Sunday Fronday

Sunday is unquestionably the second-worst day of the week. First prize obviously goes to that bastard Monday but Sunday might actually be worse in that you know you have the day off but you still have to go back to real life in just a few short hours.

That's why I advocate for comfort food all day on Sunday, from pancakes in the morning to a soul-satisfying entree for dinner at night.

I also like soul-satisfying entrees that don't involve a metric shit-ton of work, like the whole chicken I tangoed with last night. But that's another story.

So what is this magical Sunday Fronday? Three words for you, babe:

French.

Onion.

Soup.

Also known as Fronion soup when I'm too lazy to type all that out.

A rich beef broth smothered in toasted baguette and oozy, melted Gruyere and parmesean makes my heart beat just a little quicker.

I was having a terrible craving for restaurant-style fronion soup and so I looked up a recipe and was pleased to see that not only is it pretty low-maintenance, it also has fewer ingredients than I thought it would. The recipe I used called for the addition of vermouth or dry white wine and I really liked what it did for the soup base. I didn't have dry thyme or a bay leaf so I just used my herbs du Provence mixture. If you have mixed Italian seasoning this can also be a substitute. I also used a hunk of beef and bone that Tommy had cooked the other night which made the flavor much richer. Plus while the soup simmered, the beef fell of the bone and mingled with the onions and...well, damn.

Be patient with the onions, by the way. It takes a long time for them to caramelize but once they do you'll have that restaurant-quality taste you're looking for.

There are two things I'll say here before we get started. The first is that if you really want amazing Fronion soup you have to shell out for the good beef stock, not the off-brand one that's only a buck fifty. If you're fancy you can make your own but I think it takes a long time and I have no idea how to do it so you're on your own there.

The second is that I personally prefer to make gruyere toasts under the broiler so that the bread doesn't just soak up all the broth and leave you with mush, but that's up to you.

With those two provisos in mind, let's make some Fronion soup.

Ingredients:

4 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced thinly

3-4 tbs. olive oil

3 tbs. butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped

8-10 cups beef stock

1 c. dry vermouth or red wine

3 heaping tbs. all-purpose flour

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp. dry thyme

Cracked black pepper

8 slices well-toasted (but not burned) french bread

1 1/2 c. grated Gruyere and parmesean

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large soup pot, melt the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes.

2. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.

3. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.

4. Add the stock and beef/bone if you have it. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season with pepper and discard the bay leaf.

4. Place the toasts on top of the soup and sprinkle the cheese in an even layer. Broil in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and smelling oh-so-good. Alternatively, broil the slices of toast covered in grueyere on a foil-covered baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

#maindishes #soup #beef #comfortfood