In the words of Seinfeld’s George Costanza, “I gotta focus, I’m shifting into soup mode.” That quote is from my favorite Seinfeld episode, the Soup Nazi, which is actually based on a real New York City restaurateur with a notoriously prickly attitude and fantastic soups. When temperatures drop, soup is all that I want to cook. Sure, Florida Fall may be a bit milder than some, but we can still enjoy the cozy feeling that only cooking soup can bring. Yes, soup for you!

The coziest soup of all, in my opinion, is French onion soup. Savory broth, caramelized onions with a floating raft of bread and cheese. What’s not to love? My favorite episode of The French Chef, Julia Child’s famously groundbreaking cooking show, is about French onion soup. Julia suggests covering the onions for the first several minutes of cooking to speed up the process, and I must say, it works well. She also suggests a pinch of sugar and salt to help with caramelization. Take Julia’s sage advice and give the onions plenty of time to properly caramelize. This is the only real time-consuming step, but it’s worth every minute. I take a departure from Julia’s recipe when it comes to the gratinée topping. Instead of putting the bread and cheese in the soup to brown in the oven, I separately cook the toast with Gruyère cheese and float them on top of the soup before serving. Just a texture preference but feel free to go the traditional route.

Any guesses on the origin of French onion soup? It’s right in the name, so of course it must be French! Well, actually, this soup has roots in Ancient Rome. Onions were cheap and easy to grow and store, which made them incredibly popular. Years later, the French improved upon the soup with their favorite ingredients, cheese and bread. Perhaps the most famous French restaurant to serve Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée to this day is Au Pied De Cochon, near the famous Le Halles fresh food market. This soup was popularly sold as street food for many years until restaurants discovered how marketable this humble soup could be.

French Onion Soup (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

2 large yellow onions (in thin slices)

1 cup white wine

8 cups beef broth

2 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 small pinch of sugar

2 teaspoons salt

Black pepper

1 French baguette (sliced)

8 ounces of grated Gruyère cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the sliced onions and oil. Stir and brown for 5 minutes. Cover with a lid for 2-3 minutes. Stir again, add a pinch of salt and sugar. Allow to cook for 20-30 more minutes, stirring occasionally. If they brown too much, add splashes of stock to keep from burning and turn heat down slightly. Onions will need at least 30 minutes total to properly caramelize. Don’t rush this step.
2. Once onions are golden, add butter and flour. Using a whisk, cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes until the flour deepens in color and no lumps of flour remain. 
3. Add the wine and broth. Whisk to combine. Add salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer on medium-low heat for 10-20 minutes.
4. On a sheet tray, drizzle a little oil and place sliced baguette pieces on the tray. Add a small pinch of salt and pepper. Cover with grated cheese. Broil on high for just a few minutes until golden.
5. Portion out soup, giving each bowl a few pieces of bread.
6. Serve hot.