Food 26 Jan 2005 05:42 pm
onion soup
Not too long ago I said, “Don’t make me break out the onion soup, virus. I will kick your tiny, multitudinous ass.” Well, I broke out the onion soup after all. Grrr. Die, virus, die.
This would be French onion soup, but I don’t use beef stock and if I’m sick I don’t put a cheesy crouton on top. Okay, once in a blue moon I’ll toss in some boughten demi-glace, but I haven’t found a canned beef broth that isn’t icky and I can’t be bothered to make my own, so chicken or vegetable stock it is.
It was a pleasure to use my newly sharpened chef’s knife to make this simple:
Onion Soup
butter
olive oil
salt
2 red onions, thinly sliced; I prefer half-moons
2 cups chicken stock
about 1/4 cup red wine
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
fresh thyme
pepperThrow a pinch of salt over the onions and caramelize them in a little butter and olive oil. This can take about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the onions, the heat of the stove, etc.
(NB: if you’re going to put in an hour or so caramelizing onions, you might as well caramelize a few more and stash them in the freezer at this point. They freeze well, in my experience.)
Tie the thyme in a bundle or put it in a big tea infuser. Add it to the onions with all the other ingredients and simmer about 10 or 15 minutes until the flavors are blended. Be sure to scrape up the tasty bits of fond from the bottom of the pot, of course.
Makes one enormous bowl, which you can eat slowly, cursing cold viruses and/or your fate.
on 26 Jan 2005 at 7:46 pm 1.jesse said …
I am so totally gonna make this. Any advice on cheesy crouton chicanery?
on 26 Jan 2005 at 9:11 pm 2.Cam said …
Generally Josh is in charge of all things cheesy goodness around here, so any really interesting tips would have to come from him, but the procedure is this: slice a baguette on the bias into roughly half-inch slices, enough to cover the soup once it’s been put in your bowls; thinly slice some Swiss cheese (or whatever you like) and grate some Parmesan. Put the oven rack into a middle-upper position and fire up the broiler. Put your bowls on a cookie sheet, ladle the soup into bowls and top each bowl with a slice or two of bread. Top the bread slices with a thin layer of Swiss cheese slices, then sprinkle Parmesan over that. Broil until hot, bubbly, and golden.
I wear goggles when slicing onions. It looks pretty ridiculous, but when I’m cutting up a whole lot of onions, it’s worth it.
If you had a little fresh parsley, that’d probably be nice in this; you’d tie it with the thyme. I didn’t have any today.
This really makes enough for two people, especially if you have bread and cheese on top.