If I’ve ever made French Onion Soup, it’s been a zillion years ago, so I was looking forward to this recipe. Of course, I fell behind on this – it was a busy week. But, I was able to finally get to this.
This is an easy recipe, just one that takes time. For me, a lot of time! Very simply, it’s onions sauteed until they are golden, the soup is finished with wine and stock, and then it’s all assembled for the oh-so-important step of the gooey cheesy topping.
Dorie provides a method for slicing the onions – I tried it… then quit. Mine were purchased from a local market at a bargain, but they hadn’t been really sanitized. I decided I’d rather pre-emptively get rid of the dust in the root end, that she suggests leaving on for slicing.
Now comes the long “I must have patience” part. The onions are cooked very slowly in a bit of oil and butter. Good thing that I was busy in the kitchen and realized that my “low” wasn’t exactly Dorie’s. I had to use the 6 mark on my stove, and it still took over an hour to brown my onions. In fact, they could have been browner, but…
Once the onions have reached the desired color (or you can’t stand it any longer!), a bit of flour is added and cooked, then some of the wine. Once that’s complete, the remainder of the wine and the stock are added, and the whole thing is simmered so that the flavors blend. Dorie suggests using chicken stock. I landed on beef, simply because I thought it would be better, and add to the color of the soup.
Once that’s had its simmer, it’s time for the topping part. In the recipe it talks about broiling both sides of the bread – sure, I did that – in the toaster. I used comte cheese, as suggested which was perfect (one of my new favorites thanks to Dorie). A bit of cognac is added to each bowl as well for another layer of flavor.
Finally, the cheese gets melted under the broiler and it’s ready to serve.
I’m looking forward to finishing this up over the weekend. The soup is warm, comforting, but still interesting with the layers of flavor. Yum!
dulceshome 
We really enjoyed this, too! I couldn’t help thinking of the scene in “Julie & Julia” where Julia Child stayed up all night trying to perfect cutting onions! LOL!
I toasted my bread too, just seemed more practical. As for chopping the onions, if you already wield a quick knife with the onions, I would just ignore Dorie’s method. If not, I would encourage you to give it another try. I found it to be a little odd at first, but once you get the hang of it, it really does speed up your chopping considerably. I learned this method in a cooking class a few years ago and it really does work.
I’m trying beef broth next time for this soup…and I’m turning up the heat. Your soup looks lovely and any time you can find an easier way to get good results, I’m all for it.
I liked this recipe also. Just as it is. Chicken stock is fine with me since we don’t eat much red meat at my house. Thanks for all the pictures showing caramelization of the Spanish onions. I think it will be helpful for your readers. Good Post.
I really enjoyed this one – used vegetable broth, Sam Adams and red onions, none of which were called for 🙂
I totally bribed someone else to cut all my onions – as long as they were thin slices, I let him have at it…
This is a recipe I will be making again as hubby really enjoyed it. Except for the onions
browning, this is a relatively easy recipe. Your looks great, and very delicious.
I had the same issue with the onions. I gave up after about 4 hours, and they never really browned. I guess I have to turn up the heat. Your soup looks great. I really enjoyed it. I also had a few bowls with the cheese topping and that was also good.
Wow, I can’t believe how long the onions took everyone. I was contemplating making this tonight since our temps finally dropped down to the 70’s – just not sure I have enough time to make it since it seems like quite an ordeal. Looks terrific though – cheese, bread and broth, mmmmm.
Congratulations on the new site, everything looks great;-) I browned my onions on a higher heat, also cut the recipe down so there was less steam in the pan and my onions were done fairly quickly! We loved this recipe, I cut back on the cheese and also used beef broth so my soup was pretty dark in color.