French Onion Soup
I’ve always wanted to try French Onion Soup. I guess it’s the golden cheese and toast topping that sets it apart from other soups. It always looks so rustic and lovely and caramalised onions are delicious so I added it to my to do list at the start of this winter.
This winter has not gone well. I’ve been sick for six weeks so far with a cold and then a nasty, lingering cough. As much as I love hibernating in winter, I prefer the choice of hibernation. I jokingly call this quarantine, but I’d trade all these days off work to be well again. I get chest and back pains if I sit or lie a certain way, or strain my chest muscles the tiniest bit. I feel pathetic. I can’t open tight jars, I can’t cut pumpkin or kumara, I can’t fill the kettle to the top and carry it two steps to it’s spot away from the sink, I can’t reach up to get things out of high shelves, I can’t lift a roast out of the oven. Hiccups, sneezes, yawns, coughs and even laughing is painful.
My body shouted a resounding “No!” to everything. So I’ve had to slow down. Slowing down with lots of time at home has meant lots of slow food. Roasts, stews and soups are meant to be enjoyed in this weather.
Onions are supposed to be super good for you. Right now, I’ll give anything a try. So I made this French Onion Soup. I think it was on a weekend, but to be honest, I’m not really sure. When you have a lot of sick days, weekends no longer signify a change in your routine.
I have a rule which I break fairly regularly. Don’t cook something you have never eaten before. I have this rule because I usually cook by feel and it’s impossible to cook by feel if you don’t know what you’re feeling for. Thankfully, that’s where the internet comes in handy. I consulted a bunch of recipes before I settled on my own version of events. I used onion, chicken stock, soft brown sugar, butter, thyme, wine, gruyere cheese and ciabatta. It turned out pretty good.
Bunny Eats Design 
Yum, looks tasty and good for what ails you. Hope it helps you heal.
Thanks Colleen.
Oh my, I feel bad for you, six weeks is a long time to be away from work; you must have a very understanding boss and workplace. I do hope you feel better, Genie and I’m sure this soup would have helped.
I don’t want to sound like a naysayer, but French Onion soup is all about the broth which is usually made from beef or veal broth not chicken; it is cooked slowly to create a rich concentrated soup. The onions are a big deal too, and caramelisation is definitely the way to go, so I’m sure you got the onions spot on. I would urge you to try it again, with a good rich beef stock. I usually buy beef bones from the butcher to make my own beef stock and the recipes I’ve seen also contain a bay leaf or two.
Hi Eva, I haven’t had the full 6 weeks off work. I couldn’t possibly. Not since I took 5 weeks for traveling in April/May! Beef bones to make stock sounds great. I bet it would be much richer too. I did use a couple of bay leaves. I forgot to mention those!
Sorry to hear that you are still sick 😦 I am very impressed that you managed to cook yourself up some French onion soup! Especially to make a dish you have never had before. Super inspiring 🙂
It sounds like the soup turned out well and I hope that you feel better soon!
Thanks. I went to the doctor again today. Got some strong meds which should see me right. I am not good at being sick. Idle hands get twitchy!
Me neither. Once I was flattened by a horrible flu. I called my mom and asked her to come and make me soup. There was silence on the phone and then she told me that I was 30 and I should just man up and go to the deli downstairs.
What a mom!
I’m firmly of the belief that no matter what ails you in the realm of the kitchen, onion soup can cure it. Never cooked before? Don’t think you’ll be able to pull off the kind of cooking you believe you need to go to a restaurant to experience? Start with onion soup. Have only $5 to spend on dinner? Refrigerator is almost bare? Onion soup is your friend. Want your home to have a transcendent aroma bouncing off every wall, the kind that’s so distracting that you don’t even know or care what’s on the stove, only that you must have it now? Onion soup is waiting for you.
There are few things more comforting than making a real French onion soup – slowly cooked, caramelised onions that turn mellow and sweet in a broth laced with white wine and Cognac. The whole thing is finished off with crunchy baked croutons of crusty bread topped with melted, toasted cheese. If ever there was a winter stomach warmer, this is surely it!
Get well soon 🙂 I followed Julia Child’s recipe for this
Just reading back through your blogs, don’t know why I wasnt following you before now, your blog is the cats tits! Don’t know if that phrase will catch on, but you know what I mean. I’m making french onion soup tonight! Ive got a jar of dark brown pork broth in the fridge and a half bottle of crappy red wine, bingo bango! Anyway, love your blog!
P.S a guy at work had this exact same cold, for weeks, he was useless! I would make him lemon & ginger teas every morning, but to no avail. Hope youre feeling a bit better now.
Glad to have you on board Kara 🙂
I wish I had one of you at my work! My boss told me to drink whiskey but I think he was joking and he certainly never poured me some every morning.
Merci beaucoup, Genie