ONION SOUP
(the long version)

TO MAKE THE BEEF BROTH:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Collect enough beef bones, shin meat, ribs, meat scraps to fill a half-sheetpan
2 onions, washed, quartered with skins on
2-3 carrots, washed but not scraped, cut in 1-inch pieces

Spread bones and meat scraps out in one layer. Roast for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Toss or stir every 20 minutes. Bones should brown evenly but not burn. Add onions and carrots
after about 45 minutes and continue to roast another 45 minutes. Stir and turn over a couple of times.

Remove from oven and put the bones, meat, vegetables, into a stockpot using a spoon with holes. Pour out whatever fat is in the pan. Add some water and scrape up the cooked-on juices. Don’t burn them. Add to the stockpot.

Fill pot with water almost to the top by about 2 to 3 inches. Boil. Then boil gently for 2 hours. Skim fat off. Add a bunch of parsley, half head of unpeeled garlic, half a celery heart, 2-3 bay leaves, 2 teaspoons thyme, 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns, 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes without the juice. Simmer gently for 8 hours or overnight. Strain the broth through a sieve. Don’t press the pieces down just shake the sieve to allow the juices to pass through. Refrigerate and when cold skim off the fat.

Or, just buy some beef broth in a box…there are some organic brands on the shelves these days, such as Pacific, that are good.

You could also add some demi-glace to the liquids if you don’t think you’ve achieved a satisfactorily enough hearty broth. You’ll notice too that I have not indicated the addition of any salt. This is not, repeat not, an oversight.

FOR THE ONION SOUP:

Find some Onion Soup bowls, the ones that are ceramic and glazed brown. There are always some for sale in thrift stores. Looks like people buy them then don’t know what to do next. They are perfect for putting into the oven and practically indestructible. If you have a cuckoo clock you could pretend you are eating in Switzerland!

Take about 8 large onions (I like half Vedalia and half red onions)
Some oil – grapeseed or canola
1-2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
10 cups of the beef broth you made
An optional Baguette, thin sliced and toasted in 400 degree oven about 8-10 minutes
An optional mountain of grated Emmenthaler and/or Gruyere cheeses
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt, yes, salt

Slice the onions on a mandoline – or thin slice by hand. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons oil. Saute the onions in batches until well-browned. Add a dash of sugar if needed to help the browning.

Optional: Slice the bread and toast. Grate the cheeses. Put 6-8 slices (or less) in each soup bowl placed on a sheetpan. Sprinkle a little cheese on the bread.

When the onions are well browned add the stock (beef, chicken, or water: Yes, the French used water and sometimes chicken stock. Don’t be so shocked; it’s true.) Boil and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Push the onions through a food mill and back into the broth. (Yes, a food mill, not a processor. If you really, really, want to just leave them stringy, though I don’t know why you’d want to do that and have to watch people struggling with the dripping onions. They’re going to have enough trouble with the stringy cheese, you sadist. Supply a copious amount of napkins.) Add salt and pepper. Then taste. You should have been tasting all along. You knew that.

Fill the bowls with the soup. Fill to the rim. Stir in some water, if needed.

Optional: but of course you must do it. Pile the cheeses on top of the bowls – half cup or more – make sure the cheese touches the edge of the bowl so it will stick and form a pretty crust that doesn’t sink into the soup. I did notice that when I only used 3 slices of bread, and not the full 8, the crust did drop down. You could probably live with it either way.

Bake, on the sheetpan, (you still have the bowls on the sheetpan, don’t you?) for 30 minutes to brown. Serve while hot.

Makes 6 bowls or more, but not much more.

Of course you could just eat the onion soup without the bread and cheese and it will taste just fine, really.


Onion Soup
(the short version)
6 onions sliced thin
2T butter
1t flour
1t sugar
6c beef broth
1/2c dry white wine
s&p
6 slices french bread
3T grated Swiss
Lightly brown onions in butter. Sprinkle with sugar and flour. Cook. Add beef broth, white wine, s&p. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Toast french bread. Pour soup over. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Put in oven or broiler to brown cheese.