French Onion Soup
This is a version of a French Onion Soup recipe I modified from Cook's Illustrated.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs onions yellow or mix, of yellow, red, sweet and shallots, halved and cut pole to pole in 1/4 inch slices
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 2 quarts chicken stock
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 baguette any crusty bread will work
- 1 pound shredded Gruyere cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in large Dutch oven. Add onions and cook covered for 1 hour. Remove pot, stir, scrape up brown bits and add 1 tablespoon water. Put back in oven with lid slightly ajar and cook another 1 1/2 hours. Onions should be soft and golden brown.
- Remove pot from oven and place on stove on medium-high heat. Cook onions 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of pot. When pot is coated with a dark brown crust add 1/4 cup water and cook until water evaporates, about 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat the deglazing process of adding 1/4 cup water and cooking until it evaporates 3 times until onions are a dark brown.
- Add sherry and cook another 3-5 minutes, until sherry evaporates and alcohol smell is gone. Add broth, thyme, bay leaf, pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer, lower heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Add cider vinegar and more salt and pepper to taste.
- While soup simmers, slice baguette and toast until crispy brown. Set aside.
- Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler and turn on. In 4 ovenproof serving bowls add small amount of broth. Top with half of toast and some cheese. Add more broth with onions. Top with rest of toast and remaining cheese. Broil until cheese is melted, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving