Back to Basics Onion Soup

I have a beautiful set of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Child, Bertholle & Beck. 

You know the one. Julia Child's cookbook debut, the volumes that launched an empire. I recently read an older article on Slate, decrying the books as a dust collector, something everyone buys but no one cooks from. I bought mine as a housewarming gift to myself when I moved out of my parent's for good. (I've included an Amazon Partner link below if you want to get it for yourself)

I'll admit it, I don't cook from them as often as I do from Serious Eats or Momofuku, but I love them nonetheless. I grew up in Eastern Massachusetts, where Channel 2 is WGBH. That's the station that produced the OG of home cooking shows, The French Chef. And I grew up watching that alongside Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross. So not only is the book full of comfort food, but the show itself is comforting. I put it on in the background when I want to work, I watch it when I'm feeling sad. I watched a marathon of it in my hotel room after spraining my foot! So if buying two books to sit on my shelf serve no other purpose than to make me feel warm and fuzzy, then I'm going to do it! I believe you can still watch episodes online, and I know an Amazon Prime account has them included in their streaming service. 

Where was I? Oh yes. So I do, on occasion, cook from the set. Usually when I want something fancy. French Onion Soup is not complex, nor fancy, but it's quite good. I opted for enhancing premade beef stock with Better than Boullion, but if you have the time, homemade stock always wins. If you have a technique for preventing onion-tears, use it, as this is an ONION soup!

Bon Appetit!