Autumn Fare

It's officially soup season. It was 3 degrees last night, I still can't work out what that means in American (a.k.a. Fahrenheit) without looking it up online...... that's 37 degrees to you and me. Brrr.... It's time for chopping firewood, for covering the kitchen garden with frost-fleece, and it's time for snuggling. More than anything, it's time for soup, tasty, hearty, warm-you-to-the-soul-like-an-iron-and-wine-song type of soup.

Today, I taught a River Study course out at the country park I work at to a bunch of unruly, though mostly on the verge of their best behavior, 12 year olds. It was freezing, bless them! Well, not freezing officially, since it was 8, or 46, degrees, but bitterly windy and frozen fingers and cherry cheeks cold. To their credit, the kids kept their whinging to a minimum save for one strapping and bullyish young lad by the name of Liam who would've complained had I given him tickets to a world cup game. That said, we spent a good 6 hours together, slogging through the chilly, albeit dry, day at the mercy of mean mother nature, my mate Liam complaining all the while and occasionally sucker-punching other unsuspecting 12 year olds. By the time I got home, I was in dire need of some soup.

This is what I would have made, if I'd had enough time after work..... The BEST FRENCH ONION SOUP EVER. I don't take my French Onion Soup lightly, it's by far one of my favorites, only because I love the cheesy crouton on top. In fact, anything involving cheese is usually in my good books. Especially if it involves cheese AND bread at the same time. (Note: the English don't take their French Onion Soup with a delicious, cheesy crouton. In fact, my poor husband delighted in his first crouton experience only when I made this soup over the weekend.) Before I found this recipe and made this soup myself, I would have had to have given credit to the Kodiak Kafe in Anchorage, Alaska as having made me the best bowl of French Onion Soup, despite the ridiculous alliteration. Followed, closely in second place by the Salmon Bay Cafe in Seattle, Washington. Maybe you've had the pleasure of patronizing one of the above mentioned cafe's, you've tried the soup, you thought mmmmm...... Well, here's your answer to the question: how do I make a French Onion Soup to die for?

The following recipe (and the photos on this post) was adapted from one in a cookbook I found in a thrift store last month called simply and aptly, The Onion Cookbook by Brian Glover. The good Mr. Glover is kind

enough to impart us with a brief history of onions and other alliums throughout history. I found this particularly interesting, since it's never once occurred to me that eating onions might be considered an underground or rebellious act. God forbid, eating alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, chives, shallots, etc) be prohibited!! But in 17th century Britain, the unthinkable happened. Quote the diarist John Evelyn who wrote a treatise on salads, (who would write a treatise on salads today? I'll endeavor for my own treatise in a future post....) "Regarding garlick, we absolutely forbid it entrance into our salleting, by reason of it's intolerable rankness..... to be sure it is not for ladies' palates, nor those who court them." Anyone who's ever courted me, knows that the way to my heart is by means of garlic.

Further to the history of alliums, who here knew that Chicago was named after the Illinois Indian name for "the place which smells of onions." Chicagoua - the plant that gave Chicago it's name, was a form of wild garlic. (I wonder if Sufjan Stevens could've worked that into a song?) And to the Egyptians, thankfully, alliums held a place near and dear to their hearts. Onions were placed in tombs as food for the journey into the next life, laborers were fed onions, leeks and garlic as these were believed to keep them fit and well, and it was a sign of fertility to smell onion on a woman's breath.

French Onion Soup, itself, has something of an interesting story behind it. Traditionally, it was served as a sustaining early morning meal to the porters and workers of Les Halles Market in Paris. It's served in my kitchen to warm us up from the inside out during a cold snap. The secret to success with this soup is the long slow cooking of the onions. Give yourself a couple of hours, because if the onions brown too quickly the soup will be bitter, and nobody wants that. Another tip: To keep from crying when chopping onions, don't open your mouth! At least that's what my mother told me and it seems to work for me. Unfortunately, it seems like a really great song inevitably comes on while I'm chopping them and I have to fight myself from singing along and just end up doing this stupid restrained humming thing that my husband makes fun of me for. (Currently, Cat Power's The Greatest has been resurrected and is back in high rotation.) Here's how to get started with the soup:


Ingredients/Shopping List:
1/4 c butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 1/2 lbs (2 kg) yellow onions (yes, you have to peel and chop all of them)
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp (or more!) balsamic or sherry vinegar
6 1/2 c (1.5 L) of good beef stock
1 1/2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
2/3 c dry white wine like chardonnay
3 tbsp brandy
salt and pepper

For the croutons!
thick slices of day old baguette
1 garlic clove, halved
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 cup thinly sliced Gruyere cheese
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan or romano cheese



The Process:
Melt the butter and the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onions and stir to coat. Cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes or long enough for the onions to begin to soften. Stir in the thyme.

Reduce heat to very low, cover the pan and cook the onions for 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until they are very soft and golden yellow. Uncover the pan, and increase the heat slightly. Stir in the sugar and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the onions start to brown.

Add the balsamic vinegar and increase the heat again, continue cooking while stirring frequently until the onions turn a deep brown - this could take up to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another saucepan. Stir the flour into the onions and cook for a couple of minutes, then gradually pour in the hot stock. Add the wine and the brandy, making sure to give the cook a quick sip, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.



While the soup is simmering get the best bit started, the croutons. Preheat the oven to 150 C/300 F Place the slices of bread on a greased baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes, until dry and lightly browned. Rub the bread with the cut surface of the garlic and spread with the mustard. Place the slices of Gruyere on top and sprinkle with parmesan or romano, or both!!

Preheat your grill or broiler on the hottest setting. Ladle the soup into oven proof bowls. Float the croutons in the soup then grill until the cheese melts and becomes ooey gooey, bubbly and brown. Serve immediately!!