Onion soup

This onion soup was actually one of the realization of my food-dreaming moment during my way home in a freezing snowy evening. Walking. This time I didn`t ride my bike because I`ve learned in a hard way. I still got that bruise as a reminder. Anyway, that day was unbelievably cold that it wouldn`t be surprising at all if a bowl of hot soup was what everyone on the street was thinking about.

And speaking of onion, I always have this love-hate relationship with onion because eating it raw is the least thing I want to do-you`ll find me frowning and sighing every time my burger or sandwich has raw onion in it-, but using it for cooking is kind of a sacred ritual in my kitchen. First time I`ve tried onion soup was at a restaurant and I was utterly impressed on how onion can turn into such a wonderful soup. So, I had been meaning to recreate the soup at home and I finally made it based on Julia Child`s Soupe a l`oignon, but without the wine and cognac. And without the Swiss cheese either. I found the Gruyere cheese sold in the stores to be quite expensive, so I just keep my curiosity inside and moved on with the more affordable cheese. If you think you can handle my butterless, wineless, and Gruyereless onion soup, which I really hope you can, please move along with me. Believe me, it wasn`t bad at all. In fact, I think this was really really good!

Thinly slice 2 onions (which will give you approximately 2 cups of sliced onions) and cook them in a saucepan with 3 Tbs of olive oil on low heat.
The original recipe calls for butter and oil, which you might want to try, but I`m perfectly happy with my olive oil.

During this stage, cover the saucepan and let the onions slowly cook for about 15 mins.
With the low heat, I think the onions should not easily scorch. But since I`m a worrier (not warrior), I sometimes stirred them around to make sure nothing disastrous going on inside there.

After 15 mins, the onions should be all wilted and slightly browned.

Open the cover, raise the heat to moderate, and stir in salt and sugar. From here, all you need to do is stir, stir, and stir. Not every second, but frequent enough to prevent them from burning.

Cook them for like 30-40 mins or until the onions have greatly reduced their volumes-like one fifth of the initial volume- and have evenly caramelized.

Julia wrote, "...until the onions have turned an even deep golden brown". Now I really wish I could see how deep is deep in her kitchen, but I think this one is deep enough for me.

Stir in 1 Tbs of flour to the caramelized onions and let cook for 3 mins.

I`m not proud showing you this, but I had prepared beef stock and stored in my fridge the day before. By stock I mean the boiling water of beef that I`ve used for my pan-fried buns filling. I didn`t add anything to it, so it`s simply water with the beef flavor, although sadly, fat as well. That`s why I fished out the solidified fat with my skimmer in the picture above.

Pour in the beef stock or any stock you want or even water to the onions, lower the heat, and stir to combine. Simmer the soup for about 30 mins and adjust the seasoning.
Julia`s method is to remove the pan from heat while blending in the stock and dry white wine before simmering it again.


Now here`s for extra oomph factor.

Place toasted bread in an oven-proof ramekin.

Ladle in the onion soup until 4/5 full. Hold your self, we`re not done yet.

Place another toasted bread on top.

 Top with your choice of cheese and bake at 210 C for 20 mins or until everything looks yummier!

I`m not too happy with the final photos, but I couldn`t wait any longer. So after giving it merely several shots, my spoon got busy digging in all the soul-warming goodness. My husband was about to sleep when I fed him a spoon of the soup. The soup seemed to be effective enough to wake him up, because he sat up straight and finished the whole ramekin.

The soup is rich, sweet, and savory and the addition of bread and cheese make the whole set even harder to resist. If I were the one to decide what Seven Wonders are, this onion soup would definitely be in the list.

Bon appetite!

Print recipe

ONION SOUP 

Makes about 2 cups or 3-4 individual ramekins

Ingredients:

2 onions or approximately 2 cups of sliced onions

3 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
Pepper

400 ml beef stock

Toasted bread

Cheese for topping

Method:
1. Thinly slice onions and cook them in a saucepan with 3 Tbs of olive oil on low heat.
2. Cover the saucepan and let the onions slowly cook for about 15 mins.
3. Open the cover, raise the heat to moderate, and stir in salt and sugar. Stir it frequently to prevent the onions from burning.
4. Cook them for like 30-40 mins or until the onions have greatly reduced their volumes and have evenly caramelized or turned deep brown.
5. Stir in 1 Tbs of flour to the caramelized onions and let cook for 3 mins.
6. Pour in the beef stock or any stock you want or water, stir to combine, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 mins.
7. Simmer for 30 mins and adjust the seasoning.

For serving
1. Place toasted bread in an oven-proof ramekin.
2. Ladle in the onion soup until 4/5 full.
3. Place another toasted bread on top.
4. Top with your choice of cheese and bake at 210 C for 20 mins