When I took the time to thoroughly caramelize the onions for a special version of my Vegetable Beef Soup last week, I got to craving classic French onion soup. Ever since my mother and I watched Julia Child make it on television when I was a child, I've intended to make it. Every time I have it in a French restaurant, I've intended to make it. For some reason, I never have. But, at last, today was the day!
Naturally, I started with Julia's version in Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Volume One. And, just as naturally, I couldn't help making a few additions and subtractions as well as streamlining the directions. There's nothing difficult about it. It just takes a little patience and some good broth or stock. If you don't want to take at least 45 minutes to properly caramelize the onions, don't make this soup. If you don't want to make homemade beef stock or buy some really good stock or broth, don't make this soup.
I used Pacific Natural Foods organic beef broth, a superb product I always have in the pantry, and it was wonderful! Good, flavorful, not-too-salty broth or stock is key to this soup. And there are plenty of recipes out there shortcutting the cooking of the onions. Don't you believe them!
We have many weeks of Soup Weather ahead - tell me about your favorite soups.
French Onion Soup - Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking
(Makes 7 cups / 6 servings)
1 1/2 pounds yellow onions, quartered and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 quart very good beef broth or stock
1 quart water
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons brandy, optional
6 rounds of hard-toasted French bread
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
6 tablespoons shredded Parmesan
1 In heavy-bottomed large pot (a 4-quart is fine, but I used my Le Creuset 5.5-Quart French Oven), cook the onions in butter and oil over low heat, covered, for 15 minutes. No need to watch them, just set the timer and walk away.
2 Stir in the salt and sugar (helps with browning). Cook, uncovered, over moderate heat (onions should be sizzling), stirring frequently,* for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until onions are well caramelized, evenly golden brown.
* Who even knows what "stirring frequently" means? I've never seen a definitive answer to that question, so I'm going to say it means every 2 or 3 minutes (though maybe every minute toward the end).
3 During the last 15 minutes of cooking the onions, bring the stock and water to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan.
4 Sprinkle flour over the caramelized onions. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the sherry, and cook for 1 minute.
5 Off heat, stir (gradually at first) the boiling liquid into the onions. Stir in the thyme, marjoram and black pepper (and the brandy, if you're using it). Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning (at this point, I added another 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper). May be made ahead to this point, cooled and then refrigerated until ready to use. While soup is simmering, cut slices of French bread to fit your broiler-proof* soup bowls and toast them on a baking sheet in the oven until they are hard as well as toasted.
6 About 10 minutes before serving, preheat broiler. Bring the soup to a boil, then ladle into broiler-proof soup bowls. Place toast rounds on top, and spread cheeses over each. Place on a large, foil-lined baking sheet and put under the broiler for about 2 minutes to melt cheese and brown the tops.
*If your bowls are not broiler-proof, after oven-toasting the bread just top the toasts on the baking sheet with cheese and pop them under the broiler until cheese is bubbling and browning, then float them on the bowls of soup.
Note: If you're a Julia Child fan, you might enjoy reading my Vegetable Quiche post about one of my conversations with her.
when food network picked chocolate chip cookies for this week's comfort food feast i had a moment of panic. you see, my january "goal" is to eat only whole foods...nothing processed. nothing white (flour, sugar, rice, etc). no dairy. lots of greens. you get the idea. i am doing everything possible to avoid this horrible flu without getting a flu shot (personal choice). so...regular chocolate chip cookies are out. delicious,healthy, comfort food chocolate chip cookies that meet my goal? yes, yes, yes!
there are a million recipes for "regular" chocolate chip cookies and i know food network and my fellow food bloggers will provide a number of delicious choices. i decided to do some experimenting to create another option...a good-for-you option. now these are not diet or low cal cookies. the calorie content is probably about the same as the traditional kind. but mine contain whole grain flours, less sugar than most recipes...and i used a blend of coconut sugar and organic sugar... a mix of bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate and toasted pine nuts for sweetness and crunch. (i am a taos girl right now after all!). a really important part for me is that, wherever possible, i used whole, unprocessed organic ingredients. i think they taste better, are better for you and reassure me that my food is good for me...and for the planet. so, if you can, try using organic or sustainably grown items in this recipe. so worth it...and even better at making the cookies "guilt free".
* i love unbleached white whole wheat flour, whole wheat which has been milled from the lightest wheat kernels...so light they are almost white. contains all the fiber and nutrients of regular whole wheat but lighter in color and taste. note...this is not white flour...the color is light brown when baked. i like the king arthur brand*
it is chocolate chip cookie week at .JPG)
what a month it has been! first, my computer's hard drive crashed 4 weeks ago and i went for a week without being on line. then i got really sick...it turned into pneumonia and i have been bed ridden for three weeks. today is the first day that i feel a bit better...and the first day i feel like cooking. happily, it is meatloaf week at food network. what a perfect dish for getting back into the kitchen..JPG)
i was talking to my mom a few weeks ago about her meatloaf recipe. she has made it my entire life and it is the family favorite. i have not made it in years and promised her that on my next visit we would make it together. i made today's version from memory....happily, it looks, smells and tastes like hers.
Shrimp salad
Sushi from old school Sakae Sushi in Gardena
Somen salad
Root beer pulled pork, guava jelly chicken wings and tamale pie... perhaps not enjoyed by our samurai ancestors in Japan, but us Japanese Americans put our own spin on things.
Guava jelly chicken wings
You had to save lots of room for dessert - homemade an mochi, brownie mochi, mochi bundt and broken glass bundt!
I brought a bundt, of course! And the mochi in the ozoni soup was from our annual mochi making day.
I made half the recipe and filled a 5" round pan. I didn't have the fine cornmeal called for in the recipe, so I tried processing some regular cornmeal. I don't think that made much difference (perhaps it was my small food processor), so next time I'll take awesome cookbook author Alisa Huntsman's @janeofmanytrade recommendation and get corn flour instead. It's so cool when I ask something on Twitter and a super nice pastry chef writes back! Alisa, totally owe you a bundt cake :)
I think there is nothing prettier than blood oranges. They are the sassy ones in the citrus family.