French Onion Soup
Description
I have to confess to being a very impatient cook. I like things to be fast and furious in the kitchen. Bish bash bosh a 3 course meal for 6 on the table in under an hour. BUT and it is a big but when you’re making French onion soup you have to slow yourself right down and take your time. First there is the mountain of onions you have to peel and thinly slice, then there is the 45 minutes it takes to slowly cook and brown the onions in butter and olive oil. It is quite frankly a dish of love, because you cannot leave it to its own devices, you have to be there the whole time, giving it maximum attention and slavishly hovering with wooden soup in hand to make sure your onions do not burn. But it is worth every single mouthful.
Ingredients
1 ½ oz unsalted butter and some olive oil4 large onions, halved and thinly sliced and 2 finely diced garlic cloves
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 ½ pints of chicken stock (or you can use beef instead)
2 Tbsp white wine
Dash of cognac
4 large slices French bread, toasted
grated gruyère cheese
Instructions
Preparing and assembling your ingredients.Melt butter and add olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and wilt over low heat for 15 minutes. Do not leave, stir every few minutes or so, do not let them burn, the idea is to soften them, slowly browning your onions.
After 15 minutes, turn up the heat a little, sprinkle on the sugar and salt, mix, and continue to cook uncovered until caramelized (approximately 30 minutes).
Add 1 oz of plain flour, sprinkle in and cook for a further 3 minutes and keep moving in the pan. Add pepper.
Add a pint of the stock, stir and simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. It will thicken, smells fantastic at this stag. Add the rest of the stock, and the cognac. Cook for another 30 - 40 minutes.
Volia! Onion Soup.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Use oven-proof bowls. Fill with soup, top with a slice of the bread and sprinkle with grated gruyère.
Bake until cheese melts and is bubbly and golden brown.
Careful when you remove from the oven and it's very hot, let it cool a little, serve with pride.