So I finally had the time to browse through the book, “Bill’s Basics” by Bill Granger (thanks Cornelius!), and boy, so many recipes I can’t wait to try out! Most of the recipes looked fairly simple, and I finally landed on this delicious looking French Onion Soup recipe.
I made this for a group over the weekend, so I doubled the recipe below. Because of the large amount of onions it took a bit longer to caramelize, about 1 1/2 hours. I was also kinda worried about not being able to make “good” French Onion Soup because of the lack of white wine and brandy, but I think all in all it was quite good, and my guests enjoyed it. Do give it a try!
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 tablespoons (80 grams) butter
1 1/4 kg yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced- 1 bay leaf
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 1/8 cup white wine vinegar diluted in 3/8 cup water (or 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar diluted in 1/4 cup water)
- 2 beef stock cubes, diluted in 4 cups (1 liter) water
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 egg yolks
- 250 grams gruyere cheese, grated
- 1 French baguette, cut into 1 cm thick slices, lightly toasted
Directions
Confession: I used a food processor to slice my onions, so they’re all uneven. Of course, ideally everything should be hand sliced 🙂
Melt the butter in a large heavy-based pan over medium heat and add the onions, bay leaf, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, or until the onions are beautifully soft, golden brown and caramelized. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the white wine vinegar mixture, and simmer, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the beef stock and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk the egg yolks into the soup, and ladle into 6 oven-proof bowls.
[For the steps below, I added the cheese and bread but skipped the baking part, due to time constraints. Baking the bowls in the oven to melt the cheese sure looks yummy though, and I’d love to try it next time!]
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Put the the bowls on a large baking tray. Sprinkle half the cheese over the top of the soup bowls. Float one or two baguette slices in each bowl and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately.
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