Target: 6 × 4 inches · landscape

Skillet-Cider French Onion Soup

120 min · 4 servings

Ingredients

□ 3 lb yellow onions, thinly sliced

□ 4 tbsp unsalted butter

□ 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

□ 1/2 cup dry hard cider

□ 6 cups low-sodium beef stock

□ 3 fresh thyme sprigs

□ 1 bay leaf

□ 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

□ 1 tsp cider vinegar

□ 1 tbsp olive oil

□

1. Slice onions evenly; melt butter in a deep skillet, then add onions and salt over medium-low heat.

2. Cook 45 to 60 minutes until glossy amber, stirring often; loosen fond with splashes of water and stir it back in.

3. Deglaze with dry hard cider and reduce. Add stock, thyme, bay, and pepper; simmer gently until tender.

4. Stir in cider vinegar. Oil and toast the baguette slices until dry and golden.

5. Melt Gruyère on baguette, or select cheddar with sourdough. Remove bay leaf; ladle soup into bowls and float toasts.

Cook’s note: Scrape the amber skillet fond into the soup; it carries the onions' deepest flavor.