Shine A Little Light

The mere mention of French onion soup used to conjure up images of Maggi instant soup packets, philly cheese and the horror of the spac-like filler of my mother’s French onion dip between two pieces of wholemeal bread for lunch. This was her version of a ‘gourmet sandwich’ of which I never had the heart to tell her, a peanut butter one would do just fine.

And then there’s the images of Stephen Giacometti, my partner in crime, squishing a non descript summer creepy crawlie and poking it into the same French onion dip at a New Years Eve party at our house when we were 11. I remember us, my sister included, standing around the corner giggling as adult after adult dug into the dip.

So that last thing I ever associated French Onion soup with, was comfort food. That all changed a few years ago when I decided to breastfeed beyond the first six months of Mr D’s life and I had to get creative with ways to treat myself when I was ill. I had not idea of the wonderful health benefits of onions – much less the magic that could be woven with French onion soup.

Suffering a head cold last week and worried that everyone else in the household was going to come down with it, I whipped up a pot of my French Onion soup – an adaption of one that appears in a wonderful Kate West book.

Ingredients

• 1kg brown onions – peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic – peeled and grated
• 30-50g butter
• 1 – 1.5l vegetable or beef stock
• 1 tbs vegemite (yeast extract) if using vegetable stock
• Cracked pepper
• Dash cayenne pepper (optional)

How to

1. Spend 10 – 20 minutes sautéing the onions in the butter over a low heat - until they are golden.
2. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, stirring to stop the garlic from sticking.
3. Stir in the stock, vegemite and cracked pepper. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Take off the heat and cool for at least an hour – this helps to blend the flavours and yes, you can taste the difference.
5. Re-heat the soup and serve with your favourite crusty bread.

Using a good quality organic vegetable stock or home made beef broth will enhance both the flavour and the restorative qualities of the soup (the Chinese feed their new mums broth made from ox bones because they believe it is imbued strengthening properties!) Unlike most French onion soups (commercial and restaurant ones) this soup is not salty if you get the stock right. And will help you feeling better sooner rather than later.