditional beef base. In my opinion this helps not only honor the buttery goodness of the onions, but takes out some of the flavors that may make the bowl overly rich and heavy.
One of the problems often found in a recipe is when directions are made overly difficult for unnecessary reasons. Heck that probably applies to my preference with most things. The beauty of today’s recipe is not only does it not require making stock if you don’t have it, and it’s also not going to break the bank. I can’t encourage you to follow that key ingredient enough. When choosing a wine for cooking, expensive does not mean better. I used a three dollar bottle of chardonnay when I made this soup the other night and could not have been happier with the results. I was only cooking for my mother and husband so I used two large onions and measured half of everything else. It was perfect. There wasn’t a drop left in the Dutch oven … so if you are wanting leftovers this isn’t something I would recommend.
Good luck and enjoy!
French Onion Soup
Preheat oven 400 degrees
64 ounces of chicken stock, broth will also work.
4-6 medium to large yellow onions, vidalia if you can, halved and sliced
1 ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
5 tbsp butter, I prefer unsalted to salted but either will work.
1 tsp nutmeg
Kosher salt or sea salt & black pepper, use your personal preference. Remember you can always add more, but you can’t take it out.
3 cups dry white wine, a chardonnay or pinot grigio are best.
6-8 bread, sliced. The more rustic the better. Day old is great. I especially enjoy sourdough or a baguette.
2 heaping cups grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese
Using a large Dutch oven or deep pot over medium heat, combine sliced onion, cream, butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Keep an eye on this. Once it starts to sizzle then you will need to continue to occasionally stir with a wooden spoon. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent. This may take around fifteen minutes, it just depends on the pot.
Once you have reached the desired texture and keeping the cream at a low boil, spread the onions evenly over the bottom of the pot, then raise the heat slightly, cooking the onions and occasionally stirring until the bottom of the pot begins to turn brown. Take your time and continue to cook until satisfied. It takes me about 25 minutes for this step.
Don’t burn the onions though. Once a residue begins to show itself on the pot stir the onions to scrape it up. Then pour in ½ cup wine and deglaze the pot. Stir up the brown bits as best you can, then keep cooking and stirring until a brown residue starts to build up again and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Deglaze the pot with another ½ cup wine and repeat the process of cooking, stirring, and deglazing until you have used all the wine up and the onions have taken on a deep caramel colour.
Pour in stock/broth, and bring the soup to a simmer, about five minutes was plenty for me but if you are multitasking and need to spend 15 minutes on this step it’s ok. While the soup simmers, arrange the bread in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until dry, brittle, and generally unappealing. Taste the soup and see if you need to season with salt and pepper.
Pour the soup into ovenproof bowls, filling nearly to the rims. Float the toast slices on top of each serving and cover generously with cheese. Transfer the bowls to a rimmed baking sheet covered tray and carefully place in the oven. Don’t skip the baking sheet and tray. Soup will boil or cheese will drop and make a much bigger mess. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Turn the oven to broil setting on low. Cook for another five minutes or until desired coloring has been achieved. Serve immediately making sure to place on top of a plate that can support and shield the hot bottom of the bowls.
The recipe and photo used in today’s column are from the kitchen of Chef Babz ([email protected]).
