French Onion Soup...

I can't believe I haven't posted anything all week, I feel like such a slacker. This week we had a full week of  school. No holiday interruptions or weekday obligations to distract us, it was nice. We were able to maintain focus and complete all our "assignments". We started using a new math program, a FREE website called Khan Academy. (www.khanacademy.org)When you sign up it gives you a pretest to figure out your skill level and then it adjusts the program accordingly. You can learn new math skills, then take quizzes and it slowly builds up your mastery. Miles and I both have an account because I think it's kind of fun. In addition to school work we cleaned out his bedroom on Wednesday to make room for Christmas gifts and to donate his undesired toys to charity. Lost treasures were found and Miles made a secret hide-out out of a water heater box. He put a little blanket pallet inside and sat there listening to his Fellowship of the Ring audio book. If you have never checked a playaway out of the library, you should. It is a portable audio device that is pre-loaded with a book. All you have to do is plug in speakers or headphones. I even listen to them through my car stereo. They are his favorite thing to check out, besides DVDs. He even did a little school work inside the not so secret hide-out.

Also this week, Miles decided that he wanted to go to Tae Kwon Do class every day after school, so we tried it out. It is a bit of an adjustment to dedicate time every night to this. But I believe it will be good for him especially since the weather has been too cold and wet to play outside. This new schedule meant that my dinners would have to be a bit more rushed than usual. I made leftover Thanksgiving turkey enchiladas on Tuesday. They were so good! Then on Thursday I made French onion soup. With a few leftover nights in between. I don't know why but when I woke up on Thursday I was craving soup. And of course, one of my favorite soups is French onion soup. So I just had to make it. After school, I sliced up 6 onions, got out my handy cast iron soup pot and started sauteing. The onions were seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper, then cooked part way. I paused the cooking process, covered the pot and left for Tae Kwon Do. 

When we returned, I cranked the heat back up and started to caramelize. Caramelizing the onions takes a long time, like 45 minutes, so be patient. Keep it low, stir occasionally and remember to be patient. It will be worth it I guarantee it. I wasn't as patient as I should have been and the onions were not quite caramelized to my satisfaction but I was hungry.

I recommend cooking them longer than the picture above. Probably like 15 minutes longer. They will be soft and dark brown (not burnt). At this point I added the Worcestershire sauce and white wine to deglaze the pan. I cooked this down until the wine was reduced by half, about 5 minutes, then added the thyme, beef broth and more freshly ground pepper.( I like a lot of pepper, so you may want less)

While the soup was cooking I sliced some bread, brushed it with olive oil, seasoned it, and toasted it in the oven until lightly golden brown. I then topped the toasted bread with cheese and threw it in the oven on broil, under constant supervision, until the cheese was melted. If you prefer, you can put soup into individual oven safe serving bowls right before serving and top with the toasted bread, then the cheese mixture and broil the whole bowl for a couple minutes until the cheese is bubbly and delicious. I don't particularly like soggy bread so I melt the cheese onto the bread separately and then toss a couple into my soup as I eat it. The bread stays crispy longer this way. 

The weather got really cold on Thursday and it was so nice to have a big pot of soup. We had this with hot tea and baked potatoes. It is the perfect winter comfort food.

French Onion Soup

makes 6-8 servings

6 onions, cut in half and sliced thinly lengthwise

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt 

fresh ground pepper

1 c dry white wine (I used wine from my old job at the winery, it was a Chardonnay)

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

8 c beef broth

7 sprigs fresh thyme

Croutons

1 baguette, sliced

olive oil

salt 

freshly ground pepper

shredded Swiss cheese

shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy bottom sauce pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Then add the sliced onions, salt, and pepper. Saute over medium low heat about 45 minutes until they are really soft and lightly browned. Add the Worcestershire sauce and wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze and remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook this down until reduced by half, then add the beef broth, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-45 minutes and season to taste.

While soup is simmering prepare the croutons. Slice the baguette into 1/2 inch pieces and arrange bread on a sheet pan, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toast in oven until lightly brown, remove bread from oven and turn it up to broil. Top bread with cheeses and return to oven and cook until cheese is browned and bubbly.

Serve up soup and top with cheesy croutons. YUM!