Aka Lyon-Style Soup au Gratin, aka Gratinée lyonnaise.
How long it’s supposed to take: 20 prepping, 40 cooking.
How long it really takes: 2 or so hours.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4lb yellow onions (about 2 large ones)
- 1 1/3 stick unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 11 cups water
- 1 small bouquet garni (I used 2 bay leaves, 4 sprigs of chervil, and 3 sprigs of thyme bound by string)
- 1 baguette
- 9 oz of grated Gruyere cheese
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 small glass of Madeira wine (I didn’t have any Madeira wine, and my local store was all out as well so I used a Malbec from the South of France instead. I’m sure it altered the flavor a bit, since Madeira is a fortified wine with a sweet mouthfeel and a French Malbec is dry with a punch of fruit)
- Salt & Pepper
Get your oven really hot. It’s suggested to put it at 450F, but I think it’s better served set to a broil since you’re going to be using it to create a crust on the top of the soup.
Dice the onions as small as possible and sauteé them in the butter. Patience pays off here. Wait until they have a nice brown color to them. Once achieved, add in the flour and make a roux. I’ve rushed this step before because the onions take an annoyingly long time. Really brown the onions and really brown the flour once you get your roux going. This is where your depth of flavor starts.
In a big pot filled with the water, carefully spoon in your onion mixture. Add some salt and pepper (generously), and your bouquet garni. Bring this whole thing to a boil, then knock it down to a simmer and let it hang out for 30 minutes.
Remove the bouquet garni and work the onions through a sieve. Hopefully you’ve cooked them hard enough to where they easily turn into a sort of paste. I’ve messed this part up before and it’s a pain trying to get the whole pot down to a smooth consistency.
Finely slice the bread (about half a baguette), throw it in your oven for 1 minute to get some of the moisture out. Spread the bread across the bottom of an oven proof pot. Sprinkle some cheese on top.
Here’s where it all happens.
Throw the onion mixture into the oven proof pot, put some more bread on top and sprinkle the remaining cheese. Put all of this into your hot oven. Give it about 5-10 minutes – you’re looking for a pretty brown crust on top.
While the soup is getting its “gratin” on, get one small glass of your wine and mix it with 4 egg yolks. Pull the soup out, show off to your guests how fancy and sophisticated you are, then crack the top and pour in your egg mixture slowly – make sure to continuously stir nobody wants French onion egg drop soup.
Congrats, you’ve just accomplished touiller. Get a couple of bowls ready and serve.