French Onion Soup

Recipe from "Parisian Home Cooking" by Michael Roberts

2 pounds medium yellow onions, finely-chopped (about 6 cups)
5 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 Bay Leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
2 t salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 T unsalted butter
1/3 cup medium-dry sherry (optional)
3 T bread crumbs
1/4 c freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c grated Gruyere cheese

1) Place half (3 cups) of the onions in a soup pot with the broth, bay leaves, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 2 hours, or until the onions have completely fallen apart.

2) Meanwhile, melt 1 T of the butter in a small heavy skillet over low heat. add the remaining onions and the sherry, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn a dark golden color, about 1 hour.

3) Scrape the onions in the skillet into the soup pot, add the bread crumbs, and simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.

4) Preheat the oven to 300 F.

5) Add the parmesan cheese to the soup and simmer for another 5 minutes. Place six ovenproof bowls on a baking sheet, pour the piping-hot soup into the bowls, sprinkle with the Gruyere cheese, and place on a rack in the oven. Leave in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese before serving.

Here is what I did. I used dried thyme. I used the sherry. Out of fresh parmesan so that was a no-go. Also, poured a bit of the soup into the skillet to de-glaze the sauteed onions.

My dh (who is not a "foodie") thought this was delicious. I agree. It is restaurant quality soup.

That looks pretty darned tasty to me. Thanks Twodales!

Thanks! I'm not a fan of French Onion, but your recipe almost sounds worthy!

Only thing missing was Courvoisier cognac

One of my favorite soups. I think I'd prefer to keep the second batch of onions in thin ring form rather than chopped, but that's just a personal thing. I like to have some stringy onions in my soup. Thanks for a new recipe.

berndog: Funny you should mention the chopped vs. sliced thing. I always sliced my onions or chopped some and sliced the rest before trying this recipe.

I thought I'd try something new and I think I prefer it all-chopped now. Hope you like it too.

Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for a French Onion Soup where the broth got the flavor and color from the caramel-ization of the (red) onions in the (cast iron) pot.

I should try to dig that recipe up.

I’m wondering if authentic FOS calls for beef broth ???

quote:

Originally posted by berndog

One of my favorite soups. I think I'd prefer to keep the second batch of onions in thin ring form rather than chopped, but that's just a personal thing. I like to have some stringy onions in my soup. Thanks for a new recipe.

I agree long strings of onions are what french onion soup is all about and Ive always used cheddar cheese not parm and a couple splashs of bourbon to the pan of onions.. does sound like a good recipe though.

quote:

Originally posted by wheregreggeats.com

Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for a French Onion Soup where the broth got the flavor and color from the caramel-ization of the (red) onions in the (cast iron) pot.

I should try to dig that recipe up.

I’m wondering if authentic FOS calls for beef broth ???

I've heard of chicken broth being used too. I guess it's up to you.

Th author wrote the book while or after living in Paris. It's really about the home-cooking of Paris. He made friends with people and they would share their cooking styles and recipes with him. It is one of my favorite cook books and it stays on the shelf all year as I rotate cook books in and out seasonally.