Friday, October 10, 2008

Best French Onion Soup EVER

Ohmyword.

So, I had veal stock I had to use up.

I had 9 cups of duck stock and I did not have room in my freezer for 9 cups of duck stock.

I had some onions about to go bad.

French onion soup time!!!

If you don't own a slow cooker and think they are silly and stupid-retro and useless, please, just buy yourself a cheap one to do caramelized onions in it. I know I am usually highly unimpressed with a lot of slow cooker meals. But this is one of those things that I've mentioned before, and it really is good.

So again....

Throw a stick of butter (yes, the entire stick) into the slow cooker. Top with as many sliced onions as you can fit in there. Cook on slow for at LEAST 10 hours and hopefully up to 12, and you get wonderful, no-fuss caramelized onions.

The trick for onion soup is that the liquid from the onions doesn't evaoporate, so you get a lovely onion broth, too.

If you're trying to keep the fat down, drain the liquid from the onions and save the liquid and onions, and stick them in the fridge. You'll be able to pick off the solidified butter when it has cooled.

My 9 cups of duck stock (also done in the slow cooker - throw in duck bones and various veg and water and let it go overnight) was kinda pale and weak, so I figured I'd cook it down by about half. I actually went a little further and had about 3 cups of reduced stock.

Onions, onion liquid, 2 cups of reduced duck stock, about 3 cups of reduced veal stock and a cup of mystery stock (don't know if it wasa chicken or veal) went into my slow cooker before I left for work.

Got home, the house smelled wonderful. Lifted off the lid, did a taste test, and I am not ashamed to admit I filled a coffee cup with broth and sipped on that while I prepped the rest of dinner. Holy crap, was it good. Usually, half the reason of having french onion soup is the swiss and croutons, but I even had a bowl sans cheese and bread and loved it.

Other than that, unspectacular cooking this week. I have made a dent in my freezer (yay!) but still have a few things to deal with, like the rabbit that I know has probably been in there a year. Yeah, I know, I should probably just toss it. Sigh.

On the bathroom remodel front, we have FINALLY found tile that is a close enough match to what we need, so hopefully that will get done this weekend. I think we're going to paint before we put in a new vanity & sink so the completed project is still awhile away, but we're slowly getting there.

3 comments:

Dogmama13 said...

Dear Gabriella, I love your Blog and how it entertains me these late nights! Hugs, Hit Cookie!

Scarehaircare said...

Mmmm, I am craving French Onion Soup now. I have no occassion to make veal or duck stock so I will have to improvise those parts.

Unknown said...

Pre-veal stock obsession, I just always used a large container of Kitchen Basics chicken and beef stocks (don't like my soup too beefy). Alton Brown's also got a get recipe that uses some apple cider, which adds a nice touch.