We're taking a break from our vacation pictures for a delicious winter, root vegetable soup. For this recipe, the technique is easy, but is requires quite a bit a time. It's a good soup to make if you're watching several movies in a row, cleaning around the house or both. As with many soups and chilis, a bowl of this tastes even better several days later.
No need to shell out for Vidalia, Walla Walla or Red Onions. Inexpensive Yellow Onions work best.
French Onion Soup
Adapted from: Cook's Illustrated
Yields: About 6 servings
Soup Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions, halved and cut pole-to-pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 4 pounds)
salt
2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
1/4 red wine
1 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
2 springs fresh parsley leaves
ground black pepper
Crouton Ingredients:
baguette or crusty bread
fontina cheese
asiago or romano cheese
Soup Directions:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400°F. Generously spray inside a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven or soup pot with nonstick cooking spray.
Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Place pot in oven and cook, covered for 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume).
Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, about 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour. Cook longer to achieve the golden brown, if necessary.
Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat.
Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly.
Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary (scape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions).
Sit in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes.
Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown.
Stir in wine and balsamic vinegar, stirring frequently, until wine evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf and parsley (you will fish out the bay leaf and parsley later). Scape any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
Increase heat to heat and bring to simmer.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf and parsley, then season with pepper. Salt is necessary, but remember the broth probably had enough salt already.
Crouton Directions:
While soup simmers, arrange baguette or crusty bread slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400°F oven until bread is dry, crisp and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set croutons aside.
To Serve:
Adjust oven rack 4 to 6-inches from broiler and heat broiler.
Set heat-safe soup bowls or crocks on rimmed baking sheet and fill each with about 1 1/2 cup soup.
Top each bowl with two toasted baguette slices (try not to overlap) and divide fontina cheese slices, laying them in a single layer, if possible, on bread.
Sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons grated asiago or romano cheese and broil until well browned and bubbly, 7 to 10 minutes.
If using regular soup bowls, broil the toasts and the cheese only and then place toasts on top of the soup.
Cool 5 minutes and serve.
About 4 pounds of tear inducing root vegetables (AKA yellow onions).
Halved and cut pole-to-pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large Dutch oven or soup pot with nonstick cooking spray.
Place butter in pot.
Add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. It looks like a lot of onions, but they will cook down. Place this pot in the oven, cook, covered for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, the onions will be moist and slighted reduced in volume. Stir and scrape the bottom and sides of pot. Return the pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook 1 3/4 hours longer. The onions will become very soft and golden brown. Continue to cook longer to achieve the the golden brown color desired.
Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly.
Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. The dark crust is call fond and the fond is packed with flavor. Scape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.
Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown.
The onions have reached a very dark brown color.
Stir in wine and balsamic vinegar, stirring frequently, until wine evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf and parsley. Now is a good time to scrap up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
.
Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf and parsley, then season with pepper to taste.
Broil the baguette or crust bread slices and cheese and then place the toasts on top of the soup. Watch attentively, as it will brown quickly.
Place toasts on top of the soup. Cool 5 minutes and serve.
