Simple French Onion Soup

Tonight’s dinner was something I wanted to try making for a while now. Historically, this dish is said to be a poor man’s dish because onions were plentiful back then, and terribly easy to grow. According to Wiki, legend has it that this dish could have originated from King Louis XV of France, waking up one night with the munchies.

Whatever it is, I recall one particular version I had which had every component right – flavorful beef-infused broth, sweetened by fragrant onions topped with a thick piece of bread smothered in hot dripping cheese. Comfort food at it’s finest.

Here’s my simple version:

Large white onions (about 1.5 for every person)
One clove of garlic
Beef broth*
Half a wine glass of dry white wine
1/2 tablespoon of flour
Sprig of Thyme
One Bay Leaf
Butter and olive oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste
Baguette
Gruyere cheese

*Beef broth – For a simple homemade version, just take beef bones and one quartered onion and bring to simmer uncovered, very gently in a pot of water for a few hours.

First, roughly chop the onions. Be warned that chopping 3 large white onions can cause a constant stream of tears. If you have a low tolerance, please use a food processor. Though I must add that a good cry is rather therapeutic once in a while. Roughly chop garlic as well.

Take a large pot, whack in the butter and some olive oil and dump in all the chopped onions, followed by garlic. Add the sprig of Thyme and Bay Leaf. Now, this is important, you’ll need to slowly cook the onions down, allowing caramelization to take place. This will allow the breakdown of the onions’ sugars and release the more complex flavors. Keep the heat low-to-medium, and you can take your eyes off and go do something else (like drying your tears). Come back once every few minutes to give it a stir. In about 40-45 minutes, you’ll see that the onions will have come down in volume, the color will be a nutty brown and the kitchen will be filled with a sweet aroma. Remember, don’t turn up the heat to rush this, and add a little more olive oil if it looks too dry, but it should be OK.

When you’re happy with the onion’s state, add the flour and stir for a minute or so. You’re making a Roux, which is fancy French term for a thickener. The Chinese version would be corn flour mixed with water, but we’re not cooking chinese today. Bring the heat up a little, you’ll want to cook the flour for at least a minute to rid the raw floury taste. After that, add the wine and start scraping the bottom of the pot, deglazing all the yummy bits. Add the broth, turn the heat up to almost a boil and bring down to simmer covered. After 30 minutes or so, you’re done with the soup.

To serve, slice your baguette thick and toast. Scoop soup in oven-proof bowls or ramekins. Float your baguette on the soup and top with as much gruyere as you like. Place your bowls in your pre-heated oven (of about 220 degrees celsius) and keep an eye on your bowls. Once the cheese is melted and a little brown, take it out. Careful not to let your baguette burn.

It should look like this (halfway through eating – sorry).

One last thing, if you don’t have oven-proof ramekins like me, just prepare the baguette with cheese separately and float it on your soup after. A normal bowl can’t take the heat and you might end up with cracked or worse, broken bowls and hot soup on your toes.

Enjoy.