Vermouth Meets the Onion Gang

There are moments in my life when I have a profound understanding that there is no better meal than a bowl of French Onion Soup. The rich broth, the soft and sweet onions, the float of crusty bread, and the slice of melted cheese – a special meal, indeed. And I don't even like onions that much, unless they are deep-fried and partnered with a pitcher of beer. So what makes an all-onion soup so tempting?

Consider the ingredients. Obviously, onions, and lots of them. Next is the broth – purists (and the French, I suppose) will simmer beef bones for a few days. I tend to rely on convenient veggie bouillon cubes, despite their propensity for meeting my salt needs for a few lifetimes. There is butter for sautéing the onions, and a few spoons of stuff like flour, sugar, salt. Some recipes call for a "bouquet garni" pouch of seasonings, like peppercorns and bay leaves. And all recipes, except maybe Campbell's lame excuse for soup, call for a little liquor.

Pick your bottle – brandy, cognac, sherry, or wine – I've seen them in many different recipes. I've used sherry and wine, with pleasing results. However, last month I came across the definitive liquor for any respectable crock pot of onion soup.

It's vermouth. Who would have thought this martini ingredient is now a crossover wonder in my kitchen? Vermouth is basically a fortified wine created from a complex combination of ingredients, not unlike how gin is distilled from herbs and juniper berries. When you sauté the onions for the soup, and then simmer them in broth for at least an hour, the harsh onion oil breaks down, eliminating the infamous bad onion taste. That opens the door for adding flavors, and vermouth takes on the task with grace.

With vermouth, it's as if an entire soup world of possibilities has opened up in my soup-concocting mind. Here's the recipe I used last month. I adapted it from the recipes that came with my crock pot. It's amazing how such a simple recipe creates such a fancy soup. Although I like the "gourmet" pretense of using a bouquet garni cheesecloth pouch for the seasonings, my suspicion is that the vermouth eliminates the need for the garni. I'm a vermouth convert.

Vermouth Onion Soup

1 quart vegetable broth
3 medium yellow onions, very thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 cup dry vermouth
tasty toasted bread slices and cheese for the topping

Sauté the onions in the butter for at least fifteen minutes on low heat. Some recipes call for an hour of sautéing, but who has time for that? Fifteen minutes is fine.

Meanwhile, add the stock and vermouth to the crock-pot.

Sprinkle the onions with the sugar and flour. Stir well. Add the onions to the crock-pot, stir, and cook on high for three hours, or low for six hours.

For serving, top the soup with a slice of toast, cheese, (provolone works best) and slide it under the broiler for a minute.

Jen Hirt is an MFA student in creative writing at the University of Idaho. She's working on a collection of essays about greenhouses.

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