Tuesday, December 11, 2007

French Onion Soup

Everyone loves french onion soup and it's very easy to make. Of course, you're supposed serve it in these fancy little bowls with the lion faces on them, but I don't have any of those.
So here's what you need to do:
Melt 1/2 a stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat and add 3 lbs of sliced onions. Cook the onions, stirring periodically, until they turn a deep, rich brown. The importance of reaching this state cannot be over-emphasized. Browning the onions coaxes out the sweet, caramely flavor from the onions' natural sugars. As they cook, they will decrease in volume considerably as all the water evaporates. Once they start changing color, you'll need to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pot when you stir. This is about what they should like--it will take about an hour.

Once the onions are browned, add 1 cup of dry sherry (I know, back to the liquor store-if you leave it out, it will turn out fine, but adding it gives it depth and richness) and 2 quarts of beef broth (always buy low sodium broth if you can--it just tastes better). Bring it all up to a boil and let it simmer for 10 or 20 minutes.

At this point, you have delicious soup, but if you really want to make it wonderful, then toast some slices of baguette, place a toast on top of each bowl of soup, and cover it with some grated cheese (gruyere, emmentaler, or any swiss) and pop them under the broiler until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Before doing this make sure your bowls are oven-safe. Alternatively, you can use a torch to do the job. Of course, in most people's kitchens, oven-safe bowls are probably easier to come by than blow torches.


9 comments:

bestgrandkidsever said...

Looks yummy! As for "in most people's kitchens, oven-safe bowls are probably easier to come by than blow torches"--umm, not in the Hassell kitchen!

Danielle said...

I can't believe you don't have the lion faced bowls...I think you need some.

Once again, thanks for the birthday lunch. Oh and you should add that this soup goes from being really good to magical when eaten while listening to old Christmas classics and watching gently falling snow (which I am fairly certain was just for me, because it was my birthday).

Carrie said...

Sensi, that soup looks yummy!! It just started snowing again and it's coming down...I think I just might make this today. I actually have everything on hand.

I emailed Becca the frosting recipe for you. I had to beg to get it, so I didn't want to post it.
~Grasshopper

7Carters!E,H,V,B,R,C,E said...

mmmm, thank you for posting easy, yet delicious, recipes!

Deborah said...

Carrie hooked me up with your blog, and then told me you were Rebecca's brother. I hope you don't mind my stopping by. I am loving your recipes, and am so excited to try this one. I have been looking for a FOS that I could do myself and I think this is it. Thanks for sharing.

Heather said...

I don't know who you are but I LOVE this site!!!! OMGsh I love it. I fond the link from Deborah adn I can't stop reading it 7kidsandagod LOVED the spinach soup.we have veagin friends so we had to tweek it alittle ,but YUM. I am sooooooooooo excited about making a cake now.
Do you have any suggestions for cinnamon rolls or cream puffs? I have a SIL that is SURE I can't successfully cook "right."

Deborah said...

This FOS was great! It was a big hit for everyone. My only disappointment was I spilled the leftovers all over my kitchen floor. A mess and nothing to enjoy for lunch the next day.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to make this...just need to hit up the booze store first!

lori said...

made this on Sat.
Yum!