Fond Memories of French Onion Soup :)

I love onions, they are an important part of my life. Onions are one ingredient that can be found in almost every dish from my childhood, without onions a very critical portion of my food heritage would be lost. I cannot imagine my life without them. My favorite onion dish that reaches far back into my childhood is French Onion Soup from the can.

French Onion soup is delicious. It is a warm bowl of caramelized onions cooked with a bit of salt and pinch of sugar and simmered in beef broth and wine to the perfect sweet and savory tang, then finally topped with a slice of bread covered in a delicious melted ooze of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese. I approach french onion soup with a definitive shyness. It was the first dish I had ever prepared from scratch to serve at a family event. French Onion Soup has since become my signature dish. It is a dish I make upon request for any family event. It is a dish I serve as a way to express my love and gratitude to people I care for.

My love affair with French Onion soup began with a can of Campbell’s’ French Onion Soup. I often pick the can from the soup aisle at the grocery store when my mother and I shopped. I would throw the can into the cart and go about cruising the other foods at my eye level, blissfully unaware French onion soup could have a richer flavor than that from a can opened and put on the stove under the careful supervision of my parents. Even into early adulthood when I wanted a warm bowl of familiarity on a dreary day I would find myself reaching for a can of Campbell’s French Onion.

During my sophomore year of high school, I decided it was time to learn to make “something” to take to family events like Christmas and Easter. This was quite the challenge since I was younger then and learning my way about the kitchen, a domain that had always belonged to my mother. My skills were limited at best and my recipe list was short. I wanted to make a dish that was unique to me and did not copy anyone else’s dishes. I did not want to compete with anyone else, I wanted a dish unique to me to have as a signature. Our holidays are an organized potluck deal where everyone brings what they’re known for, my mother always made the ham, my aunties dominated the desserts and sides, my grandfather handled the turkey and beef, my numerous cousins would bring fruit and sides. What did that really leave for me to specialize in? There was nothing I could think of.  😦

Inspiration hit as inspiration often does when I was watching The Food Network desperate for an idea. The show that would inspire and rule my fearlessness in the kitchen was about to show me something that “spoke” to me. Alton Brown made French Onion Soup on an episode of Good Eats. I remember watching the episode entranced. I could taste the sweetness of the freshly caramelized onions and the savoriness of the broth. I remember being instantly inspired to try it for myself, ‘It seems easy enough’ I had thought.

Alton’s show combines pop culture, science and food to make recipes or topics he covers relative and fun. Watching his show, even reruns has inspired me to grow my recipe catalogues and try recipes that prior I would have found far too complex. His show over others, because it combines science with cooking really engaged me and made me want to try new foods or recipes for myself unlike other shows on the air like Rachel Ray or Barefoot Contessa.

Being a sophomore in college meant I lacked my own wheels (>.<) and as a result my mother had to take me to the store to gather my ingredients for my first kitchen battle. Though I could not directly copy the list Alton gave in the episode I had the basic ingredients I would need and modified the list to suit my tastes a bit. I purchased four large brown onions, a box of beef bouillon cubes, a small jar of minced garlic and a little bottle of cooking wine.  It had looked so easy on TV. I thought it would be a breeze.

I was unfortunately not a patient person and I was very easily irritated. It is a little known fact (to me) that onions cause sulfuric acid to form in your eyes when you cut them and as a result you cry a lot. The eye irritation plus my impatiences resulted in a horrifically burned the first set of  poorly coarse-chopped onions (of varying sizes, shapes and thickness) I had thrown into the pot. My mother laughed at my efforts and asked if I would like some help. Since I had been so stubborn about doing it just like I had seen on TV. I was rather disheartened. My mother taught me how to properly slice onions.

Since that initial batch of soup, inspired by my deep desire to bring a heart warming dish to a family gathering, I have perfected my personal touch to this classic. This dish is one of the few that survived during the years I was a strict vegetarian and resurfaced again as I now eat anything but pork. I approach this dish with a basic scientific understanding of onion gases + water =sulfuric acid tears, a fond appreciation for ugly green OSHA approved safety goggles, which break the horrific cycle of onion gas + water = sulfuric acid, and freshly sharpened kitchen knife on a bamboo cutting board.

I have learned to balance the healthy crave of olive oil and the additional decadence a spoonful of unsalted butter can bring. I have contemplated the importance of homemade croutons compared to store bought croutons which is sometimes preferred to store bought baked bread.b And best of all I have learned my onions and which onions in the right combination makes a batch of soup my family loves and has come to expect.

No matter how many times I make my french onion soup I still find myself thinking back to when I was a kid sipping the freshly heated canned soup out of a mug on cold days. Innocent to the fact that the soup could carry with it so much heart and could be satisfying to more than just my flavor profile. I cringe at the memory of that initial burned batch of onions in the bottom of my mother’s stock pot and me not understanding why high heat was not the answer to caramelizing onions quicker as I was forced to scrub the pot clean. Most importantly I clearly  remember when I made the soup for Christmas, my sophomore year in high school as I hesitantly handed the bowl of soup to my grandfather, the head of our family, to see what he would say. Those tense moments of apprehension and doubt when I let him take the bowl away from me and taste it, never forgetting the eruption of happiness I felt when he told me, “Jordan, it’s very good.”

 

3 Onion French Onion Soup

(My choice of Onions is always a mix of red,white and brown)

 

Ingredients:

 

1 loaf french bread

64 oz beef broth (pre made or from bouillon cubes)

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2-1/3 cup of cornstarch

1 cup of white wine

2 medium brown onions

2 medium red onions

2 medium yellow onions

5 tablespoons of butter (unsalted) if you use salted don’t add 1/4 teaspoon of salt

3-5 cup of mozzarella cheese

Olive oil for brushing bread

Broiler safe serving dishes

 

Optional Equipment:

Safety Goggles to prevent sulfuric acid development in eyes 🙂

Kitchen Timer

Tasting Spoon

 

Cooking Instructions:

 

• Cut onions into uniform slices and set aside in a bowl.

• In a large stock pot melt butter and garlic over medium flame.

• After 3 minutes add onions to stock pot. Sweat onions down until almost translucent stirring occasionally.  (20-35 minutes)

•  Once onions are translucent add sugar and salt (if using unsalted butter). Mix and allow onions to caramelize. (10 – 25 minutes).  You may see some burning at the bottom of the pan, this is expected as the onions should turn a dark brown color. You should not smell any foul or off odors typical of burnt food. The onions should workable as they caramelize and not be stuck to the bottom of the pot.

• Once onions have caramelized and carry a sweet aroma you add the cornstarch to the mixture and mix it in until you have a sticky ball of onions in the middle of the pot.

• Then pour in the beef stock, reduce the heat to low and stir in the wine. Make sure you have enough liquid in the pan to cover onions. Cover pan and let simmer over medium heat for 30-40 minutes (or until all alcohol has burned off).  Typically the alcohol burns off after 30 minutes. If not turn up heat slightly and monitor. The broth should have a sweet and savory aroma and flavor profile without any underlying bitterness from the wine once all the alcohol has burned off.

• While you wait for the alcohol to burn off slice your loaf of french bread into 2-3 in thick slices  depending on your broiler safe cookware.

• Brush bread slices with olive oil and place into broiler to toast. (If no broiler place into oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 2-3 minutes. Monitor bread for browning.

  • Turn bread slices to toast both sides.

• Once the alcohol has burned off the soup and the bread has been toasted it’s time to assemble.

 

Assembly

 

• Place some of your shredded cheese into each broiler safe serving dish.

• Using a ladle or spoon filled dish 2/3 of the way with soup.

• Place toasted bread on top of the soup.

• Liberally cover bread slice and soup with cheese.

 

After assembling your dishes place in broiler on high until the cheese is melting bubbly cheesy mass with a crispy edge around the edges of the dish. (2-4 minutes)

 

Remember you want the cheese to be melted and slightly browned but not black.

 

Serve hot and with a smile. 🙂