The BEST I've Ever Had: Julia Child's French Onion Soup
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- čas přidán 28. 10. 2023
- I always wanted to remake Julia Child's masterpiece: French Onion Soup (Soupe a l'oignon). The first time I made it, it was very, very good. But a few years of learning and the addition of homemade beef stock, how much does it improve?! You can find this recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking v1.
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Recipe:
(for 6)
1 1/2 pounds sliced yellow onions
3 tb butter
1 tb oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 (or a pinch more;)) sugar for the onions to brown
3 tb flour (don't be a cowboy when adding this in)
2 quarts beef stock
1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth
salt and pepper
3 tb cognac (if you want)
rounds of french bread toasted (olive oil and a garlic clove)
1 to 2 cups of swiss or parmesan cheese... or both
beef stock:
3 to 4 pounds raw beef bones
2 each: roughly sliced carrot, onion, celery
6 or more quarts water
herb bouquet: 8 parsley sprigs, 1/4 tsp thyme, couple bay leaves, 6 peppercorns, 4 allspice berries
2 large garlic cloves smashed
large unpeeled tomato
salt and pepper - Zábava
Well, Julia actually ENCOURAGED the use of cubes and always added the fact that 'you do you' is best in the end. She was and never had been a cooking snob. I will agree, however, on the cubes being highly salted and using less is best.
I watched her original French Chef onion soup show a few months ago and was astonished to see her recommendation for canned onion soup. I used to eat that stuff in my poor college days and blech it was awful. Circa 1978.
I agree on the salty, I use Better than Bullion now, but search for the lower sodium version.
I prefer home made stocks. You can even use easy-to-make chicken stock in onion soup!
You're right, Julia was practical. The armchair snobs just like to pontificate.
Even the most basic stock I've made was still superior to canned/packaged stuff. Something like Better than Bouillon will give you a very commercial-tasting, sodium laden broth (college ramen anyone?) if you use the whole jar, so it's better as a flavoring - just a few teaspoons.
I’ve been making French onion soup since I was 10 years old. My mother was born and raised in France, and she often used beef bullion cubes. Best to find the low sodium ones. As long as you use the best quality of stock or broth you can find it will all be good. *Note: if you make your own stock, smear the bones with a bit of tomato paste before roasting. It will give your stock a depth of caramelized flavor without imparting a tomato flavor
Thanks for the tip.
I had the same thought.
Someone has been watching chef Jean Pierre I see
Or a tasty beef demi-glace powder.
I’m a big fan of the Better Than Bouillon paste in a jar. To me it has a cleaner taste than cubes.
Thing that convinces me to finally spend the day making this soup was watching Jamie absolutely hoover down TWO good-sized bowls of it! Sold.
Right? I went right to comments to see if anyone else thought this was hilarious. Literally ate an entire recipe. 😂
You can't just eat one bowl of this soup. (my absolute favorite)
The people: "... onion soup? That sounds.... like a thing."
(Soup happens)
(Silence, slurping, nummy sounds)
I've never remembered to add the flour now I wanna now how much better it could possibly be 😅
I need to make stock but I have a stash of tetrapacks and other things to do lol
That's hilarious. And yeah, you're totally right. He SUCKED them both right down.
My man just ate like a pound of onions in one sitting. Respect.
In case you wonder if you have an effect on your viewers, my husband called me to dinner by yelling “order up!” at me from the kitchen. Glad you revisited this recipe.
Love it! Wish mine cooked 😂🫶🏼
Regarding the flour issue you had, it wasn’t from adding all the flour at once. It was from adding all the stock at once. Anytime you’re doing something with flour as a thickener, add the liquid a little bit at a time, stirring it until smooth after each addition and once it’s a thick liquid, THEN you can add the remainder of the liquid. Lots of ppl make this same mistake when making gravy and don’t know why they always have flour eyeballs.
Looks delicious Jamie! I imagine the smell was incredible all day.
I would have added a couple extra tablespoons of butter to make the rue, but it also helps when you have hot rue use cold liquids and if you made rue ahead and if cold then hot stock works good.
Yeah just make sure the liquid you add is cold, and it works
Roux.@@Flyanb
Also,you can add the flour with a sieve sitting partway into the stock and it works really well. I saw a chef doing that recently and it was super easy and worked great.
That's a myth. Hot roux, cold liquid, and there's no lumps
I was watching this German cooking show and the host (a Michelin-starred chef) said: "Anyone who says they can caramelise onions in less than an hour is lying" and I was pretty bummed because I would never take the time... So when you said "45 minutes" I got very curious and chuckled to myself when you added another 20 minutes. I guess the chef was right!
The chef was right. For some reason, most of the cookbooks I have read tell you it will take 15 minutes! I guess they are afraid of scaring off skittish cooks. Allow at least an hour.
It was 15 minutes of lidded and 40 of unlidded time which is 55 minutes and in theory should have been about enough time but onions are tricky little buggers lmao
I cheat, cook caramelized onion in slow cooker, 8-10 hours.
Pressure cooker!
I always see recipes mentioning "caramelize the onions" so casually!
If you have leftover beef stock, you can reduce it and freeze it as ice cubes (literal home made 'stock cubes'). Very handy to have in the freezer, doesn't take up much space if reduced, and you only have to make stock once in a while. The soup looked amazing, curse you. Now I'm craving it!
I have 2 bags of them in my freezer 1 beef and 1 smoked pork and chicken. They really improve my results. Got to remember to separate the fat before freezing.
@@brianadams9150 What happens if you forget to remove the fat before freezing?
Demi glacé! It’s like having culinary gold bars.
@@PaulaBeanIt forms a pretty thick layer on top of the cubes, which makes it hard to handle, and once it melts, it’s not evenly distributed and instead just forms an oily layer in your stock, sauce etc. You can freeze it and remove the solid fat afterwards, though.
@@photonicpizza1466 Chill the stock right in the pot overnight, scrape off the fat in the morning, reheat barely enough to liquify the gelatin from the bones, and then make the ice cubes. I find the 4 ounce reusable containers more convenient, though. You can still pop them out once they're frozen and store in a ziplock, if that's easier to store.
When I first met my husband (many moons ago) I learned his favourite dish was french onion soup, though he'd never had it homemade. I had gotten Julia Child's "joy of cooking" as my very first cook books very recently (90l's) and thought I'd give it a whirl. That was, and still is to this day, one of the BEST soups I'd ever made/eaten. I would never even try another recipe.
FYI, Julia didn't write Joy of Cooking. Irma Rombauer did.
@@sabrina-wq4uu Oops my mistake, the first books I got were the box set of "mastering the art of french cooking". All 4 of those books are so loved and worn out that I confuse them often. I didn't think to correct it when I realized it bc I didn't think anyone would care about my comment that much.
I got Joy of Cooking from my Grandma, and I still have it. I actually rescued it after a house fire
If you go the purist way and roast your own marrow bones, be careful giving them the old taste test. As in, Hey, I've always read beef marrow is really good. Maybe I'll try a bit on a piece of toast... it was so wonderful I had to FORCE myself to stop eating it before there was none left for the soup.
I just used your older french onion soup video last night to make the soup for dinner for my dad since he’s a huge gourmet foodie… he said it was the best he’s ever had ❤ I used the cartons of organic beef broth with a tablespoon of better than bouillon beef added in… also threw in a bay leaf and used brandy and white wine. Hands down one of the best tasting things on this planet is homemade french onion soup! Thank you for your video 😊
"This is the best bowl of soup I've ever had" - Is my constant response every time I cook myself onion soup.
I like to use Gruyère cheese in French onion soup. I think it is better than a Swiss-parm mix. 🤷♀ But, it’s all personal preference. Love French onion soup when it is homemade like that. ❤❤
Gruyere is so expensive now. I only get it for Christmas and New Year's.
Gruyere and havarti are probably my 2 favorite cheeses to buy. Love a good parm and a cheddar, but havarti makes epic burgers and sandwiches, and gruyere is great for soups and grilled cheeses etc
Was going to say the same, expensive but worth it
@@Zoot_of_Anthrax I have to agree on both. A good aged Gruyere is a practically unforgetable experience imo. I discovered Havarti when ordering a deli sandwich. Wow. I wish I cd remember what the meat was, chicken or beef? But you are loving the burgers so I'll try that!
Gruyere is traditional. It's the go to for me when I make this soup.
"Is that the Titanic??" ... Huge belly laugh. Thanks for that, Jamie. Also, your cooking has slowly and steadily improved. Mastery of the techniques, making guesses when there are holes in the recipes ... And you never fail to make me hungry for what you prepare. You started out as a totally OK chef, in my opinion, and you're grown to be someone that I'm sure people would hire to be their own personal chefs. Congrats !
Pro tip: when you’re using yellow onions for any kind of stock or broth that is going to be strained, don’t bother peeling them. The skins give a nice color to chicken broth, and it saves a lot of time and tears to leave the skins on.
Wouldn't the texture be weird though?
@@a.humphries8678 you’re straining the broth
@@pamchamberlin6703 awe, yes, I skimmed past this too fast. Great tip!
Querticin!
Straing the broth, yes, but you're using the onions.
Leaving the horns in was MAGICAL. seriously- so much more fun than a truck backing up.
Dry vermouth is such a great cooking wine. Not expensive, lasts well, and is great for anything that calls for a dry white wine be it french, Italian or Chinese! I was purchasing it at the grocery store a few years ago and the liquor center manager asked if I was making martinis! I said no, just for cooking since I love to drink my regular wine. He literally said, “OMG, it’s perfect for that isn’t it? Next time I have someone in here who doesn’t like wine but needs some for cooking that is exactly what I’m recommending!”
YES!! I do the same thing. It imparts such a great flavor... and I too use it in place of almost everything that calls for white wine.
Great tip. Thankyou.
One of the best moments was when you spilled out some of the onions from the pot. Totally unexpected. Gave me a good laugh.
"Silly man making a silly show" LOL!
I don’t think Julia would have minded using pre-made stock/broth or bouillon cubes, and there are a lot of different brands that offer less/more salt so it’s not a bad option. Being able to have the time to make your own is nice but not everyone has the time. That being said, I’ll try to make this soup one day!
By the time one is done making stock from scratch, the total costs in gas/power and ingredients alone would exceed the costs of the bouillon cubes four or fives over without being four or five times better, cubes vs home made stock respectively.
And i mean we have stock cubes for a reason and the good ones have very little difference from homemade because thats what they are, dried stock
@@LazyLifeIFreak I don't agree. My crockpot going 10hours low for total 48 hours didn't jump my electric bill which is fairly consistent give or take 5 to 10 dollars, the ingredients are all leftovers from other meals like beef bones or chicken bones from deconstruction of a large cut of meat, sometimes venison, all veggies are scraps also from chopping veggies from other meals, the only brand new ingredients that go in is the seasonings and water. It's quite literally free at that point as you'd be throwing those items out.
@@tianamarie989 By any means, do a spreadsheet and factor everything into the calculation, including the slow cooker.
@@LazyLifeIFreak Yes, then you will be able to answer the how many times better vs cost. Oh, wait, you already did that LazyLife. Bullion cubes are way faster and easier, but don't taste better, no matter what the cost. I think that by the time you get any flavor, they impart a big whack of msg and other processed crap, tastes weak, bitter, salty. They are fine in a pinch. Soup by definition is 90 percent stock. If you have the bones and the time, and you can stand your house smelling like a restaurant kitchen, it's worth the effort to make your own stock.
The ship's horn I think mean "One Prolonged Blast + Three Short Blasts - This is technically two different signals in succession. One prolonged blast indicates you are getting under way, and three short blasts indicate you are backing up. This is what is sounded when you are departing a dock in reverse."
Or it was just a really pissed off truck driver!
I think it was an emergency vehicle. When drivers don't get out of the way for lights (and usually sirens) the horn blasts do a pretty good job of persuading them.
I want to add, you never fail to make me laugh at your commentary regarding the outside noise. thank you for making the beef stock from scratch that was a delight to watch. I am not big on beef but I love this show and I think I will make this one day, just not today as I sell food for those who love to cook as my job. this was great!
Is there a cruise port near you? Sounded like a cruise ship leaving port
I’m 58 and remember watching Julia on Saturday afternoon on PBS as a 10 year old boy. Julia gave home cooks the ability to elevate their families dinner into something special.
The content creator is exceptional as he accurately recreates culinary history
I think he is making a mockery of who Julia was. This angry cooking is a discrete to who she was!!🤬😱
the traffic noise is honestly its own character in the anti-chef lore 😂but i'm really glad you decided to revisit this dish; french onion is probably my favorite soup. who'da thought a bowl of onions and broth could be so good???
Thank you Jamie for taking me on your adventures. I’m 72. Raised four boys. Cooked many a meal in my time and continue to do so. I really appreciate your quick wit. Love to you and your wife!❤
I moved into my first apartment this week and tonight I made veggie stock out of kitchen scraps and then made soup. It’s not super impressive but it’s just something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time and now I can finally do it, plus it was my first time cooking in my apartment. I really relate to that sense of accomplishment you had making french onion soup for the first time! Sitting down to watch this video was awesome, i loved watching you make the beef stock from scratch and cooking down those onions. It’s amazing how cooking can make you feel!
Jamie since it's soup season, I'd love to see you take on making tonkotsu ramen. It takes a long time, but the broth is just incredible.
That would be fun!
And Dutch 'snert', (pea soup)
@@PaulaBean
Love this for the name alone. Thx!
Seconding tonkotsu. I will never in my lifetime have the patience to make it from scratch, but he survived Julia's cassoulet so he seems to be made of sterner stuff than I.
I'm in the UK and I use Bovril paste from a jar for my French Onion soup. I also cook the onions down overnight in the slow cooker.
_'I also cook the onions down overnight in the slow cooked.'_
That's a great idea. I'll give that a crack.
To avoid clumping the flour; Stir in a little of the liquid first to get it smooth and keep stirring as you pour in the rest.
Popped into the comments to say this, but you’ve got it covered!
Also buerre manie...
I just use cold/room temperature stock and pour it all in while stirring. Never seen any lumps doing it that way, even with a veloute or bechemel, as long as you stir well.
@@altapp702that translated to “neighbor mania” 😂
Well...
It's supposed to be butter and flour mixed together...
pardon my spelling...@@tamarawerner3136
A great way to get a perfect poached egg is to crack the egg into a fine meshed strainer over a bowl or the sink. The watery part of the egg white which causes the wisps will drain away. You can then cook the egg in your liquid without needing to add vinegar. I learned this technique from Heston Blumenthal. It works very well.
ATK makes the same suggestion, works great
If you have a sous vide and the time, slow poaching at 147f for an hour is the GOAT. Crack the egg open over a tablespoon to save just the white and gooey yolk. Even better, let the eggs rest & cool for 15 min before cracking.
You mean, you discard the white?
@@arlenestanton9955 no read the post . Only the watery part is discarded
I've added onion skins when making stock just to get a good colour. I love onion soup! Thank you, Jamie, for this video.
They (the skins) do add some colour but, don’t use too many as they can impart a bitter flavour. ;)
I do this also for chicken and Turkey stock!
That is what the French do.
That was a sign from Julia letting you know how proud she is of you!!!😊
Julia's own show having her making the French Onion soup was on my recommendation list here, and Jamie really is cooking in her spirit. To quote Julia "I keep using vermouth instead of the oil!" 😁 She started off with a good glug of vermouth instead of the oil, then just continued on with the oil and butter and caramelizing the onions. And then finished off with *more* vermouth as per the recipe. She also gave recommendations for making canned or tinned soup taste more 'home made' which involved grating in an onion, grating in cheese, and yes, cognac. You can also fancy up your soup (home made or tinned) before serving by whisking up an egg, cornflour and - you've guessed it - more cognac all together, then adding to the soup. And like Jamie, she just added in the tablespoons of flour instead of sifting in, but she did cook the flour with the onions for a little before adding the stock. I think she'd approve of Jamie's version!
I use Better Than Bouillon beef (low salt) in a jar. It taste so much better than the cubes. I also use a lot more onions, usually about 10.
Cool thing I recently learned for stocks, if you place your pot so the flame is on on side as opposed to the center, the scum ends up concentrated on one side as opposed to all over the surface. Makes it easier to skim
Oh my gawd, the critics were certainly hard on you that 1st attempt! Thank goodness you persevered through that and kept going🤗
Julia Child would be absolutely proud as anything seeing your advancement from the beginning to now. I never say this to anyone but you're an inspiration on how much you can do with a little effort.
Great episode!
The best tip I ever learned about cutting onions is to have wet hands and a wet knife. It absolutely works, although I don't understand why.
I've been making this for 30 or more years, but at this point I always use low-salt packaged broth. It's fine! I do however cook the onions longer than 40 minutes. So long as you regulate the heat so the onions don't burn, they can go as long as you like. The browning starts when all the moisture from the onions evaporates, and then you're periodically scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon as the onions and fat stick to the pan. I also add a bay leaf and some thyme to the soup as it simmers.
When using a chef's knife, it's more efficient to rock the knife as you chop. You don't have to just move up and down. It's designed for you to use a rocking motion. If you were using a santoku or cleaver, up and down is the way to go.
Am I mistaken, but at 7:09 et seq, does that knife blade not show the unmistakable indentations of a carbon steel Santoku knife? I have been studying knives closely and just bought a Santoku knife in Kappabashi, Tokyo. If it is indeed a Santoku knife, Jamie needs to invest in a whetstone. And up and down motions are correct. Rotating motions will rapidly spoil a carbon steel blade.
My mom and I made this soup including the broth several years with the beaf bones leftover from our Christmas dinner, we always impressed ourselves and was a fun way to spend a day together
If you have a pressure cooker, you can have good stock in as little as 40 minutes (an hour-ish if you factor in getting up to pressure). I usually go for two hours. It’s excellent. It will be cloudy, but that can be remedied by clarifying it with an egg raft.
Have done that... but have found a slow cooker (I use the slow cooker setting on my Instapot), letting it go overnight, produces a much better stock.
What's an egg raft?
@@stevefiorey630 Agreed. I put mine in the crock pot overnight. I also like to save up my chicken bones for making the same way.
@@fishfootfaceit s using egg whites to catch the impurities. And then throw them.
I find it is a waste of eggs. So i rather use filters and sieves.
If you prepared your meat and bones well, you won t need an egg raft.
@@etienne8110 Thanks, I did not know that. Eggs are really expensive here in New Zealand so I think I'll also just stick to the sieve. 😊👍
It's great to see improvement in yourself, but I'm sure you were never 'a potato in the kitchen.' Even if you were, that's such a versatile ingredient. You found yourself exactly where you were rolled!
I made this soup last year after finding Jamie. It was the Best French Onion Soup I had ever had. Jamie's humor kept me thoughrouphly entertained while I followed along. Thank you for the introduction to enjoying cooking!
I still make onion soup with beef bullion cubes, it still tastes absolutely fantastic.
I actually do a bit of a spin on French Onion soup. I use red onions, I find they caramelize faster and look pretty with that light purple colour, and then, once the soup is done, I dump in a package of frozen cheese tortellini, let them boil in the soup, then finish with some frozen peas and fresh asparagus if its in season before layering it with mozzarella in a bowl. Basically a cross between French Onion Soup and Pasta en Brodo. Perfect thing to have on a cold winter's night.
I love soup, love watching your videos! Soup is fun because you can make recipes your own.
Betterhan bullion is great stuff. Sometimes I’ll add a little gelatin to give the broth more of a stock feel. I need to make this soup though. I love French Onion soup, especially with Gruyere cheese.
if i told you before this video released that i was just watching the old french onion soup video and thinking i hope jamie tries this recipe again...
Something I’ve learned: never salt or pepper your stock. You will add both to the dishes you make with the stock so it’s best to not add either. Peppercorns are fine but seasoning your stock is a bit faux pas.
Also for adding flour: use a fine meat strainer in the pot when adding your flour, mix it in with a whisk.
Credit to Chef Jean-Pierre for these tips.
Thats fuuny that you posted that. Soon as i started reading, i heard his voice explaining that😅
Ma fwends
You are absolutely slaying me Jamie! Such an amazing show. Thanks.
Just wanted to say that you're my most favorite content creator. Your videos are a joy to watch and are consistently high quality. Stay cool, Jamie.
I remember a housemate made me my first bowl of french onion soup and it was an absolute joy to come home to on a winters night. We were an impoverished artist household so I am sure the stock was pretty basic. However, he would sometimes get bored mid studio time and use the time for "slow cooking" and was happy to share the results.
I am so impressed and proud to see you make stock! I've never done beef, but I make my own chicken stock, and it is a game changer. Small tip I learned in a kitchen in Aruba: drain the water out of the raw egg with a small mesh sieve, boil your water in a deep sauté pan instead of a large pot. Perfect poached eggs every time.
Oh my! Delicious looking bowls of soup, Jamie. I make chicken stock often. I've only made beef stock once in many decades of cooking. Better than Bouillon for beef is my go to. You've inspired to try homemade again for this recipe. The fresher the onion, the worse the tears...homegrown onions taught me that!
That boat horn reaction was hilarious 😂 😂 😂 A trick I learned from ATK for carmelizing onions quicker; use a little water in the beginning to help wittle the onions down and release their sugars, then add the butter and they get brown faster
The boat horn 😆😆 The Titanic? Another laugh out loud moment 😆
We have our first freeze advisory this week, and I may just be ambitious enough to try this!
As a chef, i use the cubes when i dont feel like making stock. The cubes make life so easy, and it's still delicious ❤ but homemade just has that special quality of "I did that!". Delicious looking soup!!!
Isn't is amazing when you go back and rewatch videos you've done years ago and then do it again and see how much you've progressed? Regarding the haters in the comments. In my (and others) experience, the people who hate and correct the most never have a channel themselves. I'll have to give this one a go!
YES! Love french union soup and your channel!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤
Now I want French Onion soup!
Thanks for keeping in the part with the ship's horn. I laughed out loud. First laugh of the day. Thank you, Sir.
Made this for dinner tonight--it was wonderful! I didn't make the homemade stock this time, but added a little garlic to the store-bought stock. It was really delicious--thanks for all the wonderful tips. The way you show the process is fantastic and so engaging. Thanks for a great channel! Bon Appetit!
Not sure if you could hear it, but I was cheering and applauding with you! Bon Appetite! 😉
Another one! Thanks for this man! Loved the first one! sure this one will show how much you have grown!
May I say I love your kitchen? And your learning curve in cooking has been enlightening to watch.
The algorithm failed me! Found you the 'old fashioned' way of searching for something specific. Glad I did! Subscribed
I like to use my mandolin (the Kitchen Utensil of Death) to ensure that my onion slices are uniform in size when making FOS. Regarding the stock argument, I tend to rely heavily on liquid broth rather than homemade or bouillon cubes. I also use gruyere cheese on top.
Great job as always, Jamie.
I worked in a production kitchen for 8 years with a small team. Everyone had to know how to use everything, except the mandolin. It was the one piece of equipment I told people they weren't obligated to use. (I trained a lot of young people working their first job). Even with the guide, it was always OK to ask me or another manager to do the mandolin slicing.
Wonderful tool. Horrifying tool. Good times.
You're killing it my dude. This is the YT show that inspires me to cook outside of my comfort zone. Going to make French Onion Soup tonight!
You say don’t be a cowboy but you totally go rogue with the bay leaves. Another anti chef video that somehow always brings back memories of growing up watching Sunday morning PBS cooking shows.
That third episode you did is what got me hooked to your channel! I’m so excited that you made it again!!!
French Onion Soup is my absolute favorite soup. What you made today made me drool. Dang! Looked so good!!
I made this one a couple months ago! Very good. Might make it again this week actually.
for the onion crying, keep a strong smelling candle in the kitchen. light it when cutting onions and have it near enough that you can smell that over the onion. it works
This is one of the best cooking sites I have seen in a long time.
Try using port instead of white wine or vermouth. It's amazing.
Yesss, I don't care for alcohol or wine in my cooking but port in French onion is amazing!
I love French Onion Soup, but I have never made it because of the long drawn out process. You have given me the motivation to try it, I hope mine comes out as good as yours.
It takes all damn day but it's legit worth it!!!
It’s time consuming but to make up for that, it’s easy.
I literally cooked the soup last week, following your old video! It turned out so good
It's funny you mention your knife skills -- before you even said that I was thinking how much your knife skills have improved as I was watching you cut those tomatoes. Bravo!
While I adore watching your videos and I've learned soooo much, I have rarely been tempted to try one of the recipes you've made but I will be attempting to do that very thing this weekend. I'm even going to bake the baguettes myself. Because why not spend the whole weekend on a bowl of soup, lol. I can't wait!
always look forward to your videos. specifically bought le creuset mini cocottes to make this, but didn't realise that they only had a 0.25L capacity, so have never been able to replicate !
IKR! The size is SOOO disappointing! WHO wants to eat only 8 ounces of homemade French Onion Soup? Or chili?
I'm impressed by how much stock you produced, certainly you'll have plenty for future recipes! And thanks for the tip about slicing onions, I always have trouble when I come to the last part and never thought of flipping it on its side! The soup really looks gorgeous, wonderful job 😀
The recipe I have is for a single serving, I'm pleased to see it's basically the exact same method. I definitely go the easy route with ready made stock (or cubes, in a pinch.) Well done Jamie! 👏👏👏
As far as the clumps go I would advise taking some of the soup out into a different Bowl mixing it with the flour and then pouring it back in through a strainer.
Or just mix the flour with a bit of water and pour in through a strainer
Putting raw flour into hot liquid is just a recipe for disaster. Or at least for some clumps😊😊
I stir it into the onions toward the end of the caramelization process. No lumps ever, easier than a roux.
Beautiful job! I'm a "Better Than Bouillon" guy, but nothing beats a browned stock from scratch. Definitely the vermouth, but I'd probably skip the cognac. Although, I do add it to my steak sauce. Excellent work as always sir!
Better than bouillon is the way to go. This soup doesn't have to take 7 hours to make haha.
I added a real Spanish sherry to my soup before putting it into individual serving dishes and topping with the crisp bread and cheeses. My husband was raving about it. I used the oven-caramelizing in a heavy Dutch oven method and it worked well, stirring every 20 minutes while I was sewing on a quilt.
These videos are perfect for my going-to-bed routine: engaging without demanding attention, funny, good food and genuine passion
I literally made this exact recipe last week! Delicious.
I've made homemade stock before. Grew up in an environment that had regular homemade stock. But I really think in the modern day, just considering the efficiency and potential waste if you're not just saving up scraps all the time from other home cooking. That Homemade stock should be considered a luxury. Its not going to be exactly the same, its not going to be as richly umami and clean as something you make from scrap and from scratch. But bullion and better than bullion get the job done and I think are a better encouragement to do your own cooking in the first place.
When I caramelize onions it always takes WAY longer than the directions.
i love how you never know what noise theres just gonna be in the background.The random titanic made me laugh 🙏
I LOVE French Onion soup!!!! And that looks absolutely amazing!!!! Yes,your skills have come miles. Being patient caramelizing the onions is the real key to this soup. I always give it at least an hour. One nice thing about making your own stock is you can’t just make a little bit of it. Freezing it allows you to have it for many upcoming recipes! Thanks for making this classic again JAMIE.
Always wanted to try to cook it but not sure if I have enough patience for this
It takes alllll damn day...even if you use store-bought broth the onions will say it takes about 40 minutes but I always find it's more like an hourand a half lol....but it's SOOOO WORTH ITTTT
A silly trick l learned for onions. Instead of brown sugar, use a bit of Dr Pepper.
For that amount of onions, a quarter cup will do. The fruitiness of the soda blends well with the sweetness which so much time is dedicated to bringing out in the onions.
The brown colouring help with appearance as well.
It's hard to do an at home FOS finish without the right, oven proof bowls, so what I started doing long ago was toasting some cheese right on the croutes. Then, like you did, they go in the bowl and you pour the soup on top of them. Easy Peasy for the home cook and still freaking delish. Good job Jaime-- you're getting so good at this stuff!
Great video, Julia would be proud. You could still step it up a notch, the onions can go waaay further. You have to be careful but they can get very caramelized without burning. You can turn up the heat a smidge to speed it up if you dare, but stay within arms reach and basically never stop stirring. If this blew your mind, just wait til you try with fully caramelized onions.
Oh no, why not the fat after roasting? That has the most flavor! I don't tear up with cold onions. Great video. I agree, the cubes are no bueno. Also, better than Bouillon and almost all major brands of beef stock in the US have crap ingredients including corn syrup and sugar. Just wrong.
The fat coats the tongue and therefore impairs one’s ability to appreciate the subtle flavors of the cognac/wine component.
Plus, there’s the fat from the cheese and you want those droplets not beef tallow.
You need goggles to cut this many onions!
I love seeing the comparison and how much more confident you are.
I watched and listened to this twice, then had to use CC to find out that you/Jamie did not say "We're in stone soup season" Upon reflection I noticed your style of videos or maybe your character, is like the folk tale of The Stone Soup. I'd not read it in decades but I will now. I love how you and your channel have evolved. Thank you for sharing your kitchen with us.
When I’m in my camper and have almost nothing in my pantry at a dog show,I can almost always make French onion soup. It might not be the fancy version but it will still taste delicious. Used to be my college go-to alternating with potatoes or ramen noodles due to being a broke college student.
Thank you for acknowledging that it takes a good hour to cook down onions.
Back when I had an actual kitchen and more than just me to cook with/for, I made this recipe. Indeed, it's incredible. Made it more than once, as I recall. I had a contest with myself about slicing the onions very thin, and that seemed to speed things along in the browning department. However you do it, it's amazing.
A trick they showed on America's test kitchen is to add a tablesppon of two or water when sauteing the onion. Cooking off the water then allowed the onions to brown quicker, and more evenly, without adding sugar.
Having French onion soup in Paris that bring back such wonderful memories. I made it once since I’ve been back and yes it took a whole day. But mmmmm good