It’s April 18. And it’s snowing.

I know this is not outside the realm of possibility for the Berkshires. I clearly remember an April 18 snowstorm years ago when my kids were young, there was no school, and a friend who still had to go to work dropped her kids off with me. But this year the lingering winter feels different, more oppressive. Tomorrow promises to be warmer, but today called for soup.

I had a quart of homemade beef broth in the freezer, plenty of onions, homemade bread, and some Gruyère, so I decided to make one of Hank’s favorites, French onion soup.

One Friday evening this past fall, at the end of a long week, Hank had gone upstairs to change out of his work clothes. Suddenly I yelled up to him, “Put your clothes back on!” I had just seen posted on Facebook that one of our local favorite restaurants, Chez Nous, would be serving both French onion soup and cassoulet that night! We called immediately, they had an early table, so we went right over!

We miss Chez Nous, and all our local favorites. One of the wonderful events at Chez Nous in the off-season is their Manger! Boire! series, for which they put on a mini wine dinner. The evening includes a set menu of three courses (appetizer, main, and dessert) and a wine or two to match. In addition, either Franck or Rachel will come out to the dining room and do a demo lesson of one aspect of the dinner, and there’s always a handout of one or two recipes from the evening.

In fact, it was at one of these Manger! Boire! events that they handed out their recipe for French onion soup, and, of course, Hank wanted me to make it right away. There was one problem: I had no broiler-safe French onion soup crocks, and I couldn’t bring myself to buy the ones at Le Creuset. But I am a lucky mom, because my kids heard me talking about it, and bought me four of them as a gift, which I’ve used not only for French onion soup, but also for individual shepherd’s or chicken pot pies!

I’ll be honest, my French onion soup is not nearly as good as Franck’s. For one thing, I am sure his beef stock is far richer than mine. I also had to adapt it somewhat to work in my home kitchen. But on a day like today, a steaming crock of French onion soup was perfect.

***Be sure you check out Chez Nous on Facebook or Instagram! They are doing great cooking demos online these days, which are great fun!

French Onion Soup

Serves 4

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thin into half moons
1 Tablespoon flour
½ cup dry white wine
1 quart beef broth, homemade or store-bought, or try vegetable broth for a vegetarian version
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 small leek
1 sprig each thyme, rosemary, sage, flat-leaf parsley
1-2 Tablespoons dry sherry
4 slices bread, preferably rustic, cut to fit broiler-safe crocks or bowls
12 ounces Gruyère or similar cheese, grated

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have become deep golden-brown and have caramelized. Add the flour and stir to moisten thoroughly.

Add the white wine and stir to deglaze the pan and loosen any bits that are stuck to the bottom. Add the broth, salt, and pepper. Use kitchen twine to tie the leek and the herbs together tightly and add to the soup. Bring to a simmer, and continue to simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the leek and herb bundle. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Add the sherry and stir.

At this point you can proceed for four servings, or, if you are in our situation, you can set up two servings and put the rest of the soup in the refrigerator for another day. If so, you will only need two slices of bread, and you can just grate half the cheese for now.

Preheat the broiler and set the oven rack so that there will be about 3-4 inches of space between to top of the broiler-safe crocks and the flames or heating element. Toast the slices of bread lightly. Place the crocks on a foil-lined half sheet pan and divide the soup among them. Place one slice of bread on top of the soup in each crock, and top with the grated cheese, dividing evenly among them.

Place under the broiler until the cheese melts and the edges of the bread get dark, 2-5 minutes, depending on your broiler. Watch carefully because it can burn quickly! Depending on the layout of your oven, you may need to shift the crocks around or do them in batches to get them all close enough to the broiler. Remove carefully from the oven and set the crocks on plates to serve. Allow to cool a bit before eating so you don’t burn your mouth!

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