Tuesday, February 18, 2014

French Onion Soup with Double Mustard Croutons

I'm slowly emerging from the Super Bowl black hole. When people think that PR is all glamour and parties, I implore you to visualize me huddled around my space heater, with bloodshot eyes, running on nothing but Diet Coke for days on end. I did it all for the puppy.

Good news. Turns out there's more to eat in this world than late-office delivery Jimmy John's sandwiches. What a revelation.

After all was said and done, I needed something warm and slightly indulgent. Deeply caramelized, sweet onions with ooey-gooey cheese and crispity-crunchy bread on top. Crispity-crunchy bread with mustard. Yep.


The ingredients are humble, but when you don't rush them, they build incredible flavor. There's something about taking your time in the kitchen after a period of rushing in your life that makes you relax. Not rushing is a good thing. 





Let's get real, there's no point in making French Onion soup if you're not going to have bread with it. It's compulsory. Simply non-negotiable. These croutons pull from another classic French flavor, dijon mustard. 




I beg you not to use packaged croutons. Woof. They're incredibly easy to make and exponentially more delicious. 

Simply toss in olive oil, dry mustard and dijon mustard. You'll make soup just to have the excuse to make these. 



With a quick melt of cheese atop the soup, you're ready, unrushed and hopefully revived. You made it.


French Onion Soup with Double Mustard Croutons
1/2 stick of butter
4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 cups beef stock
1 cup white wine
3 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
4 slices Swiss cheese
1/2 French baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried mustard
1 tablespoon dijon mustard

Heat butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. When melted, add onions and stir to coat. Cook onions until soft and beginning to brown, about 45 minutes to an hour.

While onions cook, prepare croutons. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a large baking sheet, toss bread cubes with olive oil, dried mustard, dijon mustard and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bake for 5 minutes and toss. Bake for another 5 minutes until a golden brown color is achieved.

Once the onions are a deep, caramel brown color, add beef stock, white wine, thyme, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs.

Ladle soup into four ovenproof bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Top with a handful of croutons and a slice of cheese. Bake until cheese melts. Dig in and enjoy!

Soup recipe adapted from Mark Bittman. 

2 comments:

  1. This looks delicious and I love the photographs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A- great work, love that commercial.

    B- yum. Gonna make this next week :)

    ReplyDelete

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