french onion soup

The only French onion soup I'd ever made is one made with Campbell's. Recently I was watching the mind of a chef episode.  There is this brief discussion of making the classic French onion soup and I thought I really want to try making it. It is really simple but like old time recipes, it take patience.

I did not plan to make this soup. I was out shopping and saw a new crop of yellow onion. They are in season (meaning they are not all loose inside from being stored past their prime) and the price is right. I immediately think of making the French onion soup from scratch. I picked 4 large onions.

 mistake #1 - i put all the onion into the Dutch oven to brown it but it just overwhelmed the pot

 not all lost - i scooped out all but just a small portion and recovered it; i then do them by small batches

here you can see the progress in the series of photos how the color deepens

 it is surprisingly hard work as you have to tend to the pot the whole time to stir it constantly; after a while my arm and had got pretty hot - note to self: use a longer wooden spoon next time

i stirred in a good amount of flour once the onion is darken to the darkness i want - this technique avoid the extra step of making a roux

in addition of some pork bone broth i added this fish broth made with the salmon scraps left over from making smoked salmon

The four onions resulted in 3/4 full in the cast onion Dutch oven. Even with this much liquid the soup base is so sweet and flavorful. I didn't take a picture of the pot of soup.

preparing a large serving

this is the only oven-proof bowls i have and it gives a very large serving of about 1 1/2 cup; i need to get myself some ramekins so the serving isn't so big for such a rich soup

With so much onions the soup is very flavorful as well as sweet. It is an hearty soup.