French Onion Soup — So Easy But So Good!
This restaurant favorite actually can be made at home in around 30 minutes, even with slicing and caramelizing the onions.
Caramelizing — cooking the onions to a glossy brown —concentrates the natural sugar in them. They lose their pungent flavor and become sweet and mellow.
I usually start out with the advice of Cook’s Illustrated’s “Perfect Vegetables” cookbook for skillet caramelizing: Use higher heat at first, so the onions quickly release moisture, while you’re stirring them. Then turn the heat to medium and stir occasionally, until they are glossy and tan-colored. You may want to wait until they turn darker, for a richer flavor, but you need to be careful to keep stirring, so they don’t burn.
There’s something heavenly about the aroma of the caramelizing onions and garlic together.
Most French onion soup recipes say to ladle out the soup, then top it with a baguette slice, then top that with cheese and place under a broiler until the cheese bubbles. But it can be a hassle to lift bowls of sloshing soup in and out of the oven. I prefer toasting croutons or bread slices with cheese, then placing them on the soup just as you serve it.
4 large onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter or olive oil (or half butter, half olive oil)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 14.5-ounce cans beef broth
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 to 2 cups croutons
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1. Heat butter and/or olive oil in large stock pot over very low heat, while peeling and thinly slicing the onions. (Cut each onion in half and set flat side on the cutting board. Then slice into 1/4-inch slices.)
2. When onions are sliced, turn the heat to high. Add onions to the sizzling oil or butter, and stir continually for about 5 minutes, until they are clear and begin to turn tan. Take care not to let them to burn.
3. Turn the heat down to medium, and add the brown sugar, garlic, rosemary and thyme and continue cooking the onions for about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. Onions should be deep tan and sticky.
4. Add the broth; bring soup to a gentle boil for 5 more minutes. Add several grinds of pepper to taste.
5. While soup is boiling, preheat the broiler and spread out 1 to 2 cups of croutons on a pie tin; or set out 6 bread slices on a cookie sheet. Top the croutons or bread with shredded parmesan.
6. Place in the oven on “broil” for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is bubbly. Ladle the soup in six bowls and top each serving with the parmesan croutons or bread slices. Makes about 6 1-1/2 cup servings.