I can't remember ever having a
French onion soup that I loved. Sure, it was a dish I'd eat without complaint. But never have I longed for a
cheese-crusted bowl of sweet oniony butteriness. Until now.
I was idly flipping through Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, my favorite coffee table cookbook, when I came across this recipe. I had a huge bag of onions and I was intrigued: evidently, Jacques preferred white wine for "extra flavor" in his onion soup, while Julia Child preferred red. As I identify more with Julia than Jacques - and I had a bottle of red wine at the ready - I figured, why not? Off went my hubby to the market to get Gruyere, and some more wine, just for good measure.
Little did I know I was only an hour away from addiction.
Julia Child's wine with Jacques Pepin's Onion Soup
Peel three medium yellow onions and
slice very thinly. In a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot, heat one tablespoon
butter and two tablespoons olive oil. Toss in a few pinches of dried thyme or a handful of fresh. Toss to coat onions with oil
mixture and cover pot. Cook onions over medium or medium-high heat, stirring every minute or two, taking care not to
brown onions too quickly, until onions are a deep caramel brown.
Stir in five cups hot chicken stock (I used hot water plus two tablespoons of Trader Joe's Chicken Better Than Bouillion) and 1/2 cup (or more) Cotes du Rhone or other yummy red wine, the Frenchier, the better, and more salt and black pepper to taste.
While your soup simmers, put good sourdough or campagnola bread in the toaster - one slice for each bowl. Grate a few ounces of good Gruyere or
Emmenthaler cheese and heat the broiler. Cover your toast with grated cheese and place on a baking sheet; put
under the broiler for a few minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into squares, circles or triangles and
float on top of a generous ladleful of soup. Repeat once a day until sated.
