REAL French Onion Soup

[slickster81]

The Habanero Peppers thread got me into recipe mode, so I'll post a few of my favorites....

French Onion Soup

I started making this after having an awesome bowl of French Onion soup at “Top of the Park” in the old Metro bank building, downtown Flint. The chef was kind enough to share his secret with me. Top of the Park is long gone, but the soup lives on!

Yields 2 quarts.
Approx prep time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cups yellow onion, quartered and sliced thin.
1Tsp. Kosher salt (or sea salt)***
1 sprig fresh thyme (if you don’t have fresh, substitute 1Tsp dried and make sure to put it in a cheesecloth bag so the little bits don’t get all over in the soup)
1 large bay leaf (or 2 small)
2 quarts beef stock
3/4 Cup Dry Sherry or Madeira (NOT cooking sherry)


For the garnish:

Slices of French Baguette bread, toasted on both sides, hold in a warm oven until completely dry.
Grated Gruyere cheese
Dry Sherry or Madeira (NOT cooking sherry)

Method:

***Taste the beef stock you will be using. If it is salty, then be very careful with salt in the next phase.
In a 4Qt or larger pot, add 2 Tbs Olive Oil. Heat over medium heat and add the thyme and bay leaves, allow to heat for 2-3 minutes, add the sliced onions, the salt, and sweat the onions over med-low heat, stirring often, until translucent and limp, you don’t want any color on them. Add the beef stock, the 3/4 cup wine and bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and barely simmer (almost poaching) for 1 hour (longer is even better) You want the onions to “melt” into the soup. Remove the bay leaves and thyme before serving.

To Serve:

If you have soup crocks, great! Use them. If not, be sure to use oven proof bowls and warn guests that the BOWLS WILL BE HOT!!!!!!

Put a good splash of sherry or maderia in the bottom of each bowl, place one of your French bread “croutons” in the bowl, ladle in the soup, sprinkle on some grated gruyere cheese and place under a broiler until the cheese is melted and has golden brown spots all over the top.

Serve with a nice big mixed greens salad and a glass of the sherry or maderia you used in the soup.