Domestic Goddess Onion Soup

I can't believe I haven't had time to blog about this! It was a wonderful, wonderful soup, and I truly felt like a domestic goddess when I served it up. Contrary to what you might believe, the recipe is not at all from Nigella's book with the same name, but from another D G - Julia Child's classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" that was given to me by a friend who was moving and didn't want to lug the heavy book with him. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

It takes time - but it's time very well spent, no doubts about it. Do give it a try. Please. I urge you. I changed some things from the original - for one, the cream wasn't in there, but I like the round feel of it. (Besides, I had omitted quite a bit of the oil and butter, so I felt fine with adding some liquid fat instead.) Feel free to play around with seasoning, or serving - maybe with some toasted bread, croutons, a little floater with cheese.. anything. I liked mine as plain as possible, with some crusty bread on the side.

Classic Onion Soup
adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Childs
2 generous servings, or 4 as a small starter

3 large yellow onions, very thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 litre (4 cups) boiling water + 2 bouillon cubes, or 1 litre stock.
150 ml white wine
50 ml cognac
100 ml single cream

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion, cover with a lid, and let it sweat for fifteen minutes on low heat. Remove the lid, and raise the heat to medium. Add the salt and a pinch of sugar, stir well. Let the onions caramelize for 30 minutes, stirring every five minutes. It must absolutely not burn.

Sprinkle in the flour, and stir well for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine, water and bouillon cubes (or ready made stock). Put the lid halfway on, and bring to a boil. Let simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes. Stir every now and then. Just before serving, correct seasonuing, and add cream and cognac.