2021 Tour de France - Stage 21: Chatou to Paris
This is it, the last stage of this year’s Tour de France. While we know who’s going to win overall, there will be some more drama to unfold on an otherwise ceremonial day. Mark Cavendish will surely be giving it his all to set the record for most Tour stage wins. Likewise, I’m sure other sprinters will try to not go down in history as the rider who lost to him on such an eventful day. As for the day's dish, I made a lovely French Onion Soup. This one is lighter than other typical dark French onion soups. This light, but flavorful, soup really celebrates the onion in its sweet and delicious glory.
French Onion Soup Adapted from French Regional Food, Joël Robuchon
4 sweet onions, thinly sliced
7 tbsp butter, cut into about 14 pieces
100 ml cold water
4.5 tbsp flour
4 cups boiling water
Baguette
Gruyere, shredded
Spread the butter around the bottom of a Dutch oven and top with the sliced onions, cold water and a pinch of salt. Heat the pot over medium-low heat and cover, cooking for about 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and monitoring the heat towards the end to ensure the onions don’t brown.
After 40 minutes of cooking, stir in the flour until the mixture is golden and the flour has cooked off. Then, add a tsp of salt and pour in the boiling water. Simmer the soup until it thickens a bit and some of the water boils off, around 30 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and black pepper.
While the soup reduces, preheat the broiler, slice your baguette, and grate the gruyere over the large holes of a box grater.
Spoon soup into oven proof bowls and place 2-3 slices of bread on top of the soup in each bowl. Top with cheese, place on a baking sheet, and place under the broiler until the cheese fully melts and starts to brown lightly.
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Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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