Onion Soup

It actually snowed today in Austin! We have had two days of freezing rain and winter storm warnings from the weather bureaus, so have had to sit at home for the two days with not much to do. Snow is rare in Austin, the last really small snowfall occurred in February 2004. It snowed at night and by 10 am it was all gone.This time, we saw the snow falling, the snowflakes getting bigger and the snow accumulating in our backyard, on our neighbors roof and the front yard. After the drab rainfall over the past few days, this was a refreshing and beautiful change.

We went for a short walk in our neighborhood and admired our neighbors daughters snowman. After our chilly excursion outdoors, we decided we needed some hot onion soup for lunch. My father introduced me to onion soup, when he cooked it one day. My father did not cook very often when we were growing up, but whenever he did , it was always good.

Onion Soup
4 yellow onions, cut into half and then sliced thin
8 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 cup of milk
10 cups of water
some rosemary
some sage
4 garlic cloves, sliced
4 bouillon cubes
salt to taste
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour


Melt the butter in a deep pot over low heat. The Calphalon soup pot is another of my prized possessions , its absolutely fantastic for making soups and sambar. After acquiring this soup pot we really have started drinking a lot more soup, though not really sambar. Add the peppercorns, bay leaf, sage, rosemary, garlic and sugar. Add the onions after the garlic turns a little golden and cook over medium heat till the onions turn golden brown. Add the flour and mix everything together. Add salt, water, bouillon cubes and milk. Stir for some time and then let it boil on low-medium heat for about 20-25 minutes.

We ate the soup, liberally topped with freshly ground black pepper, with some artisan bread, sliced lengthwise, topped with some cheese and toasted in the oven for 2 minutes.