Julia Child's French Onion Soup

PBS brought us so many wonderful shows: Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Painting with Bob Ross (don’t laugh, I use to love watching him paint! The man can paint threes in 2 seconds and the man made the woosh woosh sound effects as he painted them! Pure magic) and of course Julia Child’s cooking show. Up until a few years ago I simply knew of Julia Child, but it wasn’t until my friend V gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking that I truly appreciated her and started preparing some her recipes.

French Onion soup is a quintessential part of French cooking. You could eat the onion flavoured brown liquid in a can OR you could make a large batch of the soup below and swoon when you savour it.  

French Onion Soup 

Adapted from Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking 

Yields 4 portions

Ingredients

• 5 cups yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 5 to 6 onions)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon melted butter
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 8 cups beef stock
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper

To assemble:

• 12 ounces Swiss or Emmental cheese, grated
• 3 tablespoons Brandy
• 4 slices French bread (about 1 inch thick)
• olive oil, for drizzling

 

Directions:

Place a heavy bottom stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat.

Add the oil and butter to the pot.

Add the sliced onions and stir until they are evenly coated with the oil.

Cover and cook for about 15 minutes until they are very tender and translucent.

Turn the heat to medium and add ¼ teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently until the onions have browned and caramelize.

This is the colour you want your onion to be - nice, brown and caramelized

Once caramelized, reduce the heat to medium and add the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Deglaze with the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to get up all the cooked-on bits.

Add the stock and bay leaves to the soup.

Simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350°F.

Drizzle each side of the bread slices with a bit of olive oil and place on baking sheet.

Cook for 15 minutes in oven on each side (30 minutes total).

Remove the bay leaves from the soup and add the Brandy.

Stir in a few ounces of the cheese.

Divide the soup into individual ovenproof dishes.

Place a slice of toasted bread on top of the soup in each dish.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese in a thick layer on top of the bread making

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  Finish off with the broiler to brown the cheese if needed.

Let cool for a few minutes. 

Every time I think of Julia Child, I think of this amazing clip from Saturday Night Live. Genius.

And as Julia would say: Bon Appétit!

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