Rich French Red Onion Soup with Gruyere Toasts

Makes about 1/2 gallon of soup. Serves about 8 people.

Real french onion soup is nothing short of spectacular. When made correctly, the broth is a rich, bold, and dark. When tasted, the weightiness and full-bodied texture blooms with refined subtle notes of fresh herbs, black pepper, and of course, sweet buttery onions.

When it comes to the onions, this version uses all red onion. The sweet and strong flavor of red onion makes them perfect candidates for heavy browning. The browning is what gives the soup its dark-roasted coffee-like color.

Cooking then chilling the onions can be done the day before serving. This is the most time consuming process of the whole dish. But once the onions are cooked, the soup comes together in about 40 - 60 minutes.

Though it is optional, finishing your french onion soup with a little cognac or brandy right before serving is the best way to enjoy it!

French Red Onion Soup

2 lbs thinly sliced red onion (weighted after slicing)

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp light olive oil or vegetable oil

Pitcher of cold tap water

1 cup sherry or oaked white wine (like chardonnay)

2 quarts (8 cups) beef stock

Salt to taste

Bouquet Garni (tie all ingredients below inside a 6"x 6" piece of cheesecloth)

2 cloves garlic, sliced or smashed

3 flat leaf parsley stems

2 two inch-sprigs tarragon

1 two inch-sprig rosemary

1 bay leaf

about 10 peppercorns

Gruyere Toasts

8 slices of french baguette bread, cut about 1" thick

Light olive oil or vegetable oil

3 - 4 oz shredded Gruyere cheese

Fresh ground pepper

Other Ingredients: (optional)

3 Tbsp cognac

Fresh minced flat-leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS:

Make the bouquet garni by placing all herbs, garlic, and pepper in a 6" x 6" cheesecloth. Gather ends together and tie tightly with kitchen twine. Place aside until ready to use.

In a medium-sized heavy bottom pot, melt butter and oil together over medium heat. Place sliced onions in pan. Keep a pitcher of cold tap water next to you.

Spread onions evenly in pan, stirring occasionally, until onions start to soften, about 8 minutes.

"BROWNING" THE ONIONS: We're trying to extract the water from the onions which contain their natural sugar. As the water evaporates from the onions, the sugars start to brown on the bottom of the pan. As the sugars brown, 1/4 cup of tap water is added at a time to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Allow the water to evaporate and allow the pan to brown a bit more, deglaze the pan again. Keep repeating this step of browning and deglazing over and over.

This constant cooking down the onions until the pan browns, then deglazing with water, is what creates the color to the broth and onions. We don't want the onions themselves to brown.

The whole onion cooking process can take some time. At least 40 minutes, but can take as much as 1 hr - 1 hr 20 min. The onions will reduce in size to about 1/10th or more. The onions will look sticky, jammy, and an extremely dark brown similar to brewed coffee.

Once the onions are finished reducing and "browning", allow pan to brown one last time. Deglaze the pan with the sherry or wine, scraping the browned bits off the pan. Cook until most of the wine reduces into a think, onion-y mixture, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low, pour in beef stock and place the bouquet garni in the pot. Cover and steep for a minimum of 40 minutes. Soup should not be boiling or simmering; it should be similar to extremely hot coffee. Ladle and discard any oil or foam off the surface of the soup as it rises to the top.

In the meantime, toast the slices of bread. On a sheet pan, brush both sides of bread slices with oil. Place in the oven on broiler setting until lightly crisp, about 3 minutes. Flip the bread over and toast the second side. Spread shredded cheese over the bread evenly and sprinkle lightly with black pepper. Return to broiler to melt cheese, about 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn the cheese.

Before serving, remove bouquet garni. Taste soup and salt accordingly. If desired, finish soup with cognac.

Ladle the soup into warmed soup bowls. Place toasted bread in the center or serve on the side. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.