During winter, the Dutch oven, or cocotte in French, is king of the kitchen. You just throw everything into one pot, and, some time later, you have a full dish.
Made from cast iron, Le Creuset’s multipurpose pot can be used to sauté, fry, bake, roast, braise, or stew. The brand has been making cookware since 1925, so we have a hunch that they know what they’re doing.
Curious to see just how great it is to cook a one-pot meal in a Dutch oven? The nice folks at Le Creuset shared an easy onion soup recipe from the Le Creuset Cookbook
Onion Soup
(Makes four to six servings)
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs medium yellow onions, halved and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1.5 cups Gruyere cheese
- .5 cup dry white wine
- .5 cup unsalted butter
- 2 fresh thyme sp
- 1 garlic clove, halved
- 1 dried bay leaf
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley to garnish
- 4 to 6 demi baguette slices, cut on the diagonal ½-inch-thick
Instructions:
- In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Stir in the onions and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and cook until wilted, about 10 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown (about 10 minutes). Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the onions are very soft and deep golden brown (about 45 minutes). Stir occasionally to loosen the brown glaze from the bottom of the pan. Stir more often as the onions darken.
- Deglaze the pot with the wine, stirring to loosen the fond from the bottom of the pot. Simmer until the wine nearly cooks away.
- Stir in the chicken stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Discard the thyme stems and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
- Just before serving, preheat the broiler on high. Butter the tops of the bread slices and broil until crisp and toasted. Rub the toast with the cut sides of the garlic clove. Leave the broiler on.
- Ladle soup into
French onion soup bowls
or other oven-safe crocks, and place them on a baking sheet. Float a slice of toast in each serving. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the soup and toast, letting a little drape over the edge of the bowls. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat until the cheese is melted and bubbly (about 1 to 2 minutes). - Garnish with parsley and serve at once.
When you’re done making onion soup, check out some of our other delicious recipes. In the spirit of winter, may we suggest starting off with some chili or a hot toddy?
Feature image courtesy of Le Creuset/Facebook.
