French Onion Soup
A fun weekend with friends left me with a two day hangover. TWO DAMN DAYS!! & you know what's a really bad idea - drinking on Sundays! Particularly drinking heavily on Sundays. And I have no one to blame but myself. I suggested playing a drinking game to Temptation Island, and then I brought out the Chambongs. All on Sunday, and I knew it was a bad idea. The end result - me waking up Monday morning emailing my boss to inform him I won't be in the office Monday or Tuesday. Like I woke up Monday morning, & I knew it was going to be a two day thing. I just needed a work from home Monday to stay in sweats, take an afternoon nap, and work from the comfort of my own couch. Tuesday was more of a day to actually feel back to normal and function as a productive human - a real personal day that I also knew was going to be necessary this Monday. But moral of the story - it's never a fun time to start the work week with a hangover. A quick way to throw a wrench in your plan to have a super productive week.
But the worst part of the whole thing - the booze blues. I swear to you it's a real phenomenon triggered sometimes, and I'm never sure why my hangovers occasionally enter booze blues territory. I think I did myself in this go around because I swore to myself I wasn't go to get crazy, even though we had our college besties staying over. Sunday morning, I told myself I was going to be a responsible adult who would partake in some good clean fun, and I was going to act like a responsible adult that had a job to tend to on Monday and one that wanted to be in a state to get a good workout in, too. Big freaking fail. Lots of fun, but very big life fail.
So at the end of the day, what I need is a reset and something comforting that will help cure my booze blue. Im going with a childhood favorite - French Onion Soup. You may think I was a sophisticated child with this French onion soup love at a young age, but in the spirit of honesty I do want to clarify the Marie Calendar's French Onion Soup was my jam. I used to absolutely LOVE Maries Calendars, & currently I'm unsure if they're even still in business. Regardless - Marie - your French Onion Soup was amazing and it shaped my childhood taste buds.
If French onion soup is new to you, don't fear the onion-y broth. Let's be clear that that staples of this soup are the soggy piece of bread that goes right in the soup, and tastes so good with bite of the onions and broth, and the thick cheesy bruleed layer right on top. I mean there is never anything wrong with browned and bubbly cheese where melty bits seeps into every spoonful. The cheese is so melty and stringy that it sticks to your spoon and is almost hard to eat, but it's a delicious challenge! My spin on French Onion soup - thick sourdough bread. A little untraditional, & maybe kinda weird, but I love the tangy bite it adds.
For the Soup
3 tbsp butter
3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 cups dry white wine
8 cups beef broth
1 sourdough loaf, thickly sliced
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
Salt & pepper
Fresh parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)
Start by placing a dutch over over medium heat. Add in the butter. Once it's melted, add in all of the onions, stirring the onions so they're all evenly coated in the butter. Turn the heat down to medium low. You want to let the onions cook low and slow so they are all buttery soft with being charred, so you'll let them cook over medium low heat, and uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. But sure to turn the temperature down if the onions are getting getting charred.
After the onion have cooked, stir in a teaspoon of both salt and pepper, and deglaze the pan with the white wine. Turn the heat back up to medium high, and let the wine cook until it has reduced by half. Then pour in all of your broth, bringing the soup to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot, and let the soup cook for at 45 minutes (letting all the flavors get to know each other). If it cooks for longer, even better - let it cook on low for as much as 2 hours before eating.
When your getting close to dinner time, turn your oven to 350, and toast up 2 slices of sourdough bread (you'll need one slice of bread for every person chowing down with you). Let the bread toast only for 5 minutes - you want it to be just slightly golden brown.
Now time for the real action - crank the heat in the oven up to 400. Ladle the soup into oven proof bowls, filling each bowl about 75% full. Top each bowl of soup with one piece of sour dough bread, laying it horizontally right on top. The final touch is covering the entire top of the soup with Gruyere cheese (at least 1/4 cup per bowl). You shouldn't be able to see the soup or the piece of bread with the cheese on top. Place the bowls in the oven, and let them cook until the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned. This will take about 8-10 minutes. Once the cheese has bruleed, finish each bowl with a pinch of parsley, & you're ready to eat up.
