French Onion Soup for Dinner
It’s strange, but by postponing Christmas, we’ve actually
been celebrating it all week. Which is a
lovely surprise. I’m still too tired to
throw down in the kitchen like I normally do, so I’ve been taking it in small
steps and flourishes. And I’m not even
done with our Christmas menu yet. Isn’t
that great?
Last night, we made French onion soup for dinner, for the
first time. And it was the best onion soup that I’ve ever had. Ever.
I’ve hesitated about learning how to make my own onion soup because I
was afraid that I would start eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But, I shouldn’t have been afraid, because it
is far more satisfying and thus, I eat less of it.
French onion soup is basically an assembly job in my
kitchen. I discovered that I keep all the ingredients
tucked in my freezer except for the cheese.
I did have a fresh batch of beef stock in the fridge, so I used that
instead of chicken stock. I used Jacques
Pepin's recipe for onion soup as a guide.
Jacques Pepin is my favorite cooking instructor and cookbook
writer. My Pirate refers to Jacques as
“my favorite old man” and it’s true. I
enjoy watching how he handles the food and makes complicated dishes look easy.
When we pulled the finished soup out of the oven, we both
giggled, and I took pictures of it like it was a celebrity. Then we spooned it into our bowls. We sat down. Clinked wine glasses, “to us”
and dug in. We ate silently, savoring
the beefy, cheesy, and oniony creation and locked eyes every so often in
satisfaction. I have a feeling that this
was the first of many bowls of French onion soup to be served in our kitchen this
coming new year. Happy New Year!
And here's the link to Jacques Pepin's Onion Soup Lyonnaise that I used as a guide. Enjoy!