Quick and Easy: French Onion Soup

This lovely bit of gooey, chewy tactile bliss could also be a part of the upcoming Leftover Wednesday posts as it makes use of what is left in your cheese drawer, your bread box and any boxed stock/broth you may have on hand in the pantry or homemade stock from the freezer. With only three main ingredients it is a quick and easy soup, in terms of difficulty although caramelizing the onions will take a small investment of time. However, it isn't 'hover over the pot' kind of time so other aspects of the meal making can take place while the onions are transforming into their golden goodness. This also isn't an overly expensive meal to incorporate into your weekly budget, especially if you are using leftovers rather than cheese purchased just for this dish. All I purchased was the bread and the onions while the rest I had on hand, including the wine I used to deglaze.

Why name this recipe "Peasant-style"? 

In the history of many people of European descent, where a large percentage of Canadians originate from, farmers and such had to make do with what was in season and available to eat. Many times before landlords in the feudal system realized how treating their tenants well resulted in higher gains for them, peasants scrounged for whatever they could after giving the landlords their due. Hunting or rather poaching whatever meat they could was a hit or miss proposition so they improvised with filling, yet cheap to produce/procure foods like bread and cheese. Once landlords were made to see that a farmers full belly usually resulted in more children, which meant more farm labour, they ensured that farmers could drink all the milk they wished and allowed them to make unlimited amounts of cheese for themselves and families. Grain was available at either low costs or as a allowed portion of the whole that was due to the landlord. Meat animals were kept by the farmers, for their own use as well. In the in-between times of feast and famine, a soup such as this one would have been welcomed as a filling and fun meal. A good beef stock either store bought or homemade gives the soup just enough of a meaty flavour that you don't miss the absence of any meat in the soup. 

The bread you use is of equal importance as it should be dense, hearty or chewy and filling. I haven't tried it with a dark rye or pumpernickel as I would be concerned about adding an unwanted flavour but give it a go, if you like. A multi-grain bread would add a crunch dimension that I personally would not mind but I could probably do without. Again, experiment to see which you like best. In this version I used a hearty french bread that was a few days old and I put quite a bit into the individual pots. The bread and the onions were placed in the pots first, then the broth was ladled over to the appropriate level for the cheese topping. The bread will soak up a lot of the broth and begin to break down. Add a few cubes to the top just before sprinkling on the grated cheese and placing the pots under the broiler to brown.


An onion by any other name… would make breath stink just the same

The best onions for French Onion Soup, in my opinion, are Vidalias from Georgia. A good second choice is a local sweet onion - I know, I know what happened to 'shop local'? Let me 'splain :) As a cook, I believe that the most important element of cooking is ingredients and Vidalias are simply the best sweet onion there is and it is available for only a limited time. As it does come from our neighbour to the south shipping costs, while high, are not as high as imported fruits nor are the retail prices higher than the off season summer vegetables from the greenhouses in our own country. Stocking up in late summer and early fall on local sweet onions and storing them in your cold room is ideal to cut costs but the most budget friendly version of this soup made at any time of the year utilizes inexpensive cooking onions. They can be strong flavoured but the addition of demarrara sugar when caramelizing cuts the pungency of these onions down to a more palatable level. The version below uses local sweet onions and my previous posted recipe here uses Vidalias, yellow and pearl onions.

Hey, was that you?

In my previous articles on cheese I make a big deal over delicious local cheeses of which we have plenty. This time I purchased these cheeses knowing I would be making this soup between Christmas and New Years, in addition to being a part of a cheese plate, and a strong cheese is wonderful with French Onion soup. I wanted a mixture of melting styles and a range of sharpness and pungency so I went with the mainly imported cheeses you see above. They were first used on a cheese plate that was served with wine and the leftovers were used in the soup making it an affordable option for special occasions. However, if you are a cheese lover like I am, excuses and special occasions are not necessary!

The Lancashire Crumbly and the Camembert offer a smooth and creamy flavour to the mix while the others add sharpness and pronounced taste, especially the 26 month old Beemster. This hard grating cheese is similar to Parmesano Reggiano or Asiago but with a sweeter note and a less grainy texture. It has a melt-in-the-mouth consistency and a pungency that woos your nose and sweet-talks your taste buds into falling in love. 

One of my favourite cheeses is the BellaVitano Gold so I was eager to try the Merlot type. It is still the same lovely cheese but with a very subtle wine note that hits the nose more than the palate. The Extra-old Cheddar is the only 'commercial' cheese I used - it is one I use on a daily basis so I wanted to include it to lower costs as well as to have a good melting cheese.

What you need to know

Like in the Cornish Hen recipe I recently posted, you will need to caramelize the onions, this time in two to three batches as there are a lot of onions. The only other skill that I find important is how to make a good stock. This recipe is best if made from stock from your freezer but of course that is not always possible. If you are making this as a Quick and Easy dish, boxed stock/broth will do. My choice is the No Salt Added Beef Broth from Campbell's but you can use whichever you like, just watch the sodium levels. I am not a fan of bouillon cubes, canned broths or the bottom of the barrel - powdered stock from the bulk food stores. 

When a great stock can be so easy and inexpensive to make, it seems rather foolish to me not to do it and to instead ingest chemicals and imitation food.

I used my Cuisinart to process the onions as I had my son helping me and well, boys and power equipment - what can I say? There is a tricky bit to the operation and that is to not over process. Stop when the onion pieces are still a good size and only place one layer in the chopper at a time to ensure consistent size in the pieces. If you over process you will get onion puree which contains too much moisture to be able to brown.

A note on the pots to use:

You'll notice that I used saucepans for the individual servings and there is a reason for it. I don't own French Onion soup bowls. I should but I haven't gotten around to it as I don't make this often. I used corning ware style bowls before but they proved to be too small for a decent man-sized serving. This time I decided to hit the second hand stores to see if I could lay my hands on some of the Onion pots. I didn't have any luck but I noticed these small saucepans all about the same size and thought they would work. I was a bit concerned about the handles so I wrapped them in tinfoil to protect them, even though they would not have been in the oven long. They worked wonderfully. Although I plan to invest in some good earthenware soup bowls (which will also help with getting a better photo of this messy goodness), I am glad to have another option until that time. A little bit of ingenuity and flexibility go a long way so don't be afraid to improvise in the kitchen!

Putting it all together

4 very large sweet onions, chopped bite-sized
3 garlic cloves, minced or 
        1/2 tsp granulated garlic
butter
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme, twice
1 tsp dried Herbes de Provence, twice
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 tsps demerrara sugar - I insist on this type as the molasses adds great depth of flavour :)
a couple of splashes of red wine, about 2 tbsps 
  
           *No wine? use some balsamic vinegar, just a splash or some of the beef stock/broth

3 boxes of beef stock/broth, 900mL each or
        11 cups homemade stock
large loaf of bread, large cubes
grated cheese, about two large handfuls + a bit per serving

Heat oil and butter; add one layer of onions to pan with a sprinkling of sugar. Once the onions soften and shrink, push them to one side of the pan. Add more butter if necessary, place raw onions onto the cleared side. Doing it this way ensures a constant rotation, making things go faster. Once the onions have been caramelized, add to soup pot. With the last batch of onions, add the garlic and herbs. Once they are done, add red wine to pan and scrape the bottom of all lovely stuck bits. Empty into soup pot. Add stock ; bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and add second dose of herbs & pepper; cook for 20-30 minutes.

Prepare your pots by placing them on a baking tray (with sides). If you plan to really load the cheese on top of your soup, line the tray with tinfoil to catch the spills, otherwise don't bother. 
Drop a good handful of bread cubes into each pot and separate a ladle or two of onions from the broth and place in pot. Top with the broth. You will need quite a bit so don't be alarmed at the bowl of bread you seem to have. Just keep adding the soup to just below the rim of the bowl/pot. Add a few more bread cubes and sprinkle on the cheese. Place under broiler until bubbling and browned. Serve immediately. 

This will make anywhere from 5 man-sized servings to 7-8 more modest-sized servings, depending on the size of your bowl/pot. With the ones I used I ended up with leftovers for three of the modest-sized servings.




all photographs and text©michelle levasseur The Groaning Board 2014