Authentic Gourmet French Onion Soup

 

 Soupe a L'oignon

 

There are times when the distinctions between the carefully laid-out categories of French cooking become murky. The traditional French onion soup, often described on the menus of restaurants in Franch as a gratinee, is a case in point. In some places it's more soup, in others, more gratin-what we call a baked onion casserole. Onion sup is almost always gratineed by slowly baking so that the layers of bread and cheese on top of the broth from a delicious savory crust, but every version is different, some emphasizing bread and cheese more than onions and broth.

The recipe;

5 pounds onions, preferably read

4 tablespoons butter

10 cups beef, turkey, or chicken broth

1 medium size bouquet garni

salt

pepper

4 cups 3/4 inch cubes cut from crusty slices of French bread, preferably sourdough.

25 cups finely grated Swiss Gruyere or other full-flavored firm cheese (about 5 pound)

Peel and slice the onions as thin as you can. This is easiest with a plastic vegetable slicer, called Benriner cutter. Melt the butter over medium heat in a wide, heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold the sliced onions. Add the onions and stir every few minutes over medium heat until they soften and release liquid, about 15 minutes. At this point, you can turn the heat  to high to reduce the liquid, but keep a close watch and stir every minute or two so that the onions don't scorch. When most of the liquid has evaporated, after 15 minutes, turn the heat back down to medium and keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to keep the caramelized juices from burning. When all the liquid has evaporated and the bottom of the pot is coated with a shiny glaze, after 5 to 10 minutes, pour in 1 cup of broth and turn the hat to high. Stir the onions, again scraping off any caramelized juices that cling to the bottom and sides of the pot. when the broth completely evaporates and again forms a brown glaze on the bottom of the pot , add the rest of the broth and the bouquet garni.

Gently simmer the soup for 10 minutes. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot so that the caramelized juices dissolve in the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the bouquet garni.

While te onions are cooking, spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake them in a 400 F oven for about 20 minutes, turning them over every few minutes so that they brown evenly. Unless you are making the soup ahead of time, leave the oven on for baking the crocks of soup.

Ladle the hot soup into individual 10 to 12 ounce soup crocks or souffle dishes. Sprinkle half the cheese over the soup and distribute the toasted bread cubes among the crocks. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Put the crocks on a sheet pan and bake them at 400F until the cheese bubbles and turns light brown, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately. (You can also assemble the soups earlier in the day and refrigerate them until shortly before serving.

Fish Soup Recipes

Even though I never balk at a steaming bowl of New England clam chowder, sometimes the cream and other ingredients give the flavor of something other than seafood soup.

Here is something entirely unique.

4 pounds of whole firm-fleshed fish such as Atlantic sea bass, red snapper, Dover sole, pompano, or rockfish, filleted, bones and heads reserved, fillets skinned

2 leeks

2 tablespoons butter

1 small bouquet garni

1 cup dry white wine

2 dozen littleneck clams, or 2 pounds musssels or New Zealand cockles, well scrubbed

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon finel chopped chives

pepper


Remove the gills from the fish heads and discard the gills. Soak the fish bones and te heads in cold water for at least 2 hours, changing the water every 30 minutes. Cut the fish fillets into 4 or 6 pieces, as close to the same size as possible, and refrigerate.

Cut most of the greens off the leaks, leaving about 4 inches of green attached to the white. Cut the white in half lenghwise and rinse out any sand under running water. Chop fine. Cook the chopped leek gently in butter in a heavy-bottomed pot for about 5 minutes. Drain the fish bones, put them in the pot, add the bouquet garni, and stir every few minutes until the bones fall apart but don't brown, about 15 minutes. Pour in the white wine and 1 cup of water (don't worry if you don't have enough liquid to cover the bones completely) ,cover the pot, and simmer gently over low heat for about 15 minutes. Strain into a clean pot large enough to hold the shellfish. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of liquid.

Put the shellfish in the pot with the fish broth, cover the pot, and cook the shellfish over medium to high heat until they've all opened, about 12 minutes for clams, 5 minutes for mussels or cockles. Scoop the shellfish out of the pot into a bowl and cover the bowl with aluminum boil to keep the shellfish warm and moist. (If you like, take one of the shells off of each of the shellfish so they take up less room on the plate.) If you see sand on the bottom of the pot used for steaming the shellfish, carefully pour the liquid into a clan pot, leaving the sand behind. At this point you should have about 3 cups of liquid. If you have less, add enough water to  make 3 cups.

Poach the fish pieces in the steaming liquid-cover the pan if there is not enough liquid to cover-and scoop the pieces out onto hot soup plates. (Or bake the fish pieces) Surround the fish wit the shellfish. Add the cream and herbs to the poaching liquid, season to taste with salt and pepper. Be careful of the salt, the shellfish is very salty. Bring back to a simmer, and spoon the liquid over the fish. Serve immediately.


For the best white clam chowder you will ever try click below.

Real Boston Clam Chowder Recipe