French Onion Soup (ATK)

• doses: 2

Ingredientes

3 onions, halved and sliced thin

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ teaspoon brown sugar

4 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons dry sherry

3 cups chicken broth

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

4 (½-inch-thick) slices baguette

2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (½ cup)

Instruções

1. Combine onions and ½ teaspoon salt in bowl and microwave, covered, until fully softened, about 10 minutes; drain. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until onions are golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

2. Add 2 tablespoons water and cook until nearly evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 3 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons water and cook until onions are brown, scraping up any browned bits, about 3 minutes. Stir in sherry and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes.

3. Stir in broth, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Arrange baguette slices on parchment paper-lined baking sheet and broil until deep golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove bread from oven and divide cheese evenly among slices; broil until melted and bubbly, 2 to 4 minutes.

5. Ladle soup into bowls and place 2 baguette slices in each bowl. Serve.

Notas

Look for small or demi-baguettes in the bakery section of your supermarket. Three onions weigh about 1½ pounds.

TEST KITCHEN TECHNIQUE Faster Caramelized Onions Classic French onion soup can take all afternoon to make-just caramelizing the onions can easily eat up an hour. For a two-person guest list, we needed to speed things up. Our two-step process for faster caramelized onions starts the salted sliced onions in the microwave where they cook, covered, until soft, which takes about 10 minutes. Then we drain off the exuded liquid and sauté the onions not slowly, but quickly-don't forget to stir-until brown, about 12 minutes. Then we deglaze twice to extract every ounce of flavor before adding the broth.

COOK TWICE; SAVE TIME Microwave and then sauté.