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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Onion Soup for the Cold Michigan Winter

French Onion Soup

My husband doesn’t generally think that soup is dinner.  I’ve been married almost 10 years now, and up till today, if I mentioned it, he just gives me that funny “where’s the meat and potatoes” look, but today he surprised me and said, after making that funny look, sure, I’ll try it!

 


Well, I think it was a hit.  He said we could have it for leftovers again on Thursday! 

He bet me I couldn’t make it again, and I’m a betting gal, so I wrote it down as fast as I could – so here it is:

 



Onion Soup

2 large yellow onions – julienne (that’s cut into French fry stick size)
a bit of EVOO
salt (to taste)
a swirl of red wine vinegar, or red wine
4 cups of beef stock
Grated Swiss Cheese – about ½ cup per bowl
Grated Parmesan (about ¼ cup per bowl, cause I had it in the fridge)
Large Croutons

 

Heat a large sauté pan with the EVOO and add the yellow onions.  You could use white, and I did use a bit of red onion to use it up. 

 



Let the onions caramelize.  This is very important.  Over medium high heat, let them set for a while in the pan, get brown bits of goodness all over and then give them a swirl, or a toss, and do it again.  Your house is going to smell wonderful.  This will take a while and is well worth the time.

 

If you constantly stir them, you will “steam” them to translucent, and never develop the dark caramelized flavor that you want.

You want the bits of browned goodness to add to your soup.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the bits.  When it finally reduces down to about 1/3 of the way, transfer the onions into another pan. 


 

Swirl a bit of red wine vinegar/wine in the sauté pan, and go after those brown bits again.  You may need to add some stock, that’s ok.  Transfer to your onion pan, add the stock and bring to a simmer to develop the flavors.

 



For dinner, heat your oven to about 400 degrees, place some croutons on the bottom of your bowls, ladle in some soup, and then top with the cheese.  Bake until the cheese is crusty!  About 10 minutes.

 


Enjoy, but watch out!  It’s really really hot!

 

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