French Onion Soup
Ingredients
For Stock:
For Finishing Soup:
Instructions
For Stock:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Wash the bones thoroughly.
Place bones, yellow onions, and carrots on baking sheet.
Roast for 30-40 minutes, turning halfway through, until they start to brown
(pay attention to any odd angles of bones, do not let them burn).
Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
Place onions and carrots in a dish for later use, set in
refrigerator to stop cooking process.
Place bones in 3-quart pot, fill pot with cool water until
the bones are covered by about 1 ½ inches of liquid. Cover pot with lid. Bring
to slow simmer over medium heat, ideally over a precision simmer burner. Drop
heat immediately as simmer starts.
Bare simmer bones for 6 hours. Use instant-read thermometer
to monitor temperature every hour. Temperature should be at 180°F as
consistently as possible. Do not let it get below 179°F or above 190°F, as
marrow bones contain more collagen than typical stock bones and these
temperatures can produce undesired, fatty, results. Do not stir the stock. Do not shake the
stock. Do not bump the stock. Do not move the stock. Delicately skim any fat
off the top of the stock but do your best not to move the liquid too much.
*The stock should remain clear – you should be able to see
the bottom of the pot through the stock the entire time. This stock will not
become dark like store-bought beef stocks that contain molasses, tomato paste,
or other added ingredients that darken the color. The final color of this stock will be closer
in resemblance to chicken stock. *
After 6 hours, add the mirepoix and continue to bare simmer
for 1 hour. Delicately skim as needed.
Add bouquet ingredients (garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf,
thyme sprigs) – don’t worry about tying them up in cloth, everything is getting
strained later. Continue to bare simmer for 1 more hour. Again, delicately skim
as needed.
*Salt is missing from this stock on purpose. (Consider the
way unsalted/salted butter is sold.) Add salt as necessary to season when you
are using this stock in recipes, so you have greater control over the final
product. Store-bought stocks generally have too much salt and you can’t control
the content properly. *
Remove from heat and cool over an ice bath, stirring
frequently. Strain solids.
Place the stock in a covered container in the refrigerator
overnight. Skim any solidified fat from the top in the morning.
For Finishing Soup:
Preheat two cast iron skillets over medium-high heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of duck fat and 2 tablespoons of butter to
preheated pans.
Add onions to pan, soften over medium-high heat, about 5-7 minutes.
Lower heat to medium-low and caramelize onions, stirring
frequently, about 1-3 hours. Keep checking and stirring as you start to prepare
the other ingredients.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Bring a small pot of water to boil, add cipollini onions and
blanch them for 2-3 minutes.
Drain cipollini onions. Remove peels.
Preheat oven-safe frying pan over medium-high heat with 1
tablespoon of duck fat and 1 tablespoon of butter.
Add cipollini onions to preheated frying pan, moving
frequently, until brown on all sides. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the frying pan with the cipollini onions in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the cipollini onions with a paring knife.
Remove onions from the oven, set aside for later use.
Bump even temperature up to 400°F.
Toast bread in oven for 5 minutes. Remove and slice into 8-12 slices (depending on size, account for the size of your serving soup bowls). Set aside for later use.
Combine the caramelized yellow onions into one cast iron
pan.
Add white wine vinegar (or dry white wine) to the yellow
onions, bring to a simmer and scrape the bottom of the pan. Cook for 10
minutes, or until the alcohol/vinegar smell is gone.
Transfer the yellow onion mixture to a 3-quart pot. Add 5
cups of homemade beef stock, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer over medium-heat, then half-cover
the pot with a lid and reduce heat to medium-low.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Preheat the boiler to high.
Rub garlic clove on toast slices.
Place 1-2 toast slices (depending on size) in each of four oven-safe serving soup bowls.
Cover with broth from soup, top each with ¼ cup of Gruyère
cheese, then top with onions from soup and more broth until almost full. Use
the onions to weigh down the bottom slice of toast. Add 3-4 cipollini onions to
each bowl. Use last slices of toast on top, then top each bowl with another ¼ cup
of Gruyère cheese. Place bowls on baking sheet, then broil until cheese is
melted and starts to brown.
Serve immediately.
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