… as any food blogger will tell you at this time of the year it gets a little difficult to photograph your food… the light is low, the sky is inevitably grey and it’s that cold that the idea of using your ‘outside’ studio is a non-starter… and even when the conditions are good, with daylight hours so limited, the window of opportunity is so small that you’d be cooking everything at lunchtime just to get good photo’s in… fortunately I made a wise birthday choice this year and asked The Viking for some proper photographic lights and boy did he deliver. I’m still getting used to them and working out my angles and depth of field but I think the results hopefully speak for themselves and I can now relax into my cooking with the knowledge that the sun always shines in belleau kitchen…
no-tears french onion soup
this Nigel Slater recipe is pure effortless genius… by roasting the onions gently first not only do you remove the nasty tear-inducing onion slicing mess but I think you also get an added depth of flavour much needed to achieve that classic french onion soup flavour… I am of course using veg stock in this recipe and the authentic recipe would use beef stock but this is The Viking’s favourite soup and I need to thank him some how for the amazing set of lights…
4 large onions – peels and sliced root to tip
a little butter
a little olive oil
a little brown sugar
salt and pepper
a glass of white wine
2 pints good quality vegetable stock
french bread – finely sliced
Gruyere cheese – grated
place the onions, cut side up, into a roasting dish, sprinkle with oil and a little sugar and place a small knob of butter onto each onion… season and then roast gently in an oven set to 120C for one hour or until golden and caramelised… watch them as you don’t want them to burn… the longer they roast on a low heat the better
once they’re ready turn up the heat and throw in the white wine and let this bubble and reduce by half.
let them cool a little and then slice them into quarters before adding them to a large pan with the stock… let them simmer gently for 20 mins before serving
serve with a thin slice of toasted french bread with melted Gruyere cheese on top
eat and of course, enjoy!
Great job with the lights! I've been thinking about investing in some but I'm too lazy to even set a tripod up so I'm pretty sure I'd never bother to set lights up too. I'm not looking forward to a winter of darkness though…
This soup looks wonderfully comforting, french onion soup is one of my absolute faves.
Didn't even realise such lights existed! Amazing! Soup sounds delicious too! Onion soup has got to be my favourite!
That is an excellent birthday gift… how very nice. Happy very belated birthday Dom. And yes, that is a genius idea of roasting the onions… clever Nigel. The soup and the toasted bread with gruyere look very comforting.
That is a very thoughtful gift for a food blogger. I got a cake stand for my birthday from my other half to make my cakes look prettier in my photos and it works 🙂
Am loving the sound of a no tears onion soup, it's the thought of chopping all those onions that tends to put me off making it.
Marvellous !!
I love French onion soup and this seems so much easier than all that slicing and crying !!
Good old Nigel Slater, I will definitely give this one a try.
The soup looks excellent. I remember having a bowl in Amsterdam once, you have taken right back. And I know what you mean about lighting – may have to invest myself soon!!
Pretty good photos – not like my dodgies taken on my iPhone! My photographer daughter tut tuts every time she looks at my photos with an “oh mum” afterwards! Simply delicious looking soup, so simple, but I just know so good.
Sounds a lot easier than the classic way, which is a bit of a pfaff. One of the best French Onion soups I have ever had was served to me in Germany – it was a lot lighter than the normal version and it had Thyme added to it, which gave it an unusual (and delicious) twist. I'm jealous of the lights, BTW. Maybe I'll put some on my Christmas List…
I haven't had french onion soup in years. This looks so good you've made me crave a bowlful!
The photos are fabulous, full of wonderful light, now I know what to ask Father Christmas for!
And the soup, wow! Just the recipe I need for my beautiful Rose Roscoff Onions when I'm in Brittany.
BRILLIANT idea Dom and I DO love soups that are made with roasted veggies, so much flavour! The photos look seasonal too – exactly as they should look! XXX
I've bookmarked this one for next Winter!
This looks great, will definitely be one to try this winter.
Yum ! I gave you a mention on my “Must-try recipes of the week” round-up : http://madhousefamilyreviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/this-weeks-must-try-recipes-2010.html I thought I was being rubbish with my camera so glad you pointed out the problem of lighting in winter too !
Wow! Rarely do I come across a method I've not tried, or that I'm not at least aware of. I make my French onion soup the old-fashioned way, but I'll definitely give this a go! I have my own no-tears way — I got some onion goggles! And they really work.
Lovely! One to add to my list!