White Onion Soup

By ahree

Ingredients

• 3 medium onions
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 heaping teaspoon flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 cups chicken stock
• 2 slices bread
• 1/2 cup grated swiss cheese

Details

Adapted from serendipity-kate.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

•Cut the onions in half, peel them, and slice them thinly.
•Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the onions.
•Cook over medium low heat till light to medium brown and caramelized. This can take up to an hour, so be prepared to wait. Don’t rush this step--this is an important part of the flavor of the soup. Once they start to brown, though, they go pretty quickly so don’t leave them too long at that point.
•When the onions are browned, add the flour and stir to mix it well. Keep stirring to cook the flour for a minute or two.
•Add the wine stir well, and cook over medium heat till the wine is evaporated.
•Add the chicken stock, stir well and heat through.
•Meanwhile, toast your bread. If it’s larger than your bowls, cut it so that it will fit inside. Put the cheese on the bread and run it under the grill to melt the cheese.
•Ladle the soup into the bowls, top with the croutons and any leftover cheese. Enjoy.

NOTES:


•I used Gruyere cheese, which is what I had. Emmenthal or any Swiss-type of cheese would do just as well.
•The traditional way to do the bread and cheese is to put them both on top of the soup and put the bowls under the grill to melt the cheese. I don’t do that because my bowls get too hot that way, and because I always spill the soup trying to take the hot bowls out of the oven. You might not be as clumsy as I am.
•If you decide to make fancy pants croutons like I did, I think you need a really strong bread. I used a sourdough rye which was even a little stale. It was maybe a little TOO hard to cut, but the flavor stood up to the soup well. I toasted the little stars in the oven and then put them on a baking sheet with the cheese over them. VOILA! I love stars.
•I also had some shredded chicken from the carcass that I threw in at the last minute. TOTALLY untraditional, but you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, eh? Next time I think I’ll leave it out, though.
•Note to self: When photographing hot soup from directly above, wait till it's stopped steaming.