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French Onion Soup For The Soul

Photo by MICHELLE BAKER

Nicely browned and bubbly cheese tops French Onion soup, a warm treat on a stormy day.

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 26, 2008

Updated: 08/26/2008 06:33 pm

While the majority of the United States is on fire or burning from the sun, the Bay area has become London - a hot, humid London, but London, nonetheless. A gray, constant drizzle of gloom.

Most days, the rain starts in the early morning and ends sometime after dark, with the occasional break of sun. (More like a "Ha ha! No sun for you!" taunting from Mother Nature.) To those of you living in the parts of the world where this is just normal: Hurray for you. It's not normal in the Tampa Bay area.

Don't get us wrong, we're used to the 3 p.m. daily summer thunderstorm you can almost set your watch to. The morning is bright and sunny, clouds roll in, it storms violently for one hour, and then it's bright and sunny again. Not this year, thanks to La Nina.

There is a bit of a reprieve now and then, but it will be back to gray and rainy soon - with the possibility of a hurricane thrown in. In honor of this bad weather, we were in BAD need of something we could feel in our bones. We decided French Onion Soup would do the trick. Caramelized onions with a robust broth and melted cheese. Oh, yeah, bring it on Mother Nature, bring it on.

Greg's recipe is VERY simple and VERY delicious. The hardest and longest part is waiting for the onions to sweat, and, really, the stove does all the work. Have a hard time reading? No biggie, you can watch Greg make this simple soup at www.culinary sherpas.com, but why do you have a newspaper if you can't read?
FRENCH ONION SOUP
2 tablespoons olive oil

4 sweet onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, sliced thin (but not "Goodfellas" thin)

Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

11/2 quarts beef stock
2 slices day-old bread

6 slices smoked gruyere cheese

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
In a large pot, over medium-low heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the sliced onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and let these cook slowly for 1 to 11/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until all of the water has cooked out of the onions and the onions are nicely browned.

Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the red wine and thyme. Bring to a simmer and cook until the volume of the wine has reduced by half (about 3 to 4 minutes).

Add the beef stock, adjust the salt and pepper to your taste, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Place the day-old bread slices on a baking sheet, and coat both sides with remaining olive oil.

Place oiled bread in a 350-degree oven until crisp (about 10 minutes). Remove from oven. You have just made croutons.

Set the oven to broil.

Place two oven-safe bowls on baking sheet (this will help catch any spills - and there will be spills), and ladle the soup into the bowls. Position the croutons on top of the soup, and top the crouton with the gruyere. Then, top the gruyere with the Parmesan.

Place the soup bowls on the baking sheet under your broiler, and let the cheese melt for 3 to 5 minutes. The cheese should be nicely browned and bubbly when done. Remove from the oven, try not to burn yourself on the bowls, and enjoy.

Makes 2 servings.

Greg Baker is a classically trained executive chef with more than 20 years of trendsetting experience. Greg and Michelle are co-owners of Cooks and Company Personal Chef and Catering. Go to www.cooksncompany.com or www.culinarysherpas.com.

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