by Karen Soo, Newsletter Editor

Baby, It’s cold out there.

New York encountered some cold, frigid weather in the past week. Hats, gloves and down jackets are definitely needed. It doesn’t feel this cold skiing in the mountains.

Nothing beats this weather with some hot soup to warm up this young body. This French Onion soup is a favorite of mine. You know the restaurants are charging between $9.00 to $12.00 for just a bowl of French Onion with the melted Gruyere cheese on top. Make it yourself. You can use half the recipe and smile after that first taste.

Enjoy!

Bon Appetite – Julia Child and Karen Soo shares the same birthday.

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1hour 20 minutes

Servings: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 to 4 large red or yellow onions (about 3 pounds), peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 2 quarts beef stock (8 cups)
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
  • 8 to 12 (½-inch) slices French bread (from 1 loaf)
  • 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese

DIRECTIONS

  1. Melt butter in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and ½ teaspoon salt, stir and cover, letting onions soften for 5 minutes. Remove lid and let onions caramelize until golden brown over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Adjust heat if onions are browning too quickly. The caramelization process may take 45 to 60 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, warm broth in a saucepan over low heat.
  • Once onions are caramelized, add wine and sherry to the pot and allow mixture to come to boil. Stir in flour and let thicken for a minute or two.
  • Slowly add warm broth, ¼ teaspoon salt and the pepper to the onion mixture and boil uncovered for 10 minutes. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
  • Heat the broiler, and arrange individual ovenproof casseroles on a baking sheet. Ladle soup into casseroles, and cover top with bread slices. Sprinkle each casserole generously with Gruyère.
  • Broil for a minute or two, watching carefully, until cheese melts and browns. Serve immediately.

Tip

  • You can prepare the soup through step 4 up to 2 months in advance. Thaw and reheat, then top with the bread and cheese and broil to serve.