Smitten Kitchen Updates French Onion Soup With More Onions, Less Flour

This article was prepared from the source material provided by Smitten Kitchen.

Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman has revised her French onion soup recipe, moving away from Julia Child's classic technique in favor of a version with more onions and no flour. The updated recipe was published as the final installment of the site's "Newer, Better Month" series, in which Perelman revisits core recipes with new techniques and time constraints in mind.

Perelman writes that she made the soup only one way for years: Julia Child's method. She still considers Child's onion-caramelizing technique effective, noting it saves hands-on time. But repetition and real-life cooking led to adjustments. She felt the soup needed more onions for the amount of stock, and she found the flour did not add notable body because it did not stay suspended. The revised recipe calls for 3 pounds of thinly sliced yellow onions and 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, with no flour.

When she used more onions, Perelman writes, she did not need to cook the soup as long after adding stock. The updated recipe simmers the soup for 15 to 20 minutes after the stock goes in, rather than the longer cooking time she previously used. She also deglazes the pan with dry sherry, vermouth, or white wine, cooking it off until it disappears. The recipe calls for 2 quarts of beef, chicken, or vegetable stock, with mushroom broth noted as a favorite.

Caramelizing Onions: 40 to 90 Minutes

The recipe instructs cooks to stir the onions every 5 minutes for about 40 to 90 minutes after they are uncovered and salted. Perelman acknowledges the wide range, writing that stoves vary greatly. If onions brown before 40 minutes, she advises reducing heat to low or using a smaller burner. The longer the onions cook, the more complex the flavor, but she notes cooks can stop when they are happy with the result.

For finishing, the recipe calls for a thick slice of bread per bowl, lightly toasted if not already stale, rubbed with a raw garlic clove, and topped with 1/4 cup grated gruyere, comte, or a mix of gruyere and parmesan. The bowls go under a broiler until the cheese is melted and browned at the edges. Perelman offers alternatives for cooks without ovenproof bowls: make a casserole of it or create individual cheese toasts to drop onto the soup.

The recipe yields about 8 servings and takes 1 3/4 to 2 3/4 hours total. Perelman also points to other approaches for speeding up caramelizing, including The Food Lab's pressure cooker method and The Kitchn's slow-cooker approach.