As I made french onion soup the other day, I was suddenly pleased that it was not on the menu when I was working in the kitchen. God knows that soup is a job for an apprentice, who can cry and sweat while it cooks and not for the actual chef.
French onion soup is a labour of love. Or maybe an exercise in torturing yourself, I’m not entirely sure.
Onions are not my favourite things. I love eating them and currently, I’ve got a whole patch of my garden planted with them, but preparing them drives me up the wall.
So why, you might ask, did I willingly choose to make this soup?
Well you see, I bought a 10kg bag of onions a few weeks ago and it was the day before supermarket day and onions were about all we had left in the house. So onion soup it was.
And trust me, it is so worth the effort.
I peeled the onions in a sink full of water so that I didn’t cry too badly, treading on children underfoot as I went. As I started slicing the onions though, I had to kick them out of the kitchen because the onion gases were everywhere and I really didn’t need two sobbing children flumping at my feet.
Slicing the onions was a nightmare, it doesn’t matter how fast you work, when you’ve got 18-20 medium onions in front of you, you’ll never be fast enough.
I cried. A lot.
Once they’d cooked down a bit it was better, then I was just stuck in front of the stove, stirring every 20 seconds or so until they caramelised to a nice deep brown.
I added the chicken stock, from cubes, because I’ve been lazy and not made any home made stuff, and hey presto, it was good to go.
Delicious.
Ingredients:
A good amount of onions – I think I used 18 or so.
2tb butter
4tb olive oil
6 cups of chicken stock
Method:
Melt the butter and olive oil together in a large pot. Add the sliced onions and cook over a moderate heat, stirring regularly until they caramelise. They will try and catch on the bottom of the pot, so make sure you don’t burn them. The caramelisation can take up to 45 minutes.
Once they’re caramelised, add the chicken stock and check the flavour, add salt if necessary.
Serve.
Traditionally, french onion soup is served with a piece of grilled baguette with melted cheese floated in the top. I didn’t do that because of the children’s coeliacs, but you probably could.
{ 6 comments }
A friend of mine used to work at the pickled onion factory, peeling onions all day. She said it took about twenty minutes of tears before you were immune to the onion gas. Unfortunately the immunity doesn’t last and so she would have to cry again the next day.
your soup looks divine. and tut tut on not making any fresh stock.
After about 10 minutes, my eyes got better but I could feel it in the back of my throat, burning.
I’ve always used beef stock for onion soup. My boys liked parmesan crisps with this. Just some little piles of grated parmesan on a baking sheet in a hot oven for a few minutes until they melt into thin crisp disks.
Spag Bol for us tonight, which I’d better go and do as no other bugger will!
I love french onion soup. I don’t think I’ve had it for about 5 years. I need to remedy that soon.
I’ve never made onion soup, but yours looks so good I might just give it a try this winter. Do you also get pain along with your onion tears? I get half an onion chopped and then I’m in serious trouble. I’ve just recently bought a pair of swimming goggles to wear while cutting onions. They’re not fully effective against the fumes, but I can get a whole onion done without crying. The number needed for soup might be more of a challenge.
@sharon; my kids like parmesan crisps too, but we put our grated cheese on tiny squares of bread which we’d rolled flat and thin with a rolling pin.
River – my eyes did hurt, but again, after about 20 minutes, I came right. Swimming googles are a great idea though!
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