French Onion Soup

The New Year is upon us, full of potential. Over the holidays, I've often checked out the latest news on health, searched for new recipes, and enjoyed my favorite authors' insights on spiritual growth. January offers the chance to apply my discoveries.

But sometimes, the driving force isn't to apply any new revelations, but to simply maintain some of my old ones. The potential to maximize, to franchise, to duplicate and replicate our ideas might lead us into information overload. Maybe our new mantra needs to be: Simplify and prioritize!

A main priority is sharing a meal with loved ones. If I've done my prep, I can sit back and enjoy the company. To that end, I usually have some chicken or turkey stock in the freezer, and a few raw materials on hand to throw together a good soup. Sometimes I wonder if the great gourmet chefs of the past, in creating the familiar, legendary recipes we love, weren't really more like the rest of us. With pantries and refrigerators full of a few simple ingredients, perhaps it all came together fairly effortlessly, in an hour of need. Such might have been the case with the classic "French Onion Soup". It's really a combination of several simple, basic items we typically can have on hand, with a bit of planning.

Granted, it might be easier for us at The New Deli, to have the raw materials on hand. We're always cooking chicken and roasting beef for sandwiches, which afterwards gives us a pan full of flavorful drippings. I add a bit of water to deglaze the pan, saving the drippings. If I use a whole chicken, I make stock out of the leftovers, simmering the carcass in a pot of water for hours before straining it; a no-effort way to make use of the whole bird! It only takes a week or so for us to have a full pot of stock and meat juices to use as the base for a great batch of French Onion Soup.

Such is not the case at home; I'm not usually cooking in as much quantity. But I still collect the occasional drippings and juices and stock from any of the meat dinners I've prepared. I freeze them as I go, but eventually I thaw them out, heating the whole collection up, straining it, and then removing the fat that collects on top, which is easily removed after cooling. By the time a quantity of stock and meat drippings has collected, a great pot of French Onion Soup is almost moments away.

In this New Year, may we discover ways to improve our quality of life. Perhaps one of those ways might be through embracing a few of the tried and true, classic traditions of the past!

French Onion Soup

The following large recipe is convenient to make, since it freezes well. It takes some preparation, but is pretty easy once you have the stock on hand. Allow time for the onions to cook slowly on low heat, with an occasional stir. They need to be almost overflowing in the pan initially; the onions cook up better than if sparsely covering the pan. But they do shrink down, so stirring them becomes easier. Serves 8-10 (3 quarts or so).

INGREDIENTS:

Saute in 12" iron frying pan: > 3 lb. sliced yellow onions > 2 TBS. olive oil > Approx. 1/4 c. water

Stir often at first, on medium-high heat, until they soften up. Then turn heat down, stirring occasionally, cooking for an hour or so, until sweet and browned.

Heat in large 4-qt. pot: > 2 qt. (8c.) Chicken or Turkey Stock, plus beef drippings and water as needed, to make 8 c.

Mix the following well with a fork until smooth: > 1/4c. flour > 1/4c. brown sugar (loose-packed) > 1 TBS. salt

To the flour-sugar-salt mix, stir in: > 1/4 c. red wine vinegar (or red wine)

Bring stock to a boil, adding the above mix, stirring well. Boil on med. high for 2 min. Add sauteed onions last. Serve hot soup topped with croutons, broiled with Swiss cheese and parmesan on top. Chill any extra soup, putting up into quart or pint containers for longer keeping. Lasts 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator, or months in the freezer.

* BEEF DRIPPINGS-

After roasting a cut of beef of your choice, add 1 c. water to the roasting pan, heating to a boil. Strain the boiled juices, storing up a quantity until you have enough for soup. (Fat will congeal on top after refrigerating, making it easy to remove.)

When it's not convenient to deal with the drippings, just set pan aside in refrigerator; you can deglaze it at a later date.

Beef drippings will store in the refrigerator for two weeks, or save up a quantity in the freezer, which will keep several months. Before freezing, let drippings chill completely, so fat can be removed before freezing.

AUTHOR BIO – Jennifer Cote

Jennifer Cote, with husband Tom, opened The New Deli in Pinole, CA in 1985. Her cookbook, " From the Land of Milk and Honey ", is filled with New Deli favorite recipes, plus scripture and insight into Christian living. Find more info at: www.PCCuisine.com ; email Jennifer at www.getrecipes@hotmail.com

Enjoy more recipes in Jennifer Cote's cookbook/devotional, From the Land of Milk and Honey , from Winepress Publishing.