French Onion Soup

Helping me deglaze the onions! 

This recipe does take ~3 hours to make but most of the time (2.5 hours) is in the oven.  This is my mom’s favorite recipe and I made it non-dairy so that my daughter with dairy allergies could eat.  Served with croutons and Swiss cheese for dinner! 

Made this a second time, this time with 6 yellow onions and without baking it in the oven with 2.5 cups of water. The onions quickly burned and I was only able to bake it for a total of 1.5 hours in the oven instead of 2.5 hours. My daughter said that she thought the soup was less sweet and preferred the onion soup with Vidalia onions. Next time, will try again with Vidalia onions and with 2.5 cups of water in the oven. Made 3rd time and yes! worked well when initially cooked in oven with 2.5 cups of water in the first hour. In the 2nd 1.5 hours, might want to pull it from oven a little ahead of time if it is burning. 

French Onion Soup (~By Cook’s Illustrated)

6 large yellow onions, halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 4 pounds) (used 3 pounds of vidalia onions)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces (used 3 tablespoons olive oil)

salt (1 teaspoon salt)

2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing (used 2.5 cups water for cooking onions in oven, and 2/4 cups for deglazing twice, each time using ¼ cup of water, used 1 cup of water for broth)

1⁄2 cup dry red wine or sherry (used ¼ cup dry sherry)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth (used 1 cup chicken broth)

2 cups beef broth (used 3 cups beef broth)

6 sprigs fresh thyme (i used 3 tspns dried thyme)

1 bay leaf

ground black pepper

cheese crouton (did not make)

1 baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices

4 1⁄2 ounces swiss cheese, sliced 1/16-inch thick

1 1⁄2 ounces grated asiago cheese (about 3/4 cup)

Directions

1.     For the soup:

2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400°. Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. (also added 2.5 cups of water) Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume).
4. Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour. (baked 1.5 hours, checking after 1 hour)
5. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat.
6. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. (I didn’t have much liquid so only did this for a few minutes)
7. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
8. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. (deglazed twice with 1/8 cup water)
9. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown.
10. Stir in wine, stirring frequently, until wine evaporates, about 5 minutes.
11. Stir in broths, 2 cups water (used 1 cup water), the thyme, bay leaf (tied with twine or wrapped in cheese cloth for easy removal from pot) and 1/2 teaspoon salt (did not add additional salt), scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
12. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer.
13. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
14. For the croutons: While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400-degree oven until bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
15. To serve: Adjust oven rack 4 to 6 inches from broiler and heat broiler.
16. Set heat-safe soup bowls or crocks on rimmed baking sheet and fill each with about 1 1/2 cups soup.
17. Top each bowl with two toasted baguette slices (try not to overlap) and divide Swiss cheese slices, laying them in a single layer, if possible, on bread.
18. Sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese and broil until well browned and bubbly, 7 to 10 minutes.
19. If using regular soup bowls, broil the toasts and the cheese only and then place the toasts on top of the soup.
20. Cool 5 minutes and serve.