What’s for dinner . . .
2007
Did I say coming soon to a blog near you? Yes, it’s been a while since last we saw these bones. We were left with lovely, thick gelled deep brown beef broth, the expectation of things to come and the echos from all those belly laughs back and forth across that big pond.
I’ve been called a lot of different names but never Mother Abbess. Yes, I’m cooking again with Karen at BakeMyDay. You’ll want to be sure and read her take on this onion soup as well. She does have some very smooth moves.
The devil is in the details. For Thomas Keller, the more basic the soup, the more important the details.
I loved this soup and I loved the fussy details. It’s not something I’ll do often but once in awhile. I enjoyed the exploration of the process. Interesting to learn that cutting the onions with the grain will speed the most complete caramelizing. And it was interesting to see how far a chef will go to create great dishes.
Most what I enjoyed was sharing the whole process with someone who can make me laugh and commiserate so well with as Karen at BakeMyDay!
Onion Soup
Soupe A L’Oignon
adapted closely from Bouchon by Thomas Keller
Sachet:
2 bay leaves
12 black peppercorns
6 large thyme sprigs
Soup:
8 pounds (about 8 large) yellow onions
8 T (4 oz ) unsalted butter
sea salt or Kosher salt
1.5 T AP flour (omitted)
Fresh ground black pepper
Croutons:
1 baguette
Olive oil for basting bread slices
Sea salt
6 - 12 slices (thin) Comte or Emmentaler Cheese squares
1.5 c grated Comte or Emmentaler cheese(s)
Wrap bay leaves, peppercorns & thyme in square of cheese cloth and tie to form sachet.
The beef stock already being made here, everything about this soup from here on revolves around caramelizing the onions. 
Elise at SimplyRecipes gives an excellent picturing (here) of how to slice the onions for this except you will need to cut both ends off the onion. Keller’s directions on cutting the onions are clear if you follow them with an onion and knife in hand. The end result of cutting the onion end to end with the grain gives beautiful crescent shaped slivers.
Melt butter in a large heavy (I used cast iron) stock-pot. 
Add the about 7 quarts of onions and 1 T salt in the stock-pot with a diffuser under it. Reducing the heat to low, cook the onions stirring every 15 minutes until the onions have wilted and reduced much of their liquid which will take about an hour. 
The mix should bubble gently. Cook very slowly to avoid scorching and stir every 15 minutes for another 4 to 5 hours. When the liquid has evaporated you will need to pay even closer attention to prevent burning. When the onions are caramelized throughout and a rich brown color has developed they are done. You will need 1.5 cups for the soup; extras can be used where ever it calls for caramelized onions.
This is where Karen and I were e-mailing pictures and changing text colors, trying to communicate what our caramelized onions looked like.
The onions can be prepared 2 days ahead to this point and refrigerated.
Keller’s recipe called for 1.5 T of flour to be added at this point. Cook’s Illustrated results seemed to indicate it just clouded the soup. I didn’t see how 1.5 T was going to add much in the way of thickening to this much liquid and so left it out. Karen seemed to think it had a good effect; I’ll use it next time.
Add the 3.5 quarts of beef stock 
and the prepared sachet of herbs to the warm onions and simmer about an hour reducing the stock down to about 2.5 quarts of liquid. Remove from heat. Discard the sachet. Season to taste with salt & pepper and even a few drops of sherry wine vinegar if you like. I thought it just right without any.
Cut enough 1.5 inch thick slices to cover the soup bowls as completely as possible. 
Brush both sides of the bread lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt (another reason I didn’t think I needed to add more salt to the soup). Place slices under the broiler and toast each side a golden brown. I did these early in the day.
Use traditional French Onion flameproof bowls/tureens with about 1.5 c capacity. Mine came with lids.
To assemble the soup:
Return the soup to a simmer. Place the bowls on a baking sheet because there will be drips and overflow. Fill the bowls to within 1/2 inch of the top. Float, do not push into the soup, the croutons on top of the soup. Lay the cheese slices overlapping the bowl edges and fill in any openings with the grated cheese.
Place the bowls under the broiler until the cheese bubbles, browns and gets crusty. Diners may wish for an extra toast, so you may want to have some extras made ready.
This is so good and so rich; it really is a meal! We enjoyed this with another couple one evening and all were in agreement this is the glorious real deal on French Onion Soup. My husband was asking for leftovers for two days until it was all gone!
Is this worth the fuss and mess? In my book yes! This is liquid heaven. I used a very sweet Peruvian yellow onion to make this soup. I’d like to say these were Texas sized onions but they were a new type and from Peru. Now, when I say this next part Karen will know just how unfair life can really be. These onions were not only large compared to hers but they also did not do the onion thing on my eyes. I peeled and sliced all 8 of these babies and didn’t tear up even once. I very much want to try this next time with red onions. I know they’ll make me cry but I just want to taste the difference. I now feel like I have something to compare any future onion soup to and I learned some excellent techniques along the way. And now I can say I did it!
I had wanted to get this done in time for Alanna’s month of soups but there was just too much going on here and with Karen across the pond. I did put the beef stock into her mix of soups and I WON the cookbook! I’ll be recieving a copy of Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons, generously provided and personally autographed by cookbook author Nava Atlas herself. Now that is going to be really cool! Thank you so much Alanna and Nava!!
Most important, Karen and I have laughed up a few more waves across the Atlantic pond and enjoyed some really good meals again.
Mother Abbess asks: What’s next my friend?
Soup’s On...
Sunday, March 4, 2007
In which we find bones and soup and a friend.
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