French Onion Soup Recipe
Our five-star French onion soup recipe turns that big bag of trusty onions into a luxurious meal.
Good morning. I sliced a few pounds of yellow onions into the slow cooker the other day, then plopped a chunk of butter the size of a baby’s fist on top of them and let the whole thing burble along for the better part of an afternoon. This made a nice base for a gravy I served on top of hamburgers seasoned with mustard powder, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper, a hack of a recipe I saw in Melissa M. Martin’s new cookbook, “Bayou,” that pairs excellently with a watercress salad dressed in yellow-mustard vinaigrette.
The process got me on a caramelized onion kick. I stirred a bunch more around for a dinner of creamed mushroom bruschetta with caramelized onions. I made another batch to top this wonderful chicken with caramelized onion and cardamom rice.
And this weekend, I’m going to make yet more for this ace recipe for French onion soup (above) that’s been a part of The Times’s gastronomic universe since 1954, when it appeared under a humdinger of a headline: “Onion Soup a Delicious Dish; Vegetable Is Plentiful Now and Price Low.”
Featured Recipe
French Onion Soup
Yes, it takes a long time to caramelize the onions, longer than most folks care to admit. But on a chilly winter evening, it’s a pleasure sometimes to stand at the stove stirring the alliums, watching them melt into deep golden submission. Combine with a muscular beef broth thickened ever so slightly with flour, then top with slices of French bread and a shower of Gruyère. Broil until melty, then serve to applause, as if you’ve been running a brasserie in Montparnasse since the days of pay phones by the cloak room and ashtrays on the dinner table.
