On YouTube you can find an enormous number of videos showing how to make French onion soup gratinee. For example, Jacques Pépin has at least three different videos. But have you ever seen one video on French onion soup Lyonnaise-style?
Hello my friends, Chef Blondie here. – French Onion Soup Lyonnaise-style is a Jacques Pépin mystery recipe that makes a great French onion soup even better.
How did Jacques do it? What were his mystery ingredients?
Well, if you want to learn the answer, watch as my trusty sous chef and I show you what Jacques did.
Happy cooking!
What makes this onion soup recipe better than the rest?
Of course, Jacques has many variations of the typical French onion soup gratinee. But in this recipe, which comes from the Lyon region of France, the soup is much thicker than the usual kind.
In his cookbook Essential Pepin, Jacques recounts his personal recollection.
It’s often served as a late-night dish. When I was a young man, I often made it with my friends at 2 or 3 A.M. after returning home from a night of dancing. … It looks thick and messy, but it is delicious.
The Two Mystery Ingredients
What sets this recipe apart from all the others is what comes at the very end. It is an added touch that you can perform in the presence of your dinner guests. This simple addition adds warmth to a cold evening and brings people together.
When you take the basic onion soup out of the oven, it will still be bubbling. That is when you add two egg yolks to 1/2 cup of sweet Port wine and mix well. Then you make a hole in the crusty top of the hot onion soup and pour the egg and wine mixture into the opening. As you fold the mixture in, the soup becomes rich and creamy and develops a wonderful aroma.
While your friends huddle around watching, you instantly transform your once typical onion soup into a warm and romantic dish to be shared and savoured.
Key Differences in Jacques’s Onion Soup Lyonnaise-Style
Texture: The Gratinee has a thinner, more broth-like consistency. The Lyonnaise-Style is thicker and creamier due to the addition of egg yolks.
Preparation: The Gratinee is typically served in individual bowls with a crusty cheese topping. The Lyonnaise-Style is baked in a large tureen and served from the center.
Flavor Enhancements: The Lyonnaise-Style includes port wine. This adds a sweet, fruity depth to the soup, and egg yolks, which give it a richer, creamier texture.
The Role of Egg Yolks and Port Wine
Egg Yolks: They thicken the soup and add a velvety, luxurious texture. When mixed with the hot soup, they create a creamy consistency that elevates the overall mouthfeel.
Port Wine: This adds a sweet, complex flavor that adds wonderful undertones to the savory onions and cheese. It also gives the soup a unique depth and richness that is not present in the Gratinee.
Onion Soup Lyonnaise-Style
Adapted from the cookbook Essential Pépin
Notes
Note #1 - The recipe says to "Push the soup through a food mill." We found it more convenient to use an immersion hand blender.
Ingredients
- 15–20 thin slices (¼-inch-thick) baguette
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
- 6 cups homemade chicken stock or low-salt canned chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups grated Gruyère or Emmenthaler cheese
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sweet port
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Arrange the bread slices on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Leave the oven on.)
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and sauté for 15 minutes, or until dark brown.
- Add the stock, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Push the soup through a food mill. (Note #1)
- Arrange one third of the toasted bread in the bottom of an ovenproof soup tureen or large casserole. Sprinkle with some of the cheese, then add the remaining bread and more cheese, saving enough to sprinkle over the top of the soup.
- Fill the tureen with the hot soup, sprinkle the reserved cheese on top, and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until a golden crust forms on top.
- At serving time, bring the soup to the table. Combine the yolks with the port in a deep soup plate and whip with a fork. With a ladle, make a hole in the top of the gratinée, pour in the wine mixture, and fold into the soup with the ladle. Stir everything together and serve.
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