Simple Onion Soup

I made chicken stock the other day. Trudged down to the butcher to buy two organic soup chickens from France, ankles bound indelicately, skin cast in a yellowish hue. Passed the grocer on the way back home where I found wilting soup greens, as the Germans call that bundle of aromatics made up of two halves of a leek, a carrot, a slice of celery root and a spray of parsley tied together, in the dark recesses of a shelf close to the floor. At home again, I sliced an onion in half and charred each side in a pot with no oil, as every German recipe for chicken stock will instruct you to do, then filled up the pot with cold water, peppercorns, the yellow French chickens, bay leaves from my mother's garden in Italy and the soup greens, washed and peeled as best I could, plus a little bundled bouquet garni. The pot simmered away for hours, clouding up the kitchen windows, making the kitchen and my office smell like a Jewish grandmother's house.

The stock lasted us all week. A ladleful in risotto here, a golden puddle with tiny semolina dumplings there, a jar for my mother, a container in the freezer. If I had a bigger freezer, I'd make stock once a month. There's something so elemental about cooking it (and if you have two chickens floating in the broth, you can salvage one after an hour to actually eat, dipped into HP Fruity sauce, for example, my little guilty pleasure) and finding yourself supplied with the groundwork for a great many delicious meals.

The other day at lunch, inspired by a recipe from a German cooking magazine called essen & trinken, I sliced a small pile of onions thinly and cooked them in a little olive oil along with some unusal aromatics (star anise, juniper berries) until they were soft and translucent and going pale brown in the pan. A few sprigs of thyme from the balcony gave the onions an herbal touch. After a while, I poured a glug of dry white wine to deglaze the onions, then filled up the pot with some ladlefuls of chicken stock and let everything simmer away for a little while, while I sliced bread and spread the slices thinly with mustard before showering them with a carpet of grated Gruyère cheese. Under the broiler the bread slices went, until the edges were crisp and browning quickly and the cheese had melted and blistered in the heat.

I filled each soup plate with onion soup, then floated a toasted cheese tartine on top. The soup softened the bread, turning the bottom-side custardy and easy enough to cut with a spoon. We slurped away as carefully as we could, marveling at the depth of sweetness in the soup, crunching away at the edges of the toasts before they sogged entirely.

You always dream, when you work in an office, of being free one day, free to work in your pyjamas, free to be your own boss. It's a misleading little daydream, because the truth is that working from home for yourself is so much harder than being in an office. At least it is for me. I miss my commute to work, my colleagues, my office uniform. I spend too much time in my own head at home, feel far more oppressed under my own expectations of myself than I did under any employer. But in one respect, working from home really does beat everything else and that is the luxury of being able to emerge from the fog of work to cook my own lunch. To spend a half hour standing over the stove in the middle of the day, making a little salad, setting the table for the two of us, is bliss.

In a few months, our lunchtime ritual is going to change. Max will be working far away during the week and I'll be left to my own devices, probably sentenced to a great many peanut butter sandwiches at midday. It's just not as much fun to cook for yourself than it is when you're sharing a meal, is it? That seems to be one of the great truths of a cook's life. So until then, I'm counting my blessings, boiling chickens and making onion soup.

Simple Onion Soup
Serves 2 for lunch

3-4 tablespoons olive oil
5 medium yellow onions, cut in half and sliced thinly
1 star anise
A few stalks of fresh thyme, minced
10 juniper berries
1/4 cup (100 ml) dry white wine
4 1/4 cups (1 liter) chicken stock
Salt, pepper
4 slices country bread
Dijon mustard
Gruyère

1. Put the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and cook the onions, star anise, thyme and juniper berries slowly in the oil for 20 minutes, until the onions are limp, silky and starting to turn brown. Deglaze with the wine and let most of the alcohol cook off, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour in the chicken stock and let the soup simmer for another 20 minutes.

2. Spread each slice of bread very thinly with mustard and top with a layer of grated Gruyère. Put the cheese toasts on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and slide under the broiler in your oven for a few minutes, just until the cheese is blistered and melting and the edges of the bread are toasted.

3. Ladle the soup into deep soup plates and top each plate with a cheese toast. Serve immediately.

Comments

[Vanessa]

The way you describe the whole process of buying and preparing ingredients is so lovely. Every time I see an onion soup recipe I sigh a little because it's truly one of my favourite things but it kills me cutting onions and the tears stream down my face, no matter how many of these tricks I try to prevent that. Na ja, better just accept it. I can well understand what you mean about working from home as I do it myself sometimes and actually, the feeling of being in pyjamas with scruffy hair at midday isn't nice at all but I'd so love to be able to prepare myself a lunch at home. Funnily, since I've started living alone, I cook more than ever and really enjoy the luxury of dinner for one.

[clotilde]

I'll try the charred onion trick next time I make stock -- I imagine the purpose is both for color and flavor?

I also work from home and alone, and for what it's worth, I really enjoy cooking just for myself at lunchtime. I make simple things, salads and vegetable dishes mostly, and I usually cook enough for two or three servings so I can save time the next day and the day after that. Love those lunch dates with myself. :)

[Nicky]

Well put :) As a freelancer I find it essential to have one or two nice coffee bars just around the corner. This makes it so much easier to socialize and meet new people at least once or twice a day.

[Luisa]

Clotilde - that's my guess, too, though to be totally honest, I haven't ever noticed much of a difference from stocks made with uncharred onions... :)

Nicky - lucky you! I have a lovely Schlosspark across my street, but for coffee shops (and human beings) I have to travel.

[Jen]

I, too, work from home and I sympathize with missing the interaction and direction. For me the best part is being home early enough to make dinner!

[jonquil]

onion soup is my favorite!

[Maria]

Oh yes, cooking just for yourself and having no one to share the food with is so much less enjoyable. I went on like that for years and inevitably ended up with a lunch of bread smeared with nutella or, if I was lucky, the leftovers of the day before. Right now I am in the lucky position to have three other people at my table at lunchtime and it is bliss.

[Robin (Hippo Flambe)]

The difference between commercial chicken broth and home made is so large that I have begun using water when I don't have the real stuff. Unfortunately I almost never have the real stuff in the house. The idea of a truly deep flavored onion soup might lead me to make a batch. The entire weeks cooking will enjoy a boost of flavor if I do.

-Robin

[Anna]

I work from home during most days and it is definitely challenging. It is great, too, but not quite what we dream of when working elsewhere. I think I will get the hang of it but sometimes I miss the sense of finishing the day or the week and coming home to relax, being free from work. Although I am really happy to do the work I want to do, I agree that it is quite challenging, too.

[Sarah]

I work from home and understand the challenges of it. For my friends that do not work from home, they think it must be bliss being left to your own devices. And that is exactly what I find the hardest. As an artist, I spend too much time in my head too and miss human interaction. On the other hand, I love to be able to cook my lunches, and I especially look forward to trying this heartwarming soup!

[jenny]

I'm moving into my fifth year of working from home, and I particularly related to what you said about feeling far more oppressed under my expectations of myself than I ever did under any employer's. but then, I also related to taking the time (and having the ability) to actually cook for lunch. when I can't get out of my own head, or out from under that crushing sense of whether or not I'm performing up to my own sky-high standards, I head to my kitchen and cook up simple soups or a midday batch of cookies or sometimes I just brew a pot of tea. anything to move into a different mental space where I can appreciate the work I'm doing and feel blessed by the opportunity to do it on my own terms.

p.s. lunchtime walks help, too!

[Sasa]

How funny - I *just* learned that onion technique because I made tafelspitz last week - and had the broth with nockerln and also frittaten all week as well as the leftover meat as Tyrolergroestl. It's like that thing if you learn a new word, it appears everywhere...I'm going to post them all soon as a series with the schnittlauch sauce.

[rebecca]

Yours is just the post to get my off my duff and to the grocers to make some chicken stock— and the onion soup that I've been meaning to make all winter long!

[lauren norster]

I'm addicted to onions -- and onion soup is the best way to satisfy my onion craving.

Cooking for 2 (or more) is definitely more fun. I actually get up early in the morning just so I can cook together with my husband and have time to eat with him before we go on our way to work -- it's so much more satifying and special that way.

[Erin@TheFoodMentalist]

Yum! This post has transported me back to France where i tried the best French onion soup ever! Looking forward to making this one.

[Debjani Roy]

Luisa, your soup sounds divine but there is one thing missing. A piece of jamon iberico bone. It is transcendental when added to chicken stock. I have friends from Berlin visiting me in Madrid at the moment, if you like I can send them back with a few slices of bone for you. Just drop me a line.

[amelia]

you make making chicken stock in the cold weather sound like a dream! it's a bit too warm and sunny in Los Angeles for stock, BUT I think I might be able to suffer through a super hot oven for the jamie oliver pizza crust! ;) Thanks so much for your comment the other day, by the way. I love your blog and cannot wait for your book!

[Sylee]

So much truth in this. & now I want your kitchen fug! Will hunt down the chicken man on Thursday.

[John]

That looks great. I would never think of using mustard on the crouton, I will definitely try that.

[goodeatsbykmuir]

I just read an entire chapter on toast from the book, "Talking With My Mouth Full". Have been craving this comfort at home ever since. Love the use of Gruyere and the soup sound delicious!

[Kimberley]

What a perfect meditation on stock-making, soup, working from home. I had no idea people ever charred an onion for chicken stock; I'll have to try that the next time I make some.

[Sonia]

I like the thought of mustard on the bread under melted cheese, sounds gorgeous!
I totally agree with how you feel about working from home, I am trying to establish my bridal accessories business, and it is so difficult. Rewarding, but I can honestly say I have never worked so hard!
I also miss the interaction with other people, and spend too much time with my own annoying thoughts!

[Rocky Mountain Woman]

I love onion soup and love making stock...

I agree about cooking for one, it's just no where near as much fun..but you can make really weird stuff that no one else will eat?

I'm just sayin...

[kickpleat]

I love this post! And it's been ages since I've had onion soup (my husband doesn't share my love), but I should make some regardless. Cooking for one may not be as fun, but it's okay because all the leftovers are yours.

[Sues]

I absolutely LOVE onion soup, but have never tried making it on my own. I really need to, but I think I've just been waiting for a set of those fancy onion soup dishes :) But really, why wait?!

[Oana]

You had me at "skin cast in a yellowish hue"...In the same vein I am in a similar situation Luisa and surprised by it as well, it's really not as I imagined it :)For me, it feels good to work in cafes, pubs, parks, boats :) I like to get out to just be in a common space with other neurotic humans such as myself:)!

[Emily]

I will be making my first attempt at homemade chicken stock this very weekend, and I will definitely give the onion trick a try.

I discovered your blog about a month ago, and I've so enjoyed reading it. I've browsed the archives and have tried four of your recipes so far with wonderful results - the lemon-ricotta-hazelnut pancakes were awesome!

[Gemma]

It's been too long since I last ate onion soup. In fact the last time may have even been in France almost 3 years ago, way too long ago. I have been making chicken stock though. Poaching a chicken on a Sunday night to eat with rice and the vegetables that were in with the chicken, then having stock to eat the next day. I usually cook tiny pasta in it and eat it with some leftover shredded chicken but maybe next time I'll remind myself to make onion soup instead.

[Nuts about food]

So true, cooking for yourself just isn't the same. Enjoy every chicken and every pot of stock you can. Too bad your ritual has to come to an end...I would have loved a bowl of that onion soup.

[Tracy]

I had a treasured moment about a month ago where I stepped away from my home office for about 1/2 hour and proceeded to make a double espresso. I think there may have a been a cookie in there as well...A Katie Brown something-or-other on public tv. I don't ususally work from home, but on the rare occasion that I do, the kitchen is my retreat. I love it so much that I find myself wanting to set the table for dinner hours before the stove is lit. I could go on and on.

[Amy]

I had a recipe for a pho soup and all the vegetables were roasted in the oven before being put in the soup. Wow -- what an amazing flavor it gave the soup. I thought that charring the onion on a fry pan does a little bit like the roasting-no?

[jason]

The idea of onion soup just sound so delicious, I'll try the charred onion trick next time

[Erica]

I love onions even it makes my breath stinks. Thank you for sharing this recipe, this is something that I can do on my own.

[Jason @ Shutter&Saute]

Absolutely love onion soup... Great idea to char the onions.

[The History Chef!]

Onion Soup is my favorite and this one looks great.

[Molly]

Mmmmm.... we made a big pot of chicken stock just this week, spiced heavily with ginger coins and peppercorns, to heal a boy down with a head cold. Did the trick, and was delicious, besides.

With that recent memory, I can imagine how delicious it would be with a heap of melted onions and those bobbling breads. I haven't made onion soup in ten years, as no one in my house will eat it, save me. Perhaps I ought to set a date with myself. It's been too long, I can see that, now.

[Alex]

I love the idea of the dijon under the cheese on bread! yum!
I wanted to tell you that my boyfriend and I have become completely obessed with your vanilla-bay rice pudding lately. He made it a few weeks ago, and I can't even count the number of times we've made it since. I've also been playing with the flavor combo in ice cream (so good) and bread pudding (yum - topped with warm buttered honey.) Anyways, thank you for the recipe!!