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When life gives you 4-lb onions

Gifts of plentiful fall gardens are crash landing in my ever receptive hands these days, 4 pound onions and cabbages the size of small boulders in particular. Such abundance harkens back to the now distant era of summer zucchini the size of baseball bats.

But late fall veggies ring in their own particular boxing round—sometimes, in due respect to times of feast or famine, we all must slog through the amazing productivity of seed and earth. You say you have not received any winter squash or other signs of the harvest on your front stoop yet? Here’s a recipe for gifts of plenteous food:

First, cultivate relationships with backyard gardeners. Strolling through Hailey’s allies of late has me convinced that many a home farmer has tilled up our urban soils. Be a good neighbor. Offer to watch the dog when they are gone, snow blow them out when the white flies heavy. If you aren’t going to grow legions of veggies yourself, make yourself useful in to those who do grow.

Second, talk up your cooking genius. Profess to possess canning skills, or at least hearty soup-crafting abilities. Third, make exquisite compost from your kitchen edibles and share it with the grower. (This last is a personal dream of mine to divert all compostable materials from our landfills, and what better way to use them than in a natural recycling program of feeding the neighborhood’s soil . . .)

 

Yummy swag comes easily enough, as my work on an organic farm necessitates enjoying bounties of harvest the yearlong. Most recently, Idaho’s Bounty has employed me to drive their weekly truck delivery of local foods around our area. Some things come in excess, some producers make gifts to the Bounty employees, and thus, the 4 lb onion.

Soups are the mainstays of using up extra vegetables, whether in building the stock for the soup’s base, or for stuffing it full of chunky bites. While I rarely concoct soups in the warm months, the current cold mornings have inspired me to set a pot or two on the stovetop for a low-heated day’s worth of simmering flavors. Come nightfall, fresh bread or biscuits served crumbling alongside the soup bowl . . . these are the comforts of winter settling in. The scurrying of late fall clean-up past, the putting up of provisions done, the fire stoked to glowing calmness, it is time for the rhythms of human-style hibernation.

And so we arrive at this week’s creative concoction: a French onion soup that both makes use of an enormous onion, and initiates my tummy into hearty winter fare. Slowly caramelizing the onions gives the soup a deep, smooth texture, so make sure to enjoy a glass of wine while they do their thing. I’ve also heard of preparing the onions in a cast iron pot at low heat in an oven for several hours, a process which should yield similar results in flavor. Onto the ingredients:

 

You’ll need:

2 lb medium onions (yeah, I had to use the rest of the honker in omelettes and such), halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced lengthwise
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons flour
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices of baguette
1 (1/2-lb) piece Gruyère, Comte, or Emmental
(I had Pleasant Ridge Reserve on hand at cook time, which worked splendidly)
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

 

Also, you’ll need 6 (8 to 10 oz) flameproof soup crocks or ramekins, and a cheese plane (or a very fine-tuned cutting hand).

Cook the onions, thyme, bay leaves, and salt in butter in a 4 to 5 quart heavy pot over moderate heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until onions are very soft and deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in wine and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in broth, water, and pepper and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

While soup simmers, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange bread in one layer on a large baking sheet and toast, turning over once, until completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove croûtes from oven and preheat broiler. Put crocks in a shallow baking pan.

Discard the bay leaves and thyme from soup and divide soup among crocks, then float a croûte in each. Slice enough Gruyère with your cheese plane to cover tops of crocks, allowing ends of cheese to hang over rims of crocks, then sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat until cheese is melted and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes.

 

 

Check in with Yum! next week for plum chutney inspirations and other edible presents, as we highlight food consumables for the Christmas holiday rather than more ‘stuff’!