Tasty Tuesday: French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

45 grams unsalted butter

1 small red onion

400 g (123?4 oz) white onions, finely sliced.

1 clove garlic, finely chopped.

25g plan flour

200 ml (6.5 fl oz) white wine.

1.5 litre brown stock (see recipe)

Bouquet garni (see recipe)

1 tblspn sherry

Brown stock:

roast 1.5 kg (3 lb) beef or veal bones, one onion quartered, 1 chopped leek, and 1 chopped celery stick at very hot 230 c. (450 f) for 40 minutes

Transfer to a clean pan. Add 4 litres water, 2 tblspns tomato paste, bouquet garni and 6 peppercorns. Simmer for 4 - 4 hours, skimming often.

Ladle the stock in batches into a fine sieve over a bowl. Gently press the solids with the ladle to extract all the liquid and place in the fridge to cool. Lift off any fat. Makes 1.5 - 2 litres.

Bouquet Garni.

wrap the green part of a leek loosely around a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, some celery leaves and a few stalks of parsley. Tie with string. Leave a long tail to the string for easy removal.

French Onion Soup:

Melt the butter in a large heavy based pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 20 minutes stirring often until caramelised and dark golden brown.

Stir in the garlic and flour and cook, stirring continuously for 1-2 minutes.

Add the white wine and stir the mixture until the flour has blended in smoothly. Bring to the boil and slowly stirring continuously. Whisk or briskly stir the the stock. Add bouquet garniand season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes then skim the surface of excess fat if necessary. Add the sherry to the soup and adjust the seasoning to taste.