Oh Yeah, I'm Supposed to Be Getting Ready for My Vacation!

With only one day before I leave for Amsterdam you'd think I'd be finalising my packing and doing other little chores that need doing, but the truth is I spent the entire morning tending to my tomato and pepper plants and making French onion soup or soupe à l'oignon gratinée because my pseudo-sibling D. is coming round to watch La Chienne while I'm away and because at the vide grenier on Avenue Flandres I scored six bowls for 2,00 euros!

 Mine aren't as fancy as the ones pictured above and since I won't be serving the soup until dinner you won't get to have a peek at them until then - but I posted these as an example of what not to buy if you yourself are looking to buy some bowls to serve soupe à l'oignon the traditional way. Firstly you don't need the covers because once the soup comes out of the oven it needs to be served immediately so the covers wouldn't make any sense.

What should you buy?

Your bowls need to be completely oven safe if you want to serve the soup with croutons and cheese that you melt under the broiler and should have some kind of side handles so that the bowl can be gripped by the devourer once they get to the bottom. For me the top of the soup covered with golden, bubbly cheese and the bottom are the best part, so make it easier on yourself and your guests.

Perfect.

So what makes the best possible soup? You can watch the Alton Brown video I posted below because not only is Alton Brown a fabulous chef, his show Good Eats is rather amusing as well. I quite like his recipe and his technique is beyond critique, it's just I make mine a little different.

Instead of Brown's white wine I use rosé because I just like the little something it gives to the taste. Make sure it's a dry one, slightly fruity but not too much because he's right about tannins - it kills all the efforts you've put into carmelising the onions to get their sweetness.

Now when it comes to the onions I have used mixtures of yellow, red, etc. - but any onions will do. Just make sure you have a lot of them.

I also don't add apple cider. Instead what I do is mash up an apple in a bowl, add a splash of apple cider vinegar, and let the mixture sit while my onions are carmelising. For the final taste Alton likes the Parisian way of making onion soup, which is to add a bit of cognac. I like it too but what I really love and what made my grandfather Didi actually beg me to teach him my recipe is Calvados. Calvados is an apple based liqueur considered a digestif, meaning you drink it after your meal. It is very strong so I don't use too much, but it gives my soup a little bit of robustness that I prefer to cognac.

Now here is where I personally stray from the traditional French recipes and that is I use baguette and only one slice per bowl. I toast only one side, but since I don't like my soup to have too much bread I tend to look for a baguette that is slightly smaller than the most of the bowl. It still serves its purpose for texture and to give something for the cheese to rest upon so that it can melt on the surface, but unless you have a massive mouth I find it's impossible to eat all of the bread when it's the same size as your bowl without it getting mushy and gross.

I'll post a photo of my delicious creation later, but in the meantime, if you're craving French onion soup now, here's my recipe:

Ingredients

• 5 sweet onions or a combination of onions (about 4 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups dry rosé or white wine like chardonnay
• 1 1/4 cups beef consume (either homemade or store bought)
• 1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 large sweet apple mashed and mixed with a splash of apple cider (let stand 30+ minutes)
• Bouquet garni; thyme sprigs, bay leaf and parsley tied together with kitchen string
• 1 loaf baguette or other country stylwe bread
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• Splash of Calvados, Port, Sherry, or Cognac (optional)
• 1 cup Comte or other cheese, grated

Directions

Trim the ends off each onion then halve lengthwise. Remove peel and finely slice into half moon shapes. Add butter to a heavy soup pan. Once butter has melted add a layer of onions and sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat layering onions and salt until all onions are in the skillet. Do not try stirring until onions have sweated down for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, stir occasionally until the onions are the colour dark mahogany and have reduced to approximately 2 cups. This should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not worry about the onions burning.

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Add enough wine to cover the onions and turn heat to high, reducing the wine to a syrup consistency. Add consume, chicken broth, apple cider and bouquet garni. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

Splash with Calvados or other liqueur and simmer 2 minutes before turning off the heat.

* I usually let my soup sit for a few hours covered if not serving right away. To serve slowly bring the soup back to a slight boil and following the steps below.

Place oven rack in top 1/3 of oven and heat broiler.

Slice bread in rounds large enough to fit mouth of oven safe soup crocks. Place the slices on a baking sheet and place under broiler for 1 minute.

Season soup mixture with salt, pepper and cognac. Remove bouquet garni and ladle soup into crocks leaving one inch to the lip. Place bread round, toasted side down, on top of soup and top with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Bon appetit!