Authors: Michael Ruhlman

Ruhlman's Twenty (11 page)

BOOK: Ruhlman's Twenty

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8
/Do not rush onions after browning has begun.

If you heed the lesson of caramelized onions in no-stock onion soup, you realize their power to transform all kinds of soups and stews. In the easy
coq au vin
, the chicken is not cooking only in water. You’re making caramelized onion and chicken stock. Caramelizing onions before you add the water to any soup or stock will contribute that intense sweetness.

The key to caramelization is time. You can’t caramelize onions quickly. Breaking down the components that make the onion so remarkable takes time. The onions need to cook in stages, and if you try to use too much heat, some of the onions will burn before the other onions are even brown. However, you can hurry them along by covering the pot when you first begin to cook the onions so that they steam and get hot all the way through more quickly than they would in an uncovered pot. You can also cover the onions in water with a little added butter and boil them until the water cooks off. This quickly extracts sugars and begins breaking down the onions. But in the end, onions need time to caramelize properly.

Happily, onions can cook for a long time, completely neglected, if the temperature is low enough, and you can take them off the heat and finish them later. It’s simply a matter of planning ahead. You can caramelize small batches of onions fairly quickly if you pay attention to the pan, but larger batches need time to caramelize evenly.

A heavy-gauge pot or pan—one that holds and distributes heat evenly—is a big asset. My favorite type of pan for caramelizing onions is an enameled cast-iron pan. It is heavy, and foods resist sticking so that the caramelization remains on the onions rather than on the surface of the pan.

To caramelize onions, peel and slice them as thinly as possible. Heat a little butter or canola oil in a heavy pot or pan, add the onions, and cook slowly over low heat, stirring occasionally. First they will sweat, then they will drop a lot of water so that they’re virtually stewing in onion water. The water will eventually cook off, and the onions will continue to break down and become brown. Onions are about 95 percent water, so a big pot of onions will cook down to very little, but they will be highly concentrated, and that’s a good thing.

While there are infinite gradations of caramelization, practically speaking, the gradations break down into two types: lightly caramelized— when the onions are browned but still retain some of their shape—and heavily caramelized—when a big batch of onions is reduced to what appears to be nearly a darkish brown paste. How much you caramelize your onions depends how you want your finished dish to taste. Think about it.

The Amazing Shallot

There are many other kinds of onions beyond the storage onion. Most are grown for their bulbs. Some, like the leek, one of my favorite ingredients, grow leaves rather than bulbs. I also like onions that are cooked and served whole, such as shallots and pearl onions, as well as chives, ramps, and other onions that grow wild. All are wonderful ingredients, but one—the shallot—deserves special attention for its versatility and power in the kitchen.

The shallot is by far the most valuable and useful onion after the storage onion. It’s the kind of ingredient that can bring the home cook to a new level of achievement. The shallot concentrates the best qualities of the onion, without the harshness. Raw shallots are sharp, but they are quickly and easily tamed.

The shallot works just like the storage onion but has a sharper flavor when raw and a greater oniony sweetness and flavor after it has been cooked or macerated in acid. Shallots give you double the benefits of the storage onion. Minced and mixed with some vinegar or lemon
juice, they make an extraordinary garnish in vinaigrettes and mayonnaise or can be sprinkled on cooked vegetables. They can be sweated and added to the same preparations. Sweated, they are a great way to begin almost any kind of savory sauce. Add them raw to mushrooms you’re sautéing and they will light up those mushrooms. Caramelized, they add intense flavors to sauces, soups, and stews. Used whole, they are a great component in stews. I like to caramelize them whole by roasting them. Then I add them to braised dishes at the end (such as the Coq au Vin).

TRADITIONAL FRENCH ONION SOUP

/SERVES
4 TO 6

The power of water joins the power of onion in what may be one of the best soups in the Western canon. The soup deserves this high praise not only because it’s delicious and satisfying, but because it was borne out of economy. This is a peasant soup, made from onions, a scrap of old bread, some grated cheese, and water. Season with salt and whatever wine is on hand or some vinegar. Do not be tempted to use stock! Even if it’s really good homemade stock, it will detract from the economy of the dish, which can easily become too heavy and cloying. (And please don’t add the canned stuff. How many onion soups have been trashed by adding store-bought broth? A fair share in my kitchen until I learned how to use water.)

I’ve never seen a recipe for onion soup that didn’t use stock or broth, and yet this changes the soup completely—it becomes beef-onion soup or chicken-onion soup. I could not find a historical basis for my conviction until I began researching a specific style of bistro in Lyon, France, called a
bouchon
(boo-SHOHN). There are only about twenty of these restaurants in Lyon, and they serve a very distinct, country-style, family-meal menu. At some, you sit at communal tables, and platters are passed from table to table. What I like about bouchons is that they serve elemental, efficient food. It had to be, as a husband and wife usually worked the place. I spoke with a journalist in Lyon, an expert on the subject of
la vrai bouchon,
“the true bouchon,” who confirmed what I’d always suspected. At a
bouchon,
and indeed at most peasant households, a time-consuming and costly stock would not be used for onion soup. Onions and a splash of wine for seasoning and a crust of bread with some cheese melted on it— that is all you need to make a very fine soup with a pure caramelized onion flavor.

Plan ahead when making the soup because the onions take a long time to cook down, from a few hours to as many as five if you keep the heat very low, though you need to pay attention only at the beginning and the end. Before the onions caramelize, they’ll release copious amounts of water (be sure to taste this liquid!), which must cook off first. You can simmer the onions hard if you want to reduce the cooking time; be sure to tend the pot and stir often, or the onions can stick and burn. You can also caramelize the onions a day or two in advance, and refrigerate them until needed. If you do this, the final soup can be finished in the time it takes to heat the water and melt the cheese on top.

1 tablespoon butter

7 or 8 Spanish onions (7 to 8 pounds/3.2 to 3.6 kilograms), thinly sliced

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 to 12 slices of baguette or any country-style bread (it’s best if they cover the width of your serving bowls)

1/3 cup/75 milliliters sherry

Red or white wine vinegar (optional)

Red wine (optional)

½ to ¾ pound/225 to 340 grams Gruyère or Emmenthaler cheese, grated

Use a large pot, with a capacity of about 7½ quarts/7.1 liters, that will hold all the onions. An enameled cast-iron pot will provide the best surface. Place the pot over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the onions, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt, cover, and cook until the onions have heated through and started to steam. Uncover, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally (you should be able to leave the onions alone for an hour at a stretch once they’ve released their water). Season with several grinds of pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200°F/95°C. Place the bread slices in the oven and let dry completely (you can leave the slices in the oven indefinitely, as the heat is not high enough to burn them).

When the onions have completely cooked down, the water has cooked off, and the onions have turned amber—this will take several hours— add 6 cups/1.4 liters of water. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Add the sherry. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. If the soup is too sweet, add some vinegar. If you would like a little more depth, add a splash of red wine. I like the onion-to-liquid ratio with 6 cups of water. But if you’d prefer a little more delicate soup, add 1 cup/240 milliliters water.

Preheat the broiler/grill. Portion the soup into ovenproof bowls, float the bread on top, cover with the cheese, and broil/grill until the cheese is melted and nicely browned. Serve immediately.