category: Soup
Meat: Beef

French Onion Soup

• 5 Lbs of Vidalia Onions, Sliced
• 2-3 Tablespoons of Reserved Beef fat from the Bone Broth or Unsalted Butter
• 1-2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 2-3 Tablespoons of Dry Sherry Wine
• 2 Tablespoons of AP Flour
• 2 Tablespoons of Whole Black Peppercorn
• 1 Bay Leaf
• A Small Bunch of Fresh Thyme
• 1 Baguette, cut into bite-sized croutons
• 1 1/2 Lbs of Gruyere Cheese, Grated
• 3/4 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano, Grated
• 2 1/2 quarts of Beef Stock
• Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Olive Oil
• 4 Teaspoons of Fresh Chives, diced

Cut off the top and the root end of the onions and peel the skins. Prep all the onions before cutting. Then line them up and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices that run parallel to the natural grains of the onion. Once sliced, you should have 3-4 lbs of onions.
In a large dutch oven on high heat, add a few tablespoons of the beef fat, and once hot, add the onions. Cook on high to start. As the onions begin to soften and collapse, season with salt and gradually work your way down to medium-low. Be patient, the onions shouldn’t cook too fast, but also if this amount of onions cook on too low a temp, they will take hours to cook. So I tend to bounce between low and high heat throughout the process. The onions will begin to release their moisture and whenever I see an abundance of moisture in the pot, I raise the heat slightly to evaporate that off, and if I see the pan drying up a bit, I lower the heat back down. After about 40 minutes to an hour, the onions should develop and really pleasant mahogany color and they should look soft and jammy. There should be a little fond developing on the bottom of the pan which we like but the onions shouldn’t be too dark. This is the point to add the flour. The flour will give the soup a little body and structure but you want to make sure you work it into and cook out the rawness of it for about 2-3 minutes. Then deglaze the pan with the sherry, scraping up those stuck on bits off the bottom of the pan. Then add the beef stock, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and a bunch of thyme of bay leave tied together. Bring it up to a boil and then let it simmer while you prepare the croutons for the soup.
Cut up the baguette into bite-sized croutons and then coat with olive oil generously and then into a 425-degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until they are fully dried out and toasted and nicely golden brown. They will be going right into a soup so you want to make sure they are nicely hardened and toasted.
In a soup crock that is oven-proof, label in the onion soup leaving a little space at the top for the croutons to sit. Then add a layer of cheese on top of the soup to act as a barrier between the croutons, then add a generous mound of croutons, followed by a generous mound of gruyere and a sprinkle of Parmigiano cheese. Place that on a tray and then adjust the rack in your oven so that the crock fits with a few inches of space beneath the broiler, then turn on the broiler and melt the cheese until beginning to brown and is fully melted.
Garnish with fresh diced chives and enjoy.

https://www.notanothercookingshow.tv/post/french-onion-soup