Julia's French Onion Soup

Julia Child can do no wrong.

She wanted to make an whole volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking on Soup.

I feel like she gets me. She also smoked and drank and ate a ton of butter.

She wants you to make this soup.


It takes a lot of onions. Slicing them will make you cry. And spill things. But it tastes soooo good. So you forgive her for the crying. And the spilling. Especially if you can eat Gruyere cheese on top.

Julia Child's French Onion Soup

Ingrediences
3 lbs onions
3 cloves garlic, minced or smashed
1 t sugar
1/2 cup white wine
6 cups beef broth
S & P to taste
Bread (a baguette, or loaf of crusty french bread)
Shredded Gruyere cheese


This is what was happening while I made this soup. You may notice approximately 12 lbs of flour, purchased from the bulk bins at Berkeley Bowl. This is why you should always look in your cupboards before you go shopping, lest you buy 17 lbs of flour when you already have 9 at home.

All this chaos will become English muffins (from scratch, no bigs) meatballs, chili, french onion soup and a frittata)

I enjoy herbs in mason jars, like little aromatic, edible flower arrangements

Indeed. it was an epic day of cooking to remember.

This is too many onions.

Slice. Add as many to a hot pot on the stove (with about 2 T of olive oil warmed in it) as will fit.

This many will not fit. Sure, it will cook down, but come on people. Put the onions in your meatballs and your chili and your frittata!

Some will fall on the ground. That will help in the reduction of the number of onions you have to cram into your pot.

There is a reasonable amount of onions for this soup.

 

Add garlic and 1 teaspoon sugar. Cook for 20 mins, until translucent and caramelized. This may take longer if you crammed too many darn onions into the pot.

Once you've reached your desired carmelization, add the wine, cook for 7 minutes. Add beef stock. Simmer for one hour. Dish it out into oven-proof bowls, top with bread and cheese. Broil for 2-4 minutes. Enjoy!

Unless you are lactose intolerant. In which case, just eat it like this and be glad you're not gluten intolerant. Not because there is gluten in this soup... but just in general. It's a count your blessings kind of thing.

Thank you, Julia, for your infinite wisdom, your love for soup and butter, and for your voice.