Those French have so many culinary bragging rights- French bread, French fries, French onion soup! Actually, the French can’t technically take credit for the fries, those are from Belgium. But, let’s face it, they’ve been killing it in the kitchen for a long time.
Rather than getting all “jelly”, we appreciate and duplicate the French cuisine. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery! Crepes, Bouillabaisse, creme brulee, Coq Au Vin, the croissant- Hello!? How could we not want to recreate these timeless dishes? I recently had a craving for one of my favorites, which I mentioned earlier, French onion soup.
French Onion Soup Recipe
French onion soup has so many wonderful elements- warmth, gentle savory flavors, toasty bread, and the best part – bubbling, melty cheese!
I thought making French onion soup would be more challenging than it actually was. The biggest thing, as with most good things, is that it takes time.
Note: I will say I have read reviews about caramelizing onions in the Instant Pot, but I thought I’d be an old fashioned gal for the day.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 onions (sliced)
- 1 shallot (sliced)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1/4 cup of butter
- 4 cups of beef broth
- 3 tbs of flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 1/2 cup of dry white wine
- 1/4 cup of brandy
- A crusty baguette
- 1 1/2 cups of Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Instructions
- Slice all of those beautifully stinky onions, shallots, and garlic. I don’t think the real recipe calls for shallots, but this was during the quarantine, and I hate to waste food! So, the shallots made their way into the mix and worked quite well.
- Heat the butter in a deep saucepan.
- This is the tricky part- caramelizing the onions without burning them. It does take time. Add the chopped goodies into the pan, reduce heat to low-medium, cover, and stir often. This should take between 35- 45 minutes, depending on the pot and the heat of your stove.
- Once they are done, they will be a nice golden color. Now you can add the flour, stirring continuously for a few minutes.
- Add beef stock, leaves from a few sprigs of thyme, the bay leaf, salt & pepper.
- Now, toss in the booze!!!!!
7. The soup needs to simmer for about another 40 minutes. Once it is ready, turn on the broiler baby!
8. Carefully place the sliced baguette pieces on the broiler, flipping after about a minute on each side.
9. Pour some soup into an oven-proof bowls.
10. Place the toasted slices of bread on top, and generously sprinkle the cheese on top.
11. Place the soup back under the broiler and let cook until the cheese is fully melted and bubbling. (Around 3 minutes.)
12. Enjoy and appreciate yet another French culinary contribution.
