Receta French Onion Soup in a Flash!
King Louis XV Who doesn’t love a bowl of French Onion Soup?Topped with melted Gruyère cheese over crusty bread, your spoon digs into the bowl to get to the rich beef and onion broth. It’s a classic recipe that became wildly popular in this country in the 1960s when interest in French cooking really took off. Its history goes back a very long time before that. Onion soups have their roots in Roman times because onions were plentiful, easy to grow and cheap. For those reasons, they were seen as food for the poor. In 18th century France, the modern version came into being. There’s a legend that the first French Onion soup was created for King Louis XV. The story goes that upon arrival at his hunting party’s lodge, all that was in the larder was butter, onions and champagne. It seems unlikely that anyone preparing for the King’s arrival would have not stocked the pantry to the hilt but it makes a good story. But there’s another one that’s even better.
This painting shows, at left, Restaurant Boulanger
the first restaurant in the world.
The genius of this particular take on French Onion
Soup is that takes all of 40 minutes to make—that’s their timing, not mine. I
brought it in a few minutes under that.
The secret here is that the initial caramelizing of the onions is done
in a completely dry non-stick skillet.
You have to use one that’s not Teflon which can’t stand the high
heat. A Silicone coated pan is perfect
here. While the original recipe said
this process would take about 15 minutes, I started to sweat it after the first 5 minutes because that’s how
fast the onion took on color. They were
completely browned in all of about 10 minutes. That’s when the butter and the brandy or cognac are added. Don’t
skip this latter ingredient of you will end up with a soup that’s too sweet. Forget making your own stock. I chose Trader Joe’s Organic Beef Broth. Once the soup has simmered, it’s time to top
it with thick slices of baguette made to fit the ramekins that will go in the
oven topped with either Gruyère or Raclette Cheese. Into the oven it goes to emerge minutes later
after all of 40 minutes in the making.
Here is the recipe:
- Recipe for French Onion Soup in a Flash from Bon Appetit
- Takes 40 minutes start to finish. Recipe is for 4 servings. I got about 3 using my 1 ¾ cup Ramekins (larger than what's recommended here.)
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Calvados, Applejack, or other brandy
- 4 cups low-salt beef stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4–8 1/2"-thick slices baguette, cut to fit ramekins
- 1 cup grated Gruyère or raclette cheese
- Special equipment: Four 10-ounces ramekins
1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Cook onions in a 12" nonstick skillet over high heat, stirring constantly, until soft and caramelized, about 15 minutes.
3. Add butter and toss onions to coat. Remove pan from heat and stir in Calvados. Return pan to heat and continue cooking until Calvados is absorbed, about 30 seconds.
3. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer until soup is reduced to 4 cups, about 5 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide soup among ramekins.
5. Top each ramekin with 2-3 slices of bread.
6. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese over each. Transfer baking sheet with ramekins to oven and bake until cheese is bubbly and browned in spots, about 4 minutes.