Homemade French Onion Soup

In the depths of winter, I become obsessed with soup. To me, soup is the ultimate celebration of the circle of life. After the choice cuts of meat and the tender goodness of fresh vegetables have been enjoyed at their peak, all the nutrients and flavors of the remnants can be extracted to make soup. Soup gives discarded things like onion skins, celery leaves, carrot peelings and animal bones a chance to play the starring role on the dinner table rather than suffering a bleak ending in the compost bin. Soup means virtually nothing goes to waste. When I roast a chicken or turkey, I always make stock from the bones. My freezer usually has at least two quarts of stock in it and there are always bags of vegetable trimmings and bones in my freezer, which I save up and use to make soup all winter long.

Nothing says "you are loved" like a bowl of beautifully prepared homemade soup. Its tremendously healthy and nourishing because the long, slow cooking process allows for the greatest extraction of life-giving nutrients. Plus, after the stock has cooled, it becomes very easy to remove all the fat that renders out during cooking. Sure, you can buy canned soup, but have you ever read the list of ingredients? Homemade stock can be used to make any soup your heart desires and because you made it yourself, you know exactly what's in it. No preservatives, chemicals or hidden sugars and you get to control the amount of sodium.

All different kinds of stock are made the same way. Combinations of bones, meat and vegetables such as onions, carrots and celery are slowly simmered together until they release all their goodness into the cooking liquid. Vegetarian broth can include things like mushrooms, leaks, parsnips and other root vegetables. Seafood stock can be made using shrimp or lobster shells, fish bones and clam juice. You get the idea. Roasting the ingredients before simmering adds complexity and depth of flavor in the final stock, but if you don't have the time or ability to roast everything, you can just toss it all together in a big pot and your stock will still taste delicious.

We hosted my in-laws for Christmas this year and I cooked a scrumptious prime rib. There were two sizable beef bones left over that were crying out to be turned into stock. As I imagined what to make with my homemade beef stock, french onion soup sprang to mind. With a snowstorm and bitterly cold temperatures coming for New Years weekend, a hearty bowl of french onion soup with its oozing cheese, crusty croutons and rich savory broth sounded perfect.

HOMEMADE FRENCH ONION SOUP

Beef stock:
About 4 lbs beef soup bones
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 large yellow onion
2 ribs celery
1 large carrot
2 bay leaves
1 tsp whole peppercorns
3 large garlic cloves
1 can beef broth
8 cups water

Onion soup:
About 6 cups sliced yellow onion
2 thick slices of bacon, chopped
2 tbsp sherry or brandy
Salt & pepper to taste
1 small loaf of crusty bread
Grated Swiss, provolone or muenster cheese

The two bones I had left over were not enough to make a respectable quantity of stock. Fortunately, I found both soup bones and small pieces of oxtail at the grocery store. Oxtail is perfect for stock as it has a lot of connective tissue and collagen that breaks down as it cooks, adding body and richness.  If you've never made your own stock before, there's nothing to it. But there are some steps you can take to achieve the best possible outcome and roasting the bones makes a huge difference in the flavor, color and body of your stock. I cranked my oven to 300, scattered all the bones out in my roasting pan and brushed them lightly with tomato paste. The bones roast for about an hour and the tomato paste caramelizes and concentrates, adding another layer of flavor to the final stock. I put the roasting pan in the oven and turned my attention to the veggies. No need to peel anything as the stock will simmer for at least four hours and by the time its finished cooking, there won't be much recognizable vegetables left. Onion skins add a deep golden color to your stock and celery leaves have a ton of flavor. You could actually roast the vegetables along with the bones, tossing them in about half way through roasting, but I browned mine on the stove top. I cut the onion, carrot and celery into large chunks and slowly browned them over medium heat in the bottom of my stock pot. A small drizzle of olive oil aids in browning. I also added a tablespoon of tomato paste to the veggies and stirred them periodically so they didn't burn. I turned the bones over half way through roasting and after an hour in the oven, they were a deep reddish brown color and there was a generous crust of caramelized juices in the bottom of the pan. A couple of the soup bones had marrow in the middle, which is very fatty and can make your stock cloudy if you leave it in there. The good news is that it is also quite delicious on its own. I scooped the small dollops of marrow into a small dish and tossed all the bones into the stock pot with the veggies. The caramelized juices in the pan, or "fond" as its sometimes called, is chock full of flavor. I poured all the beef fat out of the roasting pan, then splashed a little water in there and started scraping up all the fond and dissolving it into the water before pouring that into the stock pot as well.

I have made all kinds of stock over the years and I find that adding just one can of store-bought broth gives your final product the head start it needs to develop excellent flavor. Your liquid should just barely cover the bones and it will reduce a bit as it cooks. For this amount of bones and veggies, I used 1 can of broth, which is about two cups, to eight cups of water. I tossed in the garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns, turned the heat down to low, covered the pot and ate that bone marrow on a thin crispy cracker. Nom nom!!

I stirred the stock a few times during its four hour simmer, just to make sure it was behaving itself. Cooking the stock covered keeps all the steam inside, whereas an uncovered pot allows the liquid to evaporate and that concentrates the stock. After four hours, your stock should have deep color and rich flavor, but if its too weak, take the cover off and let the stock reduce. When its done cooking, strain the stock into a big bowl and allow it to cool before putting it in jars and putting it in the fridge or freezer. If you've done this right, your stock should have a gelatinous, jiggly and even somewhat solid consistency after its chilled. That means you have extracted a good amount of collagen from the soup bones. You can make any kind of soup you like with a stock like this.

Onions, raw

I ended up with about two quarts of beef stock, which I turned into french onion soup the following day. Again, this is not a difficult recipe to make and requires just a few ingredients, a little technique and a bit of patience. The onions need to caramelize slowly over low heat to reach the perfect deep golden color and texture, which takes about 45 minutes. Onions have a lot of natural sugar in them, which means they can go from charred to burned very quickly, so you can't walk away from that pot for too long or your onions will burn.

Onions, after 15 minutes

Use that time to toast your bread and shred your cheese. You can use a food processor to slice your onions, but I like doing mine by hand. To avoid crying while you cut onions, make sure you sharpen your knife. A sharp knife will glide through the onion easily, but a dull knife will bruise the onion, sending more of its eye-watering juices flying into your face. Sharpen your knife, cut the onion in half through the root end and lay the cut surface flat on your cutting board. Then you can slice your onion into thin strands, which is the best texture for this soup.

Onions, after 30 minutes

Before I sliced my onions, I chopped my bacon into small pieces and got them rendering over medium heat in the bottom of my stock pot. When they were brown and crispy, I removed the cooked bacon and used the bacon fat to start cooking my onions. I put all the onions in the pot at once, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, and turned the heat to low. Again, this takes time and while you don't have to stir constantly, check the onions frequently so they don't burn. I stirred mine every 10 minutes or so as they cooked and became soft and translucent.

Onions, after 45 minutes

While the onions were cooking, I sliced the bread, put it on a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil and put the pan is a 325 degree oven to toast. After about 10 minutes, I flipped the bread over and let it toast on the other side. It took about 20 minutes for the bread to toast to a light golden brown. I also grated a little cheese and set it aside. Once the onions were nicely caramelized, I added the sherry and let that bubble and cook off the alcohol for a few minutes. Once the sherry has almost cooked away, I added the beef stock and turned the heat up to medium. As soon as the soup begins to boil, its ready to eat! Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then ladle the rich soup into crocks or bowls. I like to float the toasted bread on top, then sprinkle it with cheese and pop the whole thing under the broiler for a few minutes to get that cheese melted and bubbling. This can also be done in the microwave, but the broiler imparts a little bit of browning on the cheese, which is nice.  Finally, I sprinkled the cooked bacon bits on top and served this amazing soup with a small salad on the side. A bowl of homemade soup is like getting a hug on the inside. Next time you're in the mood for soup, try making your own stock instead of opening a can. It may just change your life.

Voila! Homemade French Onion Soup!