Onions caramelized in chive butter in a thyme and rosemary 100% grassfed beef bone broth, cognac, topped with an LFG sourdough crouton and gruyere cheese.
French onion soup, for me, is comfort food. It makes me think of mom and French furniture and shopping. Let me explain.
When I was in high school in Minnesota, one of my favorite ways to kill a Saturday with my mom was to drive to Edina, spend the morning walking through the interior design showrooms at Gabberts and eat French Onion soup for lunch at Vie de France, a little French restaurant and bakery near the Southdale Mall that has since closed.
All the interiors at Gabberts were great, but there were two in particular that always got me excited: modern and French Provencal. I know they're two opposite extremes, but that about sums me up.
Let's get back to the soup at Vie de France. The French onion soup I remember oozed with with rich, full, beefy, tangy, salty, sweet caramelized onion flavor. And there seemed to be no end to the melted Gruyère cheese on top. Even so, my mom and I would pick the sides of our crocks clean. The crouton, of course, was real french bread. And, they would bring basket after basket of bread and unsalted French butter to eat with our soup. Today, that presents a lectin bomb for we P-doxers, but I'm going to show you how to make this French classic perfectly compliant with a grain-free alternative bread.
But first, let's discuss the secret to amazing French onion soup — the caramelized onions. Proper caramelizing brings out the sugar of the onions and gives you that rich brown color to the broth. It's very easy to do and the entire recipe shouldn't take more that 30 minutes.
The recipe is featured in my e-cookbook SOURDOUGH RISING! Download it now and get access to 74 pages of sourdough secrets, this recipe and over 30 more. Get this e-book now. Click here.