EDF: Ina's French Onion Soup

I am always just intrigued with recipes like French Onion Soup. These sorts of concoctions that use up what's left over, like fondue or hash, just amaze me. This is probably my generation Y mentality rearing its ugly head but hey, at least I can appreciate the art in taking stock, onions, stale bread, and some cheese for good measure, and making a lovely and satisfying soup. I talk about my list of "things to make soon" and it's literally a list that I write whenever I'm feeling particularly motivated. My mom makes so much fun of me and my lists but that's a different story for a different post. At any rate, this soup has been on my list since the beginning of January and what better time to make it than eating down the fridge? I've had a couple of ciabatta rolls languishing forever in my fridge (no mold but they were really and truly stale), I bought that beef stock forever ago, and I had plenty of onions. The debate was over the recipe. In my family we always, always make Julia Child's recipe. In fact, my brother's old girlfriend gave me The French Chef on DVD a few years ago and I recently watched the onion soup episode in anticipation of making this. But, then there's the Barefoot Contessa's recipe and I was so tempted to try something new. In the end, Ina won out. It's a super booze-tastic recipe -- it calls for white wine, cognac, and sherry -- and rich with veal stock and beef stock. Well, in my efforts to avoid the store this week, I had to make some adjustments. I used white wine and Armagnac and killed the sherry. I didn't have veal stock (really, who does?) so I used all beef. And, the saddest part, I didn't have any gruyere. Ina calls for parmesan but I'm a firm believer in using gruyere with FOS and it took all of my willpower to prevent me from making a trip to Safeway to get that cheese. I am, however, a cheese fanatic and I had: mozzarella, provolone, muenster, goat cheese, herb goat cheese, blue cheese, and cheddar in the cheese drawer. Hmmm, I think that I need to use up some cheese. It came down to provolone or muenster and I picked the muenster. In a pinch it was a great sub for the gruyere but I think that I'll stick to the classics in the future. So, Ina vs. Julia? Ina's recipe is a little deeper than Julia's version but they're both excellent. I was worried that the alcohol would be overwhelming but it mellows out really nicely and adds nice depth of flavor to the onions. I loved this soup. I still love Julia's so I suppose I'll just alternate making one every other time!

Barefoot Contessa's French Onion Soup
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
2 1/2 pounds yellow onions, halved, and sliced 1/4-inch thick (8 cups)
1/4 pound unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup medium-dry sherry
1/2 cup brandy or Cognac
1 1/2 cups good dry white wine
4 cups beef stock
4 cups veal stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan

In a large stockpot on medium-high heat, saute the onions with the butter and bay leaf for 20 minutes, until the onions turn a rich golden brown color. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and brandy and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes.

Add the beef and veal stocks plus salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, taste for salt and pepper, and serve hot with grated Parmesan.

Yields 4-6 large servings. I halved the recipe and it made 3 very large servings.