Cassie’s Ruminations

French Onion Soup

I love French onion soup. It’s one of the few ways I can eat onions without getting a migraine. Whatever I’m allergic too seems to be chemically altered in the hour-long caramelization process. Shaun didn’t like it, but he’s not a fan of onion soups.

I based my recipe from a few sources: Elise of Simply Recipes – combining her original recipe with her recent instructions on caramelizing onions, and also drawing off of the very highly rated recipes of Ina Garten’s and Tyler Florence’s. For the white wine, I used one of the little 187 ml bottles that come in a four-pack. It’s about 0.8 cups. They’re very convenient for cooking when you aren’t much of a wine drinker.

I think it turned out quite nicely. The calories below are for the soup only, without the bread and cheese. I topped mine with a toasted sourdough English muffin half and some provolone because that’s what I had, but I do highly recommend the French bread and Gruyère if you have it 🙂

French Onion Soup
Makes 10 cups, serves 4-6

For the soup:
4 large sweet onions, about 4 pounds (I used Mayan Sweet, but Vidalia or Walla Walla also work well)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
½ tsp of sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 quarts low sodium beef broth
¾ cup white wine
3 tbsp brandy
1 bay leaf
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
¼ tsp ground black pepper
For the topping:
4 slices French bread, toasted
1 cup grated Swiss Gruyère
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Peel and thinly slice the onion. Sauté in a large saucepan with the butter and olive oil over medium high heat for 10 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, and garlic, and sauté for another 5 minutes at medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, for another 30-45 minutes or until the onions are nicely browned throughout, but not burned.

Add the beef broth, wine, brandy, and spices and stir to combine. Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes. Serve alone or if topping is desired, continue on with instructions.

Preheat broiler to high. Ladle soup into 4 ovenproof crocks or bowls. Top each with a slice or two of toasted bread to cover the soup, then top the bread with cheese. Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and turning golden.