Have you ever tried some classic French onion soup? You know...the thick one that makes you warm and fuzzy inside and it instantly feels like winter comfort food? The one that pulls cheese strings when eating it and always burning your mouth on it? Yeah you know that one, but the downside for this is that it's 'only' a soup and not an entirely this.
Now I found this recipe by the Sage Apron that gives a twist to this classic soup and makes it more of like a proper dish.
Nope it's not difficult at all, the only thing that you surely need is a lot of time to get this done. No fancy ingredients, but just the whole day to make it all perfect.
So that sounds fantastic on a slow Sunday when it's raining and you don't feel like doing anything else apart from hoovering around in your pyjama's
Prep is everything!
Now I had some deadline because I had to leave in the evening so that literally meant that I started on prepping in the morning. And since the recipe said it needed 6 hours of cooking time...Well, that usually means that I need 7 hours or even more.
And prep time? Well, let's say also usually I'm not that fast in there. Time to get started. The cool thing about the Sage Apron is that you can easily click on the portion amounts and can also choose between US measurements and the metric measurements.
I'm sorry...no one know what a cup is in Europe since it is different depending on what matter is inside.
The majority of the prepping time? Chopping it all! I used the amounts for 1/2 portion and that was enough for 3 portions for me. As always... I am a freeloader with amounts and measurement, so this is what I used, and not what you should use. That you can see in the recipe
I started with chopping 400 grams of chuck roast beef (because that is the size the super market had and from there on I adjusted the measurements for a bit) in 2x2 cm cubes. Those cubes I tossed in a big container with 30 grams of flour and a good whisk of salt.
Now if I had followed the recipe and started baking them immediately it would have been a mess. Because in the mean I also had to chop 2 cloves of garlic but most of all 500 grams of onion which is like an entire bag. The recipe does all fancy on using a mandoline on makes the onions all the exact size.
But honestly... you won't see that in the end product ...at all
So...time to sear the floured beef chunks in a pan with some olive oil. Don't throw away the excess flour mix because you will toss the seared beef chunks back in there again after searing. Leave that in the fridge in the mean time.
After that you will starting with baking that crazy amount of onions and also the chopped garlic in the same pan but the on low heat with some added butter. And yes, this will make you pan look like a disaster thinking you will never be able to clear it ever again anymore.
And then we wait....
The waiting game starts here. Because these sauteed onions will just need some stirring like every 15 minutes and they will just simmer and shrink. Simmer and shrink. And simmer and shrink and eventually it will start to turn brown.
But most of all it is crazy to see how this gigantic pile of onions just shrinks to the bottom. This take like 3 to 6 hours in total
On to the next phase when these onions are done that is where you add 15 ml of Worchestershire sauce (how many times have you said this out loud? Worchestershirechestershireshirehire) and the recipe says using 120 ml of brandy which I didn't have... So I used ** sherry** for this.
Nice and cheap and actually it turns out is not so easy to brandy around here.
Time to put it all together!
So...! There is the moment where you throw back in all of the beef chunks and it is time to also put in 1 liter of beef stock which of course is just a bit better when you have this homemade yourself.
Add some some bay leaves* in there and also some fresh thyme from the garden into the beef stock and then it is time to wait again.
Simmer the stew for like 3 hours again until it starts to thicken and you will get happier and happier with that.
As a side dish for this I made some croutons in the oven which is just some bread cut in chunks, drizzled with olive oil and stuck in the oven until they are firm and like a crouton.
When the stew mix eventually had thickened in after 3 hours it was time to assemble it all together.
Taking the stew in a large bowl, grating some Comte cheese over the stew. Tossing the bread croutons and then making some serious flakes of Comte cheese again.
Take it under the grill for a minute until the cheese melts and then it is ready!
Ahhhhh comfort food which is a rich and thick stew which has the taste of onion soup, but then way thicker.. Go for it!!
...But use a day with a lot of time...