French Onion Soup and Pretty Nails!

Hello amazing people!

On this episode of A Cozy Kitchen, I, Adrianna, will show all of you how I turned three onions (and a few other ingredients)…

Into this cheesy, amazingness…

All while painting my nails a pretty Christmas red. Yes!

This French Onion Soup (by Julia Child) is super easy; it just takes a little bit of time…approximately, like, 3 hours or so, but most of it’s downtime. Which means you can do other stuff like paint your nails in front of the TV!

And plus, I’m guessing you have holiday parties to go to and you want pretty nails. Who doesn’t want pretty nails?!

So you’re gonna start by slicing your onions. In case you’re not sure how to slice an onion (which I learned only a few years ago), I decided to go through the steps. Why not, we’re shooting on digital.

Slice it in half, from the swirling top part through the root end.

Peel the skin off using your hands, or if you’re really fancy…your knife. I use my hands.

And then slice it thinly. I think thinner is better for French Onion Soup.

CONFESSION: My favorite part of French Onion Soup is the crusty bread, cheese and the rich broth. Really the actual onions are kinda secondary. I don’t want them thick and slimy, but instead thin and barely present.

That’s why I like cutting the onions super thin. If you LOVE onions, then cut them a bit thicker.

We have options!

After you’re done slicing horizontally, just cut around the root. You’ll end up with just the root. No onion wasted.

After you’re done slicing up all of your onions (and wiping your tears), then you just throw all the onions in the pot with a little olive oil and butter.

Also, no matter how “correctly” I cut an onion, my eyes still water like ridiculous amounts.

I just have sensitive eyes. They really are the weakest part of my body. I’m about as blind as they come.

What if I got stranded on a deserted island–Gilligan’s Island style–and had to fend for myself. Me and my bad eye sight would be in huuuge trouble. Isn’t that a terrifying thought?!

Moving on…

So basically you’re just going to cover the pot and cook the onions for 15 minutes. This is the perfect time to file your nails.

I bought this nifty nail file and it has all the steps numbered.

Genius. I followed the instructions.

Then after I was done filing and buffing my nails, I checked on the onions. This is where they were at…

But you want them to be a deep, dark color, so this is a good time to add a little salt and sugar.

Cook them for 35 more minutes. Oh yeah, and leave the pot uncovered.

This is a good time to do your base coat! I’m no nail pro but I recommend a first coat if you’re using a dark color, because otherwise the nail polish will stain your nails. Not cute.

Isn’t this fun!?

I let the base coat dry a little and then put on my first coat.

In between coats, I went over and kinda shifted the onions around a bit. My nails were cool. Nothing got messed up. I just didn’t want the onions to stick and burn to the bottom of the pot. That’s all. No biggie.

After I moved the onions around a little and came to the conclusion that they were all good,  I put on the second coat.

Okay, so at this point my nails were pretty much dry and the onions looked like this.

BINGO! I kinda wanted to ditch the French Onion Soup idea and just put them on a burger. But then I remembered all the cheese that was gonna be at the end.

I added a little white wine and beef broth. If you’re a vegetarian, you could of course use vegetable stock, too. I love options!

Oh and if you are actually going to do the nail polish thing while making this soup, I’d suggest opening the bottle of wine before you paint your nails. I messed up my thumb and had to re-do it.

Julia recommends adding salt now and then letting it cook for 30 more minutes. This totally makes sense if you’re using a homemade, salt-free stock, but I was using store-bought and kinda feared if I added more salt it’d be way too salt. I was correct.

Whoa. Can we just have a moment of silence. I just disagreed with Julia Child. That’s huge. And weird.

After 30 more minutes of simmering, it’ll look like this. It’ll be thick, rich and really REALLY amazing. Give it a taste. See if it needs some salt. Mine didn’t need any which I’m guessing had to do with the stock I used–it wasn’t low-sodium.

Then I added them to some little bowls and put them on a baking sheet. This is when French Onion Soup gets real. Really real.

Cut up some crusty, French bread. Add it to the top.

At this point, I wanted to drink it/eat it.

Then add the gruyere. And I piled it on because I love cheese. And because it’s a free country.

And then I baked it for 15-20 minutes. The recipe said 30 minutes, but I don’t have the patience of Julia Child.

I saw the cheese was melty and brown, so I took it out.

French Onion Soup and pretty nails. Double-win.

French Onion Soup

Tweaked Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

(My best friend bought this book for me a few years ago and it’s really a must have! Put it on your xmas list!)

Print this recipe!

1 1/2 lbs. or about 5 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions

3 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoons of sugar (helps the onions to brown)

3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

2 quarts beef stock

1/2 cup of dry white wine

Salt and Pepper to taste

Slices of French Bread

1/2 cup of gruyere, grated

Cook the onions slowly with the butter and oil in the covered saucepan for 15 minutes.

Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.

Off the heat, blend in the boiling liquid. Add the wine. Simmer partially covered for 30-40 minutes or more, skimming occasionally. Correct seasoning.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Pour into soup cups. Top with a slice of crusty bread and a handful of grated Gruyere cheese. Place soup on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melty and brown.