Onion soup in a hurry

I had a friend who excelled at French Onion Soup. It was awesome, but he took his soup to heaven with him. No, actually, I know how to make it, but don’t always have the time. Jack’s recipe involved starting the meat the day before and you know … a week later you have awesome soup.

This recipe gets you there sooner, and is darn near as savory good as the ‘Jack variety’.

Here’s a secret you should know - real French Onion Soup isn’t salty onion soup hiding under an entire pizza’s worth of oily cheese and croutons. Jack knew better. He’d lived in France. I know better, having been there a bunch, too.

For the version above, I did take liberties. Like using a bulb of Fennel along with a giant sweet Walla Walla onion. I like the hint of anise that the fennel offers. Plus, I had one in the veggie bin and wanted to use it up. I was in full metal cooking mode, getting a Sunday afternoon jumpstart for the week - and had veggies for Ratatouille roasting in the oven.

Ingredients

2 to 3 big onions sliced very thinly (about 4 cups)

OPTIONAL: One bulb fennel, and the rest onions.

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil - not the expensive stuff! - or grapeseed oil

4 cups of stock - I like a combination of beef and chicken stock, and add some demi-glace for a deep rich flavor

3 to 4 anchovies, mashed. Yup. You read that right.

A couple Bay Leaves

A few tablespoons of cognac or brandy

About 3 tablespoons of minced fresh herbs - thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley, celery leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Slices of toasted crusty bread, parmesan or gruyere cheese grated for topping the toast.

Okay, let’s get the anchovy thing out of the way right now. I didn’t want to mess around with braising beef. I didn’t have the right cuts for that in the freezer. I did have anchovies, however. These little fish have the most amazing ability to add a ‘beefy’ flavor when used in the right way, and onion soup is the right way.

Start sauteing the onions ( or onions and fennel ) over medium heat, in the butter and oil, in a heavy pot - see above. I put the lid on, and peek in to stir every five minute or so. You need to monitor the heat. Too hot, and you’ve got fried onions. Not good. Putting the lid on, gets it done faster, but it will take about 20 minutes for this step. Don’t rush it.

 

When the onions have fully collapsed, and are a tender bunch, add the mashed anchovies, stock, cognac or brandy, herbs, salt and pepper, and bay leaf.

Simmer the soup for about another 30 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves. Now you can spoon it into oven-proof bowls, top with the crouton/toast, the cheese and melt that under the broiler. Or, you can just dive in and enjoy.

Make enough, because it’s even better the next day! And the next! Serve with a nice salad, and some fruit.

Now, if you just have to have meat in this, in a hurry, no problem. Go by the market and get a nice thick slice of cooked roast beef. Chunk it up and toss it in.

-maven

Pissaladiere? What? Oh, you mean that pizza thing.

Actually, not pizza. It’s like pizza, but it’s French. Black olives, anchovies, tomatoes and caramelized onions French. With a whole grain crust. That’s right a light, well textured whole grain crust.

Here’s the photo from in the oven. I would’ve had a photo out of the oven, but company arrived, I got busy, bottles of wine were being opened, and then they ate it all. Sheesh. WTF? I knew I should’ve done two.

This is so easy. A no-brainer. Really.

In a big old cast iron skillet, medium heat, add 4-5 tablespoons olive oil and one huge sweet onion that has been finely sliced - or ‘frenched’.

Add a few pinches of salt. Gently, slowly cook these lovely onions down to a fare thee well, stirring frequently - or until they are very wilted, soft, tender, fragrant, and almost but not quite golden. Don’t let them burn or brown. Kill the heat. Set aside. Try not to ‘pick’ at them.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, take one packet of fast rising yeast, add that to a bowl which contains: one egg beaten, 1/3 cup barely warmish tap water and a pinch of sugar. Stir with a fork, and then let it sit for about ten to 15 minutes and liven up. Get a little foamy thing going on.

In a larger bowl: 3 cups of flour ( I use a combination of Italian 00 bread flour, white whole wheat, and barley flour). Keep your ratio of white flour at one half of the total flour. Add 1/8th cup of fresh thyme and rosemary, minced. Two teaspoons of salt.

Stir that flour, salt and herbs around with your fingers to combine. Make a ‘well’ in the center. Pour in 3/4 cup of barely warmish water, followed by the yeast/egg mixture and two tablespoons more of olive oil. Take your clean little fingers and start mixing from the outside of the bowl to the well, around and around. Feel how wonderfully light and ‘silky’ the flour is. Like silk sheets. Draw the flour in to make the dough. Knead to make it rather more elastic. Add a bit more flour, only as needed to keep the dough workable. Take your rings off before you start this.

When all is thoroughly combined and happy looking, form it into a ball and rub about two tablespoons of olive oil around on it. Cover with a kitchen towel and set it in a warmish - draft free place until it doubles.

Slice up two nice tomatoes. Prepare the olives. You will need about 1/2 cup of pitted Nicoise or similar olives roughly chopped. Round up 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese. Now open a small tin of anchovies and drain them in a colander, and rinse them under water to remove excess salt and fishy-ness. Drain.

When the dough has risen to twice it’s original volume, punch it down and take it out onto a baking sheet. Roll it out, more or less in a rectangle. It’s alright to sprinkle a bit of extra flour on it, to keep your rolling pin from sticking to the dough. Spread the cooled caramelized onions all over. Yum. Add the tomato slices,  an attractive lattice of the anchovies, olives, spinkled cheese and several healthy grinds of black pepper.

You can sprinkle some generic Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence around on it all.

Now, let it all set and think for about 30 minutes, allowing the dough to rise again. This isn’t a huge rise.

Now, pop it into the hot oven for 30 minutes. Remove and let it cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve as a cocktail appetizer, or a side to a wonderful salad and soup.

Try this on a weekend, and you’ll see that it’s so easy that you’ll be able to do it on a weeknight.

-maven

Oh, remember to go get your rings out of the bread box, and put them back on. Duh. Your ultra-sonic toothbrush will remove any dried dough.

I crack myself up. Really, I do.