French onion soup
French onion soup is a classic of French cuisine and a dish that strikes fear into my heart. It is so simple, just beef stock, some onions and a dash of sherry, easy. Yes, easy to make, and equally easy to do badly. There’s just no where to hide with so few ingredients… and the colour is just, well, with all respect, is just brown.
Make a bad stock and the dish is underwhelming, don’t caramelise the onions correctly you risk adding a burnt onion flavour, or worse a slightly raw sulphur onion taste and texture. So, when a client asks me for this dish as an entrée with an all French theme of Beef fillet with Paris mash and crème brulee I started the stock making process straight away. I wanted to build a deep deep flavour into my stock, so I make two, the second one from the first and then clarify this with egg whites and more beef to give a sweet deep golden-brown broth to carry my onions. I make my stock was over three days with the onions made on the third day and added just before service with a dash of dry sherry and a crouton smothered in Comte cheese.
This recipe is not for the faint hearted, it is a difficult proposition at best, possibly the easiest hardest recipe and dish I know. But the results are well worth the effort, and as Friedrich Nietzsche said
“The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously.”
Although I doubt we was referring to soup when penning the above.
DAY 1: Stock #1
Ingredients
3kg osso bucco
3 large carrots
3 large onions
½ a bunch of celery
3 bay leaves
6 thyme sprigs
10 litres of water to cover.
Method
Roast Osso Bucco in a roasting pan until dark and golden
Wash and roughly chop the vegetable. Don’t roast as I want a fresh flavour.
Place all in a big pot and cover with cold water.
Deglaze the pan and add to pot.
Simmer for 6 hours skimming anything that floats to the surface.
Add water to ensure the bones are covered.
Strain and chill overnight. Remove all the solidified fat.
Make the second stock.
DAY 2: Stock #2
Ingredients
2 kg chuck bones
3 large carrots
3 large onions
½ a bunch of celery
3 bay leaves
6 thyme sprigs
The strained and cooled stock from the recipe above.
Method
Repeat as above.
Strain and cool overnight. Remove all fat.
DAY 3: The clarification
Mix together 5 egg whites with 500g minced beef and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Place the cold double stock in a large pot.
Whisk on the egg white mixture.
Slowly bring to the boil stirring.
As the meat and egg white come to the surface stop stirring and reduce heat.
Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, remember and don’t boil.
Carefully remove the raft of egg whites and ladle stock though fine strainer.
Cool.
The stock should now be clarified and ready to use.
The onions
Finely julienne 10 brown onions
Place in a French skillet with some olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and 50ml cold water
On a low heat cook with the lid on until the onions begin to break down about 10minutes
Remove and slowly cook until the onions turn a golden brown.
Make sure you scrape the pan to get all the colour of the bottom of the skillet.
Reserve and cool in fridge over night if possible. The next day remove as much oil as possible before assembling soup.
To assemble
Add around 1 ½ to 2 litres sock to a pot and bring to a simmer, add the onions and cook slowly for 30 minutes skimming off any fat that comes to the surface.
Turn off and allow to stand for 2 minutes and then season with salt and pepper.
As the soup cooks cut a round crouton from 4 slices of good sour dough bread. Heat a frying pan with a little oil and salt and gently fry on both sides until golden. Sprinkle each with a little grated Comte cheese and melt under a grill for just a minute.
To serve
Spoon hot soup into bowls adding a tablespoon of good dry sherry and a pinch of chiffonade of flat leaf parsley. Place the crouton in the centre of each bowl and grate over more Comte cheese using a microplane.
Serve and enjoy.