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 Onion Soup
Yield: 6 servings
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Onion soup is widely served all over France, sometimes gratinée, that is with a crust on top, sometimes just as a broth. It can be served in a large terrine as well as in individual crock pots. After an evening at the theater, it is usually served gratinée. The onions are sometimes sautéed lightly and left in the soup, as in our recipe; other times they are browned to a dark stage then slightly singed with flour, cooked, then pushed through a food mill, as in the Lyonnaise version, which is made with water rather than stock.
Ingredients
4 cups thinly sliced onion (3 to 5 onions, depending on size)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 cups chicken stock or broth, or a mixture of chicken and beef stocks, or a mixture of water and stock
1 clove garlic, crushed, peeled, and chopped very fine
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
2 dozen slices French bread, cut very thin and toasted under the broiler
1 pound good Swiss cheese (Emmenthaler or Gruyère, grated
Prepartion
1. Use sweet yellow onions, making sure you remove all the skin and the roots. Cut them in half across, and slice very thinly. Melt the butter, and brown the onions over medium heat in a large saucepan for 5 to 6 minutes, until slightly brown. Stir in the stock, garlic, salt, and pepper, and boil for 30 minutes.
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2. Place 4 to 5 slices of bread in each individual ovenproof bowl (use 12-ounce bowls).
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3. Half fill each bowl with the stock. The bread will soften as it absorbs the liquid. Gradually keep adding liquid until the bowls are filled evenly and to the top. This is very important because the cheese crust must not sink into the bowl if it is to brown in the oven.
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4. Sprinkle the cheese on top without pushing it into the liquid. You will need at least 2 1/2 ounces of cheese per bowl or a good 1/2 cup (the drier the cheese the better).
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5. Press the cheese around the edges of each bowl so that when it melts it sticks to the sides and forms a crust that will stay put instead of sinking into the liquid.
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6. Place the bowls on a cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes, until nicely browned all around. Serve right away, one bowl per guest.
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