Now That You Have the Time, Make This French Onion Soup

Everyone I know has some version of a “Someday” file:

“Someday, when I have an infinite amount of time, I will make this recipe.”

“Someday, when I have a week with nothing else to do, my house will be spotless.”

“Someday, I’m going to make this really time-consuming craft project, organize and tag my photos, read all my emails, etc. etc. etc.”

Well, you've got time now.

Here on Day Zillion of the COVID-19 quarantine, I finally want to start tackling the recipe file (because let’s be real – lack of time is not the reason my house isn’t clean). Anytime I’m looking for something overly ambitious, back issues of Cook’s Illustrated are an excellent place to start, and there’s a French onion soup recipe there that I’ve been thinking about for ages.

I love French onion soup but it always disappoints me (love is like that sometimes). My friend Pam ordered Holland America’s amazing French onion soup almost every day on our recent cruise and it did not disappoint At All: rich broth, caramelized onions, the perfect proportion of cheese and bread to soup. One day there was even some beef short rib in there, which was almost – almost - gilding the lily. I always come home craving some little sliver of cruise life at home; and since tackling the liquor cabinet didn’t seem like a wise move under the current apocalyptic circumstances, soup it was.

This version is better than the cruise soup. (Granted, I only mean better from a taste perspective, because it’s not being served me to by Sudarma and Gede on an impeccably-set table and preceding an amazing multi-course meal in which my every wish is anticipated and for which I do no cooking or dishwashing whatsoever, followed by cocktails and the hot tub on the Lido deck. But I digress.)  

I prepared my pan and sliced my onions and started the recipe….and fell asleep. For 3 ½ hours. Because one of the little slivers of cruise life I brought home with me includes some kind of disgusting virus that makes me cough and sleep all the time. Thank goodness for Anna, who jumped in and babied the onions along and only woke me up when her dad tried to convince her that Blaufrankisch was a good substitute for dry sherry (it’s not). And then I woke up and all the hard work was done and my house smelled amazing. 

(Honestly, how can he have been married to me for this long and still think that “wine is wine” and everything is interchangeable? Fer cryin’ out loud.)

A mini-crock full of this soup could easily have been an entire meal, it was so rich and filling. We topped it with a couple slices of toasted brioche and a generous sprinkling – NOT smothering – of shredded Gruyere and Swiss and the end result was just fantastic. Because it was Try New Things Day, we also made some crepes and rolled them around a mix of chicken, bacon, onions, mushrooms, and spinach. On any other day the crepes would have been the star, but they really had no chance against this soup.

Go ahead and try it yourself. You know you have the time…..

From Cook’s Illustrated magazine, February 2008.

The Best French Onion Soup of All Time

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
4 pounds yellow onions, sliced ¼” thick (yellow onions – not Vidalia or any other sweet onion)
2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
½ cup dry sherry
4 cups chicken stock (this is one of those times it’s worth it to use homemade, if you can)
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, or ½ teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 small baguette, cut into ½” slices
About 2 cups shredded Gruyere (I used Aldi’s Swiss and Gruyere blend)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray the inside of a large Dutch oven with non-stick cooking spray (don’t skimp on this, it will make a huge difference when it comes to cleanup). Place the butter, onions, and 1 teaspoon salt in the pan. Cook, covered, for 1 hour.

Remove the pot from the oven and stir, scraping the onions up from the sides and bottom. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and cook for another 1 ½ - 1 ¾ hours, stirring the onions again after 1 hour.

Put the pan on a stove burner over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, scraping the sides and bottom frequently, until the liquid evaporates and the onions are browned, about another 15-20 minutes.

Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the bottom of the pan is coated with a dark crust, about 6-8 minutes. Anything you scrape off that sticks to the spoon should go back into the pot. Stir in ¼ cup of water and cook until the water evaporates and a crust forms again.

Repeat this process of deglazing and cooking 2-3 more times, until the onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Add the broths, water, thyme, bay and ½ teaspoon salt, deglazing one last time if needed. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

If you can somehow manage to restrain yourself, cool the soup, put it in the fridge, and eat it tomorrow. If you can’t wait, toast the baguette slices in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes. Ladle the soup into oven-proof crocks that you impulse-bought at Aldi, top with a couple of slices of baguette, and a handful of cheese. Broil 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling around the edges.