French Onion Soup

Happy 100th birthday Julia.

Here's her Onion Soup recipe:

Julia wrote: French Onion Soup 5 -6 cups yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs) 1 tablespoon cooking oil 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons flour 6 cups beef stock (preferably homemade) 1 cup wine (dry red or white) 1 bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon ground sage salt and pepper 12 ounces swiss cheese, grated 4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated 1/2 raw yellow onion 2 to 3 tablespoons cognac 8 slices French bread (about 1 inch thick) 4 tablespoons olive oil, for drizzling Directions: 1 Place heavy bottom stock pot or dutch over over medium-low heat. 2 Add 1 Tbs cooking oil, 2Tbs butter to pot. 3 Add sliced onions and stir until they are evenly coated with the oil. 4 Cover and cook for about 20 minutes until they are very tender and translucent. 5 To brown or caramelize the onions turn heat under pot to medium or medium high heat. 6 Add 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently until the onions have browned and reduced significantly. 7 Once caramelized, reduce heat to medium-low and add 3 Tbs flour to the onions. 8 Brown the flour for about 2-3 minutes trying not to scorch it. (If the flour does not form a thick paste, you can add a bit more butter here). 9 Stir in about 1 cup of warm stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to get up all of the cooked-on bits. 10 Add the rest of the stock, wine, sage, and bay leaf to the soup. 11 Simmer for 30 minutes. 12 To make the "croutes" (toasted bread), heat oven to 325 degrees F. 13 Drizzle each side of the bread slices with a bit of olive oil and place on baking sheet. 14 Cook the croutes for 15 minutes in oven on each side (30 minutes total). 15 Check the soup for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. 16 Remove the bay leaf (if you can find it). 17 Transfer to a casserole dish. 18 At this point you can add the 2-3 Tbs cognac and grate the 1/2 raw onion into the soup. 19 Add a few ounces of the swiss cheese directly into the soup and stir. 20 Place the toasted bread in a single layer on top of the soup. 21 Sprinkle the rest of the cheese in a thick layer on top of the bread making sure to cover the edges of the toast to prevent burning. 22 Drizzle with a little oil or melted butter. 23 Place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. 24 Turn on broiler and brown cheese well. 25 Let cool for a few minutes. 26 Bon Apetit! Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/authentic-french-onion-soup-courtesy-of-julia-child-356428

This recipe in my not so humble opinion is the ultimate Onion Soup recipe. Anything else, heck just buy a can of Campbell's Onion Soup!

This is simply the standard of French Onion Soup bar none.

Well, my learning and growing with this soup continued today, as The Beautiful Mrs. Tas requested this for supper tonight. I decided to try a couple-three little tweaks in my effort to improve, and I think I did pretty well.

For one thing, I was able to start early and cook down the onions longer than ever before, using my enameled cast iron Dutch oven and a little butter and olive oil combined. carefully managing the heat on the stovetop, I was able to cook them down for my self-imposed goal of a minimum of three hours, slowly transforming them to a nice, rich, toasty golden-brown; it was a long, arduous process, and my onions nearly disappeared, but it was worth it to get such beautiful caramelisation.

I then added the flour and allowed it to work with the residual butter and oil to form a nice, rich roux for another 30 minutes or so before adding the minced garlic and some black pepper (I added no sugar to the soup at all, and figured that the stock itself would contain enough salt). I then de-glased with white wine and added the stock.

For the wine, I used pinot grigio; I have no idea if this is a "good" wine to use with French onion soup or not, but it seemed to me as if it added a bit of acidity and maybe a little bitterness as well, which seemed to balance well with the sweetness from the caramelised onions and the salt in the stock. Where the stock is concerned, I had previously been using a 50/50 blend of chicken and beef, but the result wasn't quite right and the colour seemed a little to light, so I went with 2 parts beef to 1 part chicken, and found this to be a great improvement in terms of flavour and colour.

After adding the stock, I took a page from Julia Child, adding grated raw onion and bay leaf to the soup. I let the soup simmer for half an hour while I drizzled the 1/2-inch-thick slices of French bread with a little olive oil and toasted them under the broiler for a minute or two on each side. Each slice took up the space of half the diametre of the bowls I was using, so I planned for two croutons per bowl (side-by-side) in order to cover the surface of the soup.

When the soup was ready for serving, I ladled some into an earthenware bowl, added my toasted croutons and placed a thin slice of Swiss cheese on top. I then sprinkled a small amount of a shredded cheese blend (consisting of half sharp Cheddar and half "six-cheese Italian blend") - just enough to barely cover the Swiss. After a few short minutes under the broiler, the cheeses bubbled and toasted to near-perfection, and I served the soup.

Results were very good, and I believe that the new things I tried succeeded quite well. I'll be integrating these concepts into future preparations and would welcome input and suggestions, particularly regarding the wine. I wasn't sure if it would be a good choice, especially as tasted a little too "floral" for my tastes on its own; but it was the only white wine that I had, so I tried it and was satisfied that it worked reasonably well.

Hi, eranils - please forgive my tardy response - I have been far too busy with work, family and other adventures.

Chef Bruno Albouze offers 4 options with his recipe for French Onion Soup and a different take on Demi Glace.  Interesting and informative.