French Onion Soup

Perfect Pairing:  Epicurean cutting board

Today you are getting a soup recipe.  Why?  Because it snowed in Chicago yesterday.  It was quite a bit of snow actually.  I am NOT happy about it.  I am so disgusted with winter.  That has to be the last snow.  Right?  RIGHT?!

I have always loved French onion soup.  Why not?  It is salty, cheesy, and topped with crusty bread.  It even eliminates the extra step of me dunking my bread in the soup, which I love to do.  For some reason I avoided making this at home because I assumed it would be very time consuming and perhaps difficult.  I guess I just always assume French recipes are time consuming and difficult. 

While we are on the topic of France.... I am going to France next month!  I am over the moon excited.  I am going for work but extending for fun.  The first half of the trip will be in Paris and then it is off to sunny Nice for a few days.  I can barely stand it! I studied for a semester in Nice, so I am pretty pumped to see it again as a grown-up and a foodie. 

Anyway, like I said above, I always thought French recipes were difficult.  Good news!  French onion soup is easy!  Really, really easy.  This version tastes just like the restaurant classic.  It does take some time to get the onions cooked down but overall it is very low maintenance.  It would be great as a first course or served alongside a hearty salad. **My original draft of this said a heart salad, not hearty.  Gross.   When I made the soup I served it with this Kale Salad with Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Sweet Sesame Dressing.  It was a great cold weather meal.

The most time consuming part of the prep is slicing the onions.  It is important to have a really sharp knife.  Invest in a great knife and you won’t be sorry.  I love my Shun knives. 

I have always used the flexible plastic cutting boards.  They are great in the beginning, but after a few runs through the dishwasher they start to fold up around the edges and cause extreme annoyance in the chef.  My mom had an Epicurean cutting board that she received after attending a Wolf oven demonstration.  I coveted it.  I assumed this was a specialty board that would be hard to find, but apparently they are all over the place.  It was at the top of my Christmas list this year.  I love this board.  It is dishwasher safe, lightweight, and comes in various sizes.  This might sound crazy but I truly enjoy cutting and chopping more on this board than any other.  Weird? 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Corn Casserole (Perfect for Easter dinner!)

 

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Quinoa, Shrimp, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Salad

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Onion Strings

Perfect Pairing: Hamburgers

I am going to start this post by fully admitting that this recipe is not healthy, not even a little bit.   I like to live by the 80/20 rule with eating, 80% of the time I am really good, and 20% of the time I am not so good.  Typically that 20% falls on the weekends, especially in the summer.  These onions strings are definitely smack dab in that 20%. 

Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, I want to tell you to make these right away!  They are not beautiful, notice I didn’t even try to take a pretty picture, but they are to die for good.

I am currently in the final days of my summer family vacation.  We have had an amazing time and I am fully focused on making the most of the last few days.  Tonight is the annual Lake House Chef's Challenge, more to come on that later!  We had these onion strings on hamburgers this week and everyone agreed it was one of the best burgers they had ever had.    

A few things to keep in mind when making onion strings…

1. Make more than you think you need, like a lot more.  Once everyone gets a whiff of fried onions they magically disappear from the plate.
2. If possible, fry on an outside burner.  This eliminates a lot of mess, and your house won’t smell like fried food.  We use a cast iron skillet on a grill side burner.
3. Season your flour with salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Use more than you think you will need. 
4. Get your oil really hot so they fry quickly and do not absorb too much oil.  I wish I could tell you the exact temperature of the oil, but the thermometer was nowhere to be found.  The oil should be around 375 degrees.  You can test it by tossing one onion in the oil.  If it bubbles up immediately and violently, it is probably ready.  If it acts bored, probably not ready.
5. Drain the onions on paper towels.
6. Salt the onions strings liberally right after they come out of the oil. 

I soaked the thinly sliced onions in buttermilk in a 9x13 so they were evenly covered. 

 

We tossed them in the flour mixture right next to grill and dropped them directly into the oil.  And when I say we, I mean my dad and uncle. 

The Perfect Pairing for onion strings is a hamburger. 

Need I say more?

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