French Onion Soup

The best French Onion Soup I’ve ever tasted was in Montreal. I wouldn’t - couldn’t! - try to emulate it. The second-best French Onion Soup I’ve ever tasted was in Paris, served with croutons and une certaine hauteur. This French Onion Soup will just have to do. I made it from my recipe for Beef Stock (blogged March 9, 2012), but you can use commercially made stock or canned beef bouillon if you wish. This recipe calls for Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. I had no Mozzarella or baguette when I made this, so left them out and earned a gold star in Calorie Heaven. But I just had to have some fresh Parmesan (I’ll give you my Parmesan when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!). By the way, this soup has no salt because Parmesan tends to be salty. So here’s my recipe, with the calorific stuff included!

French Onion Soup:

4 dry slices of French baguette, trimmed to fit inside soup bowls

2 tbsp. butter or margarine

1 tbsp. canola oil

3 large onions, thinly sliced

1 tbsp. flour

3 c. beef broth (or two 10-oz. cans beef bouillon with ½ c. water)

2 tsp. steak sauce (such as HP or A-1)

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. powdered or liquid beef concentrate such as Bovril

¼ c. dry red wine

Coarsely ground pepper, to taste

½ c. grated Mozzarella

¼ c. grated Parmesan

Lightly toast baguette slices and set aside. Heat butter and oil in large, heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add onions, stirring often until onions soften. Reduce heat to low, covering pot with a toothpick between lid and pot to release steam. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 min. until onions begin to brown. Stir in flour, cooking 2 min. Add about 1 c. of the broth, blending with flour. Add remaining broth, steak sauce, Worcestershire, beef concentrate, and wine. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 min. Pepper to taste. 

Preheat oven to broil. Ladle soup into four oven-proof bowls, floating toasted baguette slice on top and covering with grated cheeses. Propping oven door slightly open, broil on top setting for oven rack until cheese bubbles and is lightly golden. Serve immediately. Yields 4 servings.

Slice 3 large onions (each, the size of a softball!)

Add thinly sliced onion to heated pot and hot oil 

Continue to stir onions until lightly browned

Brown through the addition of rich sauces and seasonings

Here comes the Worcestershire, for good measure! 

Ready to serve, steaming hot!