iso cooking: french onion soup

With the temperature (finally) starting to drop, we're finally in soup season (my third favourite after berry season and pumpkin season)!

 

French onion soup has always been on my list of recipes to try, but needless to say, the 1+ hours of constant attention to a pot of onions never really seemed that appealing to me, hence why I've never gotten around to making it myself.

 

But now with self-isolation, and having nothing but time and armed with the all seasons of One Tree Hill on the ipad (thanks 7plus), I figured there would be no better time than now than to give it a go.

To be honest, I've actually tried making french onion soup in a slow cooker before, but that ended up in all my onions basically turning into charcoal not going very well, so I had figured the good old cast iron pot and elbow grease were really the only way to attack this.

 

starting time: 1:55PM

16 minutes in (2:11PM)

26 minutes in (2:21PM)

36 minutes in (2:31PM)

45 minutes in (2:39PM)

49 minutes (one episode of OTH) later (2:44PM)

we're almost there...

pschye... 59 minutes later (2:54PM)

72 minutes later (3:07PM)

 

I only took the onions this far - around 80% caramelized?

 

 

In goes the beef stock, bay leaves and thyme - close the lid and leave to boil over low heat for another 20 minutes and the soup is done!

 

 

 

Remove bay leaves, and taste again before serving (adding water if it tastes a little strong).

 

To serve, portion into smaller ramekins (or any oven safe container), top with generous amount of cheese and a slice of baguette before placing into the oven to grill for just long enough for cheese to melt.

Then it's really done!

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

Now having never actually tried french onion soup, I have no clue if what I ended up with is anything close to what it's supposed to taste like, but all I know is that it tasted amazing.. and is now on my list of go-to soups.