- French Onion Soup

FRENCH ONION SOUP
(see note)

Soup

3 T unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds) halved and cut pole to pole into ¼ inch slices
Table salt
2 c water, plus extra for deglazing
½ c dry sherry
4 c chicken broth
2 c beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons:

1 small baguette, cut on bias into ½ inch slices
8 oz Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 2 ½ c)

Soup:

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 400º. Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7 qt) Dutch oven with non-stick cooking spray. Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 tsp salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing eat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions). Stir in ¼ c water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Stir in broths, 2 c water, thyme, bay leaf, and ½ tsp salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

Croutons

While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400º oven until bread is dry, crisp and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To Serve:

Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 ¾ c soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

1) I thought I had a pretty good recipe for this soup and then I found this recipe that looked so labor intensive that I was put off. Then one day I had a craving and I decided to give it a whirl. Never, and I do mean never, will I ever make any other recipe. This beats all!