Sunday, January 9, 2011

French Onion Soup

Our friend Josh was talking about this amazing french onion soup he made the other day, and how simple it was. As he was listing the ingredients, I realized we had everything we needed to make our own... except oven-safe bowls. It just so happens that shopping for dishes is on my list of favorite things to do. IKEA had nothing, so we took a detour to Target where I found these cute little Corningware numbers.



After a detour to Shaw's for a 12-pack of Sam Adams winter classics and a crappy horror movie from the redbox, we were headed home. I looked up a few French onion soup recipes online, but a lot of them had lots of extra ingredients that didn't see, like they should be in my soup (tomato puree? yuck.) Some recipes listed cheeses from other lands, making the soup not french. You need Gruyere.

Josh sliced up 1 1/2 large yellow onions, and sauteed them with some sugar and a splash of dry white wine. He wants to make sure you know this: the key is SLOWLY caramelizing the onions. We let them cook on med-low heat for about 15-20 minutes. Aside: I love caramelized onions!

before

after


Meanwhile, I simmered some beef broth in a saucepan. I want wine in my part, too. So I added a splash of red.


Josh got the fun job

When the onions are all gooey and brown, add them to the broth. Add salt and pepper to taste, and any other spices you might want. Honestly, the broth with the wine tastes perfect, we didn't add anything else. While the oven preheats, the flavors in the onions and broth will mingle and get to know each other, and have tasty flavor babies. I'm drinking Old Fezziwig Ale, in case you were wondering.

Then, spoon into your adorable oven-safe bowls and top with a little slice of french bread and Gruyere cheese. Put the bowls on a cookie sheet and broil in the oven on high for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts.










Wow, it smells so good. It smells and looks just like the stuff you order in the restaurant and think, "I could never make french onion soup like this. Some kind of black magic happens in the kitchen that I don't know about, which makes the soup come out super delicious." But YOU CAN! 

What's your favorite soup?



2 comments:

  1. The part about the horror movie reminded me: Do you remember always watching those terrible ghost tv shows at Whitehead Manor?

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  2. Yes!! The Haunted History marathon at Halloween was awesome! I think we watched every episode!

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