Recipe: Classic French Onion Soup

Some recipes intimidate me.

Sourdough breads – let’s be honest, most yeast breads intimidate me, though yeast is on my shelf with every intention of seeing use in my kitchen.

Pastry. Period.

French Onion Soup.

I always order French Onion Soup in a restaurant when it’s on the menu because I love it so much.

So, with the find of a vintage recipe and all of the ingredients on my shelf, I decided to take the plunge.

It was worth the several hours it took to put together (a lot of stirring is involved).

But I will make it again because, although there were several steps, none were difficult.

This is a meatless meal, though not without protein due to the cheese. It is also economical (my four onions cost one dollar on sale, while the rest of the ingredients’ costs were negligible) and healthy. I read an article today that said onions are a very nutritious food.

Don’t be put off by the photos that look as though it is burnt. It really wasn’t and with my dunking the bread into the liquid, it became all luscious and soft and creamy. Wow!

On the scale of difficulty I’d give this recipe for French Onion Soup a 3:

1– Easy (5 ingredients or less; little prep time)

2– Somewhat easy (10 ingredients or less; less than 1 hour of prep)

3— Probably not for a weeknight (between 1-2 hours of prep)

4—Challenging (you’ve got to be kidding; who thought up this recipe?)

I’m proud of myself for attempting this classic recipe which was listed in a spiral-bound notebook/ cookbook called ‘Aw Shucks… Another Junior League Cookbook.’ It was published by the Junior League of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1983.

Classics never go out of style!

Give this vintage recipe for French Onion Soup a go the next time you’re stumped for a yummy meal.

French Onion Soup

Serves 8

1 ½ pounds (5 cups) yellow onions, thinly sliced

3 T. margarine

1 T. vegetable oil

1 t. salt

¼ t. sugar

3 T. flour

3 cans condensed beef bouillon

3 c. water

½ c. dry white wine

2 oz. Swiss cheese, cut into thin slivers

1 T. onion, grated

8 slices French bread, hard-toasted

½ c. Parmesan cheese, grated

1 T. margarine, melted

Cook onions slowly with margarine and oil in heavy, covered, 4-quart saucepan for 15 minutes.

Stir in salt and sugar, raise heat to medium and cook uncovered for 35 minutes, stirring often, until onions are a deep golden brown.

Sprinkle with flour and stir for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, add boiling bouillon and boiling water and blend well.

Add wine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer, partly covered for about 35 minutes longer.

Bring to a boil and pour into oven-proof bowls.

Stir in slivered Swiss cheese and grated onion.

Float toast rounds on top of soup, quickly spread Parmesan cheese over toast and sprinkle with melted butter.

Bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

Set under the broiler for 2 minutes to brown top lightly.

Serve immediately.

To make hard-toasted French bread, cut bread ½-inch thick. Place in 1 layer on cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until thoroughly dried out and golden brown.

My notes:

1. Use a non-stick pot as the onions tend to stick.
2. Don’t cry if you can’t chop onions precisely. Thankfully, in this recipe the veggies will all be thrown together and will all taste yummy!
3. You could probably use olive oil for the vegetable oil.
4. Dissolving 3 bouillon cubes in 3 cups of boiling water is a good substitute for the canned bouillon.
5. This was my first time to use dry white wine in a recipe. As all of the TV chefs state, the alcohol evaporated, leaving a nice taste. You could use water or more bouillon instead of the wine.
6. More bread was added to my soup as a personal preference.

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