Baked French Onion Soup

This new elevation has completly messed with my baking. I attempted to make Guinness cake last week and the bake time was all screwy. With mouths full of cake my new roommates said it was great, but I walked away a bit discouraged. I plan on jumping back on the baking horse soon with some cool stuff, but it will be in a few weeks.

Other news, we make homemade meals around here like it is a hurricane party. So, tonight I thought I would share my baked french onion. I used a Tyler Florence recipe from Food Network and slightly altered a few things (noted with *).

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
*2 sprigs fresh thyme 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
*1.5 quart beef broth
*1 baguette, sliced and cubed for croutons  
*5 slices Gruyere
*5 slices swiss

Start by finding a giant pan. One with enough depth to hold all of the above mentioned items. Melt the butter over medium heat and add the epic amount of onions, garlic, bay leaves, fresh thyme, and salt and pepper. Let the onions cook down and caramelize (the original recipe says 25 minutes, but mine took at least 40). 

Start your croutons by cutting thick slices of bread and then cubing them. You can either toast them as is in an oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 OR you can throw them in a bowl, add a good drizzle of olive oil, some oregano, salt, and pepper and then bake them on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 minutes. I suggest option number 2. Just set those bad boys to the side once baked and return to the onions.

Once everything is golden and soft, add the wine (I went with a Burgundy) bring it to a boil, drop the temp to a simmer and cook until all the wine is gone. 

Florence says the onions will be dry, but just try to get most of the wine cooked out and toss out the bay leaves. Next, dust the onions with some flour. I used less than 3 Tbsp and sifted it over the onions with a fork while my roommate stirred. Cook for another 10 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. If your pan is big enough, go ahead and add the beef broth. If not, quickly transfer all of it to a larger pan and add your broth. If you notice, I use less broth than the Florence recipe but it is just because I really enjoy a stoupy consistency vs brothy in some of my soup. Let the soup rest on a low heat for about 10 minutes before taking on the final steps of the dish. 

I used 5 10oz ramekins for this. You may use whatever you like, just make sure it is oven safe. first, ladle the soup into the dish, top with homemade croutons (enough to make a layer of bread on the top of the soup) and finish with the cheese (get all fancy and set the swiss slice like a diamond and the Gruyere slice like a square). Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and pop them into the oven at 400 for about 5-10 minutes.

I wanted my cheese to really melt, not just burn on the top so I might have given it a bit more time. Finally, right before serving, crank the oven to broil and watch your cheese till it is brown and bubbly. Turn off the oven, use tongs to transfer the dishes onto a room temp place and remember that dish is hot.

We had an awesome Caesar salad, along with a great bottle of red wine and a nice fire. 

Until Next Time