...the tracks of my tears

Today I did French Onion Soup.

This is really easy and a wonderful warmer on cold days.  All it needs is a bit of boldness and the ability to hold back your tears.

First of all you will need some onions...

Actually you need:

3 onions
2 l stock. (In the original they would have used beef shin broth but any good quality stock works)
about 20g butterr
a teaspoon of flour
about 20ml Brandy
Black pepper to taste

To Serve:
A baguette
some grated cheese (preferably Gruyere but whatever it is it must be robustly tasty)

Peel, halve and roughly slice the onions.  This is going to hurt your eyes.

Select a pan...either a really good non stick one or else one where you don't care about the bottom because it is going to get caramelised.

Melt the butter in the pan and heat till it foams and crackles.  Throw in all the onions and toss them in the butter.  Keep the heat high and keep the onions moving.  What will happen is that the onions will start to catch on the bottom.  The edges of the onions will go brown and so will the bottom of the pan.  Keep rubbing at this with your wooden spoon and it will transfer to the onions.  That brown is your colour and flavour.  If the bottom starts getting too brown throw in a splash of brandy and deglaze.  Then carry on.  You want all the onions to be browned but not burnt.

Deglaze one last time then sprinkle the flour over the top

Stir it in then add he stock.  Grind in black pepper.  then some more.  Then some more.  It is almost impossible to over pepper this.

Simmer for 20 mins stirring to combine in the brown from the bottom.

To serve grill a slice of Baguette, good and thick, on both sides, then sprinkle cheese on one side and grill again.  Put in a bowl.

Ladle over the soup.  Give it time to soak in and then nom.

This soup was served to the porters at Les Halles to warm them up on chilly Paris mornings.  It is deeply addictive.  If your soup isnt sweet and dark brown you weren't brave enough at the frying stage.