Notes:
I searched the web for a recipe to start with and created this recipe from my notes from a recording of the Juila Childs French Chef cooking show episode 2 from 1963. The episode was televised before I was born and it is still awesome tv for any foodie.
You need a very beefy broth to add to the onions. I created my own broth from chicken legs, mushrooms, celery, tomato paste and marrow bones. See the details on the Meat Stock post. I omitted the onions in the homemade stock to prevent the overall dish from becoming overly sweet. I still ended up adding about 8 beef bullion cubes to achieve the strong beefy flavor.
I mixed up the onions to get a variety of flavors and I blanched a bag of pearl onions and sliced them down the middle to add to the soup before the final cooking stage. This added some nice texture.
Make the soup a day ahead to let the flavors settle and gratinee 1 hour before serving. You can weigh the soup before reheating to determine proper seasoning.
Add vinegar or dry sherry or dry vermouth if too sweet.
I served in individual 4″ x 2.5″ ramekins but you could make it in a large casserole dish.
Feeds 5-6
INGREDIENTS:
- 1.5 lbs of yellow onions (2 medium), sliced
- 1 lbs of shallots, sliced
- 2 leeks (white parts only) sliced
- 10 oz. package of fresh pearl onions, blanched and peeled.
- 2 Tablespoons of oil (1 Tablespoon at start and 1 Tablespoon near the end)
- 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
- 3 Tablespoons of flour
- 6 cups of beef stock
- 4 – 8 bullion cubes (to taste)
- 1 cup red wine (dry)
- 1/2 cup of dry sherry
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered sage
- 6″ of french bread cut on an angle to make round-ish slices
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
- 12 slices swiss cheese
- 8 oz. grated gruyere cheese (about 2 cups by volume)
- 1 cup grated pamesan cheese
- Additional salt to taste (about 1 Tablespoon)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Slice onions.
- Brown onions (except pearl onions) in 1 Tablespoon of oil and 2 Tablespoons of butter. The oil keeps the butter from burning.
- Stir the onions until coated with fat.
- Etuvé – Cook covered for 20 minutes over medium heat until they are tender. This fully cooks them before they brown so you don’t wind up with browned raw onions. Stir every 5 minutes.
- Uncover, increase to medium-high heat and add 1 tsp salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. This will help them brown.
- Stir frequetly to prevent burning until they are browned.
- Add 3 Tablespoons of flour and cook over moderate heat to create a roux. Add some butter if there isn’t enough to coat all the flour. You don’t want any dry, white flour in the mixture.
- Brown the flour for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add 1 – 2 cups of beef stock to deglaze the pan.
- Add the remainder of 6 cups of beef stock
- Add 1 cup of dry red wine
- Add a bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon powdered sage.
- Partially cover and cook slowly for 40 minutes to meld the flavors and cook out the alcohol.
- Remove the bay leaves.
- Season to taste.
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Croutes – Toasted french bread:
- Slice bread into 1″ thick slices.
- Place them on a baking sheet.
- Baste each side with olive oil.
- Bake at 325 for 15 minutes on each side.
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Onion Soup Gratinee (grah-Tin-ay’):
- Spoon onion soup into a baking dish to about 3/4″ to 1″ below the top.
- Divide in the pearl onions to add some texture.
- Slice swiss cheese and add to the soup to cover about half the bottom bottom about 1/8″ deep.
- Float the toasted bread on the top of the soup.
- Spread grated gruyere cheese and pamesan cheese on top of the toast.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (cheese won’t be brown, yet)
- Place the soup on the top rack and broil on high until cheese browns. Watch it carefully so it does not burn.
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Final pic coming soon. This was so good, we ate them all before we remembered to take an after-picture.