Need help with French Onion Soup? - Page 2

Or you could use a slurry.

Here's my secret ingredient to French Onion Soup. I learned this from a French Chef who kept this a closely guarded secret.....

When making the French Onion soup, deglaze the onions in the pan using Applejack Brandy!

I swear this makes a huge difference in the flavor, and really gives it a wonderful taste!

Further, with the cheese, I've always used a combination of Gruyere', Swiss and Parmesan. Cheesy as it gets!

Eric
http://www.restaurantedge.com

I made a batch yesterday....used olive oil and butter to cook the onions, did not caramelize but they were soft, salt/pepper/thyme then added good nutty sherry some syrah and then chicken stock....added dillweed at the end and alittle beef stock. we had french bread and emmenthaler....was good. Would have been better with beef stock but I didn't have much....so homemade chicken vs canned beef.....went with the chicken.

Had a salad with baby greens, blanched sugar snaps, bacon, soft poached eggs and tarragon shallot viniagrette.

Vanilla bean~ orange creme caramel for dessert.....good meal, a friend of mine just got a professional leave to teach in Holland feb-May of 2007.
Yippeee!!! This was her celebration dinner

I can see where that would make a good addition to the soup. The apple giving off the sweetness and the brandy giving it some depth. Not a bad thought at all!

one of the old episodes when wolfgang puck used to come on ftv, he used gouda cheese.

When I make onion soup, I use shallots, garlic, vidalia onions, and red onions. I prefer a smoked buffalo mozzarella for the cheese, and if you want to use a flavored bread for the crouton, find something that will compliment the flavor of the soup. I prefer plain white bread myself.

Best onion soup I ever had was in this little roadside place out in the middle of nowhere.. Yah, I know it's a cliche...
anywho, it had sourdough and provolone.

simple onion soupo mystery cleared up

First off, I think all of you have missed a crucial step. Secondly, I prefer to deglaze with a dry sherry rather then a classic Calvados (applejack is not so "new" now is it) for the soup. I use yellow onions, garlic, thyme, Bay leaf and cracked black pepper. Beef stock of course but I have made lighter versions with Chicken Stock. If I want to be true to the classic version then I would use a white beef stock but I really like the roasted beef stock. IMHO The flavor is so much richer and more enjoyable. Cheese is Swiss or Gruyere and the crouton is a simple crouton toasted with oil. The Time it takes to caramelize the onions. Folks, it all depends on how many onions your using!!! There is a huge time difference between 2 onions or 50# of onions. One will take no more then one hour from start to finish while the other will take a few hours.
Now another classic is white onion soup. This is done by gently cooking the onions in oil until limp but not colored over low heat. If desired a little flour can be added making a light roux that will lightly thicken the soup. Use calvados or white wine sweetened with apple juice. The stock is a white beef stock. The result is a pale but savory version of the above soup.
The missing step??? I will just have to sit on that one and see if anybody can guess it. After all if you found out it wouldn't be a secret.I enjoyed this thread. Cooking discusions over the basics is great fun and you get to see how and what is the style that is reflected in everybodys versions here. I saw a common thread in just about everybody except for the vegetarian and smoked cheese version.
ciao
David

onion issues.....caramelize some and add others so that you have the flavor of thoroughly caramelized onions and then the texture/flavor of less cooked.

I work in a french restaurant where the FO Soup has become an epic tale. The owner (french guy) wants us to cook the onions for hours. If he sees even the darkest brown ( precipice of burned) piece of onion, it is back to the start!..The chef makes it most days, but I have had my share of making it too!...Well, all of the fuss makes a kick butt soup. We use veal stock, white wine, and Vidalias for the base. We also use Herbs de Provence. A mix of Gruyere and Asiago...olive oil toasted baguette crouton...

You don't need any garlic in French Onion soup!

It's an onion soup, not a garlic soup! French Onion soup never had garlic originally, so why does it now?

Deglaze the onions with Applejack Brandy, and you'll have a winner of soup! If you can't get Applejack Brandy, then just throw in some apple juice and some Christian Brothers right behind it.... let them onions cook in that...

You still need beef stock...

I'm listening to all these ideas floating around on this thread, and I'm beginning to wonder how many people are actually making this soup! Or know how to make this soup!

The French chef who taught me this one was "Napolean" in his ways! Total mean guy.... It was his way, or no way...... I just had problems getting the roux figured out when making it..... and that was the "real" trick to making this soup!

Eric
http://www.restaurantedge.com

Hey emhahn! cool your jets.

BECAUSE WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY SAID (PUT YOUR SEATBELT ON)

IMHO(In My Humble Opinion)
DO YOU GET IT?????? NOBODY HAS CLAIMED "THE ONE TRUE WAY". WE HAVE ALL BEEN SHARING OUR OPINIONS!
Now it is true what you have said about garlic not being in onion soup regardless if you once had a Napoleonic Chef suffering from little d*ck disease. Anybody that has had any classical training can attest to their "Chef" suffering from the aforementioned condition. I like garlic because I like garlic. It is as simple as that. Live with it. You use a cheap rendition of calvados. I can point that out and stamp my feet too. I can also say that you use a cheap wine with apple juice. Actually that is a good short cut for us old pro's but I digress. We all have a little twist on whatever we do. This is not a website of strict Escoffier guidelines of which I am three kitchen generations removed from that grand old chef. In other words I apprenticed under a Chef who apprenticed under his Chef that apprenticed under the big guy. I have worked for several Chefs that have been only two to four kitchen generations seperate from Escoffier. Guess what??? Escoffier himself wasn't 100% complete in his book. There are several techniques that are passed verbally through the Chefs and subsequently apprentices that worked and studied under them.
Escoffier himself was strict but (drum roll) very open minded to new ways of preparing food. He himself consolidated and streamlined many techniques that were once considered iron clad standards of practice.
What is a kitchen generation?? Generally a Chef practices his art for about 40 to 60 years. So it is very easy to see that in some kitchens you may have 4-5 chefs that have a combined experience of over 150-200 years. However my point is that the Chef I was under had been cooking for 45 years at the time. I was in food service since the age of 15 in '75 but I started my official apprenticeship in '82. My Chef apprenticed in 1940. His Chef apprenticed at the Carlton under Escoffier in 1905-10? So you can see that myself being only 45 years old can be removed by only two Chefs from the big guy himself and he retired in 1928. What a business!
To conclude this post I enjoy seeing, reading, discussing and bantering about the techniques of cooking. I don't propose that I have the "one true way", only the techniques that I am willing to share that works for me. Over time I have put in some twists that I like. IE. using a dry sherry to deglaze. Classicly your supposed to finish the soup with a splash of sherry and deglaze with Calvados. What is Calvados?? It is apple brandy from France. Much smoother then apple jack. But I am sure you already knew that, right emhahn?

Need to go to the Chef of the year ball in San Diego.
So peace out.
David (chef legere)
PS If you want to check me out go to
http://www.frappr.com/chefsunited/map
I am going to put more pictures up in a couple of days.