Dish of the day: French onion soup

Now, since it’s raining outside I simply needed to post this French onion soup I made earlier this summer.

After a wander through Beatrix Potter’s home we’re ready for a little dinner snack, non?

There are many way to make a good onion soup, some are more elaborate than others, this is a quick, basic and very easy version that any one, chef or not can make in no time.

Ingredients:

5 onions (you decide which type you like, I used red)

3 table spoons butter or oil. (I love butter, but I did add some olive oil for taste)

1 1/4 liter water

1 square of vegetable broth

salt

pepper

1/2 tea spoon thyme

3-4 dl freshly graded cheese (gruyere if you have, cheddar works too)

4 white loaf bread with crust ( no fluffy sandwich-bread;)

How to:

Peel the onions and finely cut them into thin rings. Fry them in a pot (the same you’ll use to make the actual soup in later) with butter or oil, however to not brown the onions as they are supposed to get a transparent and glossy look. This may take up to 20 min as you heat the onions up slowly at a low temperature. Stir every blue moon;)

Pour over the water and salt and add the broth to add some flavor, it’s cheating a bit as in a “real” french onion soup there is no broth added, but go right ahead, we’ll do it anyway.

Add freshly crushed peppar and the thyme and let everything boil underneath a lid for about 25 min.

Grade the cheese roughly, the toast the bread. I like to to this in the oven on broil and add a petite sprinkle of olive oil, salt and thyme to each slice of bread.

Now divide the soup between four bowls that can stand the test of being heated in the oven. Put one slice of in each at the top and with a generous hand add some graded cheese on top.

In the oven with all four bowls on 250-275 C until the cheese is melted and has a golden brown finish.

Et voila!

Serve hot with some baguettes with olive oil.

Easy, right?

Now go make some french onion soup as a dinner snack next time it rains and you can snuggle up with a hot bowl of this tasty and rich soup.

Here’s some fresh Thyme form the garden, that adds just the right amount of Provence to this French onion soup.

On a cold fall day, there’s just nothing like it.

A good nob of butter is a must, and I don’t skimp on butter. Use whole real and fresh lightly salted butter.  No light stuff, if you’re worried about calories, eat less or eat all you like and head out for a run.

Life’s just too short, non;)

The secret is in the cheese you use, and although my onion soup tasted heavenly on a cold day, I did not use a very good cheese. This is Norvegia a very mild Norwegian cheese that does not melt like my favorite swiss Gruyere.

Some use cheddar, but I love my Gruyere;)