There are a couple of keys things to consider when making French onion soup.  One, using a combination of beef and veal stock adds a depth of flavor that’s tough to beat.  Two, the onions need to caramelized for quite a long time to really develop the flavor of the onions and to provide an even deeper flavor to the stock.  With such a simple soup, it becomes really important to develop the flavors of the few individual components.  Traditionally, the soup is accented with some fresh thyme and usually a splash of either Cognac, red wine, or dry sherry to finish.  Personally, I’ve tried it with all of those and though they do add a punch of background flavor at the end, I really feel that it’s not all that necessary.  However, if you try the finished soup and feel it needs a little extra something, certainly feel free to throw in a bit of one of those.

Note:  This soup is better when prepared a day or two ahead of time, giving the combined flavors a chance to meld together prior to final serving.

I apologize for this taking so long as I promised this recipe a while ago but once again time got away from me as I juggled not feeling super well with leaving for a few days to meet Tara in Phoenix.  In the middle of that, I tried a basic Asian pork belly recipe and thought that would be ready to roll but it turns out that it’s not really ready for prime time so I will have to play with that particular dish a bit more and post the resulting recipe once I arrive at one I think is both doable and delicious.  So, stay tuned for that at some point soon!  Recipe and more photos follow after the jump…

Ingredients:

12-15 medium onions (I used a mix of white and yellow onions)

2 Quarts Beef Stock

1 Quart veal stock

3 or 4 Sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems

4-8 Large slices of gruyere or comte cheese (or combination)

4 Two inch slices of French baguette, dried and toasted

Optional splash (a couple tablespoons) Cognac, red wine, or dry sherry

Kosher Salt

Grapeseed oil

1 Tablespoon sugar or honey

Instructions:

• Slice all the onions to ¼ inch thickness or so and place in large bowl as you go. Continue until all onions are finished.  Once finished, set aside.
• Heat a very large pot over medium high heat and add enough grapeseed oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Once the oil has been in the pan for a couple of minutes, reduce heat to medium and add all the onions.  The pan will be very full but the onions will wilt and then melt as they cook.
• Cook the onions, stirring fairly regularly until the onions have wilted and at least reduced in half by volume and stirring is more manageable. Once that happens, add a pinch of salt and the tablespoon of sugar or honey.
• Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring very regularly until the onions are completely reduced and both look melted and browned. Reduce heat to a scant simmer and allow to simmer for one to two hours (some recipes call for as much as a six hour simmer and, by all means, if you have the time, feel free as it will just continue to intensify in flavor).  Stir the onions occasionally once simmering to ensure that they are not burning.  If they are burning and the pot is at the lowest setting, move the pot half on and half off the burner and continue to allow them to cook.  Continue to keep an eye on them and stir as necessary to avoid burning.
• Once the onions have finished, place another pot over medium heat and combine the beef and veal stocks. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat.  Allow the liquid to remain on low for about 30 minutes.  At that point, add the onions to the pot.  If you are serving immediately, then allow the onions and stock to remain on low heat for another 30 minutes to combine flavors.
• If you are going to serve the soup later, simply remove soup from heat and pour into bowl. Add ice to a very large bowl and add some water.  Place the soup bowl into the ice bowl and allow the soup to cool rapidly.
• Once cool, refrigerate until ready to use.
• When ready, place soup in pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low/simmer and allow to sit.  While that is happening, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
• While the oven is preheating, take 4 healthy slices of the cheese and place over ramekin or other oven safe serving bowl to ensure the cheese fits over the top. If it doesn’t, you may need to use 2 slices of cheese to accomplish that.  Remove the slices and reserve for later.  Grate the remaining cheese using the coarsest setting.  Set aside the grated cheese.
• Add the thyme leaves to the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding salt to taste.  If you are using Cognac, sherry, or red wine, add it now.  Taste again and adjust seasonings as necessary to suit your taste.
• Place the baguette slices in the oven and toast for six minutes. Turn the slices over and toast another six minutes or until nicely browned.  Remove bread from oven and set aside.
• Place the oven on broil and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
• Place four ramekins on a baking sheet. Ladle the onion soup into the ramekins up to around ½ inch or so from the top.  Place the toasted baguette on top of the soup and then nestle it into the soup allowing about half of it to be covered by the broth.
• Place the cheese slices over the top to completely cover the whole of the bowl. Add a bit of the grated cheese over the tops of the cheese slices, dividing evenly until all of it is used.
• Place the baking sheet in the oven to broil the top. Broil for around 3 minutes and then check the soup bowls.  Once the cheese is both melted and browned on top, remove from the oven and serve immediately while very hot.  If after the three minute point the soup is not done, allow to cook another couple minutes, checking it after each minute to ensure that it does not burn (it will burn easily as you are broiling so you need to watch it carefully.  It can also catch fire so, again, be careful and use appropriate caution while broiling).

Serves four with lots of leftover onion soup to be enjoyed as leftovers or frozen and used later.