French Onion Soup

I'm currently knee-deep in writing my master's thesis, which means one thing: I am very, very short on time (why does February have to be the shortest month?)

Given that constraint, I've been avoiding finicky recipes that use a lot of unusual ingredients. I'm more interested in recipes that come together very quickly with a few simple ingredients, or that take a while to cook but require very little fuss (and provide ample time between steps to write another paragraph).



This weekend, French Onion Soup was my answer. It's comforting, savory, easy and cheap. And I wrote a good couple of paragraphs while I let the onions cook down.

Since it is such a simple soup your ingredients really do matter, and so I recommend using a good organic stock or broth (I've had good luck with Pacific Foods Beef Broth).

French Onion Soup
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Serves 2-3

4 tablespoons butter
2 pounds onions (I like to use a blend of mostly yellow onions with one white, and one red thrown in for color and deeper flavor)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white wine (or, if you prefer, just omit this and add an additional 1/2 cup stock)
3 cups beef broth (or stock, if you have it)
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Stale baguette (next time you have a baguette getting stale on your counter, pop it in the freezer for such an occasion)
Gruyere, swiss or havarti cheese (several slices or about 6 oz. grated)

1. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven or a big, heavy pot on medium-low heat. Add onions. Sprinkle with the sugar, and cook (stirring just as needed to keep onions from sticking) until they are melting and soft, golden brown, and beginning to caramelize. (Usually between 30 minutes and an hour)
2. Sprinkle flour over onions, stir to coat. Add wine (if you're using it), stock and thyme, and bring to a nice light simmer. Cook, partially covered, for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. I don't have bowls that are safe to put under the broiler, so here's my method for putting the bread and cheese on top: Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Slice bread into 1/4" rounds, and top with cheese. Toast lightly under broiler until cheese is bubbly and brown around the edges. Ladle hot soup into bowls. Top each bowl of soup with several bread/cheese rounds. If you have broiler-safe bowls, you can ladle the soup in, top with bread and cheese, and put directly under the broiler until bubbly and brown.
4. Enjoy!