I want to thank everyone (no one, not even one person!!!!!!!) for voting for my pumpkin yesterday! I really thought that mine was the best. I am clearly the most skilled pumpkin carver out there! I think the contest was fixed by our photographer though. Next year, I will win the pumpkin carving contest! I am already plotting my revenge. In case anyone is curious, Cliff did the monster pumpkin, my Mom did the cockroach pumpkin, I did the haunted house with the ghost and Kelly did the other one. Cliff is incapable of losing at anything so of course he had to beat us at pumpkin carving as well. He takes gingerbread house decorating just as serious! Next year Cliff, I will beat you. Watch out!!
I first saw this soup on America’s Test Kitchen. Does anyone watch that show? To be honest, Chris Kimball really annoys me!! But I still really like the show. It is nice that they test out different methods and ingredients and tell us what works best. It saves me from having recipe failures! Thank you America’s Test Kitchen!!! I am not a big fan of onions so this soup is not my favorite. But even though I hate onions, all the gooey cheese makes this soup irresistible. This soup is pretty time consuming. It is NOT one of those long cooking dishes that is also largely hands off. You will need to keep an eye on the soup and stir often. But I promise, the end result is worth the wait. This soup also freezes well, so have a bowl and save the rest for later!
Here is what you’ll need
Cut each onion in half from pole to pole; remove skin
Remove the end and begin slicing into half moons
Put the onions in a dutch oven with the butter and salt
Cook for 1 hour. Stir, and put back in the oven
Cook an additional 1 1/2 hours; remove from oven
Cook on the stove top for about 20 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated
Keep cooking until a burnt looking crust forms on the bottom of the pan. This crust is called fond and that is where the flavor comes from.
Add 1/4 cup chicken broth to deglaze the pan. See how the “burnt crust” is gone?
I deglazed 3 more times. I finally have that nice dark color I want.
Deglaze one more time. This time use the sherry.
Add the remaining broths, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and let it cook another 1/2 hour
Meanwhile, toast your bread slices and grate your cheese
Once the soup is ready, transfer into oven-safe soup bowls. I like to put the bowls on a baking sheet.
Top with sliced bread and grated cheese and put under the broiler. Just a little longer now…
Looks good, right?
Not even an onion hater like me can resist this soup!
French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 5 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 cup beef broth
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Cheese Toasts
- French Bread , cut into 1/2-inch slices
- Shredded Gruyère cheese
Instructions
- djust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray the inside of a 7 quart Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the sliced onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1½ hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour. Remove the pot from the 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 the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.) Stir in ¼ cup of chicken broth, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until liquid has evaporated and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining broths, thyme, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping 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 for 30 minutes. Remove and discard thyme and bay leaves, then season with salt and pepper. Toast the slices of french bread in the oven for about 5 minutes. Transfer the soup to smaller soup bowls; top with the bread and shredded gruyere. Place under the soup under the broiler until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
