A Gift For My Dad

I have been planning tonight's dinner since I found out my dad was coming to visit two weeks ago. One of my dad's favorite foods of all times is french onion soup so I was determined that I would make him the best french onion soup he's ever had. I must say that thanks to Julia Child, the soup was pretty amazing. It's always a good sign when everyone is sitting at the table saying "Mmmm" and "Wow" over and over. My dad and I couldn't think of a single bite of french onion soup in our past that has been better than this. This was Brad's first time eating french onion soup and he loved it. He said that it tasted like a real gourmet dish.

I of course, starting two weeks ago, was on a mission to find the perfect french onion soup recipe. I ended up looking in my "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" book and found the mother of all recipes. I actually had to make fun of myself a bit because I looked in the index for french onion soup only to realize that in a french cookbook, it would be called onion soup, not french onion soup. The french part was a given. Duh..... :) I ended up making Julia's Soupe a' l'Oignon Gratinee which is her version of baked onion soup with cheese. It was quite labor intensive (my total time in was 3 hours) but the end result was worth every minute. The most time consuming part was browning the onions. It was 40 minutes of frequently stirring onions, butter and olive oil while the onions became perfectly golden brown. This process served as the flavor base for the whole dish. I then added flour, dry white wine and beef broth and simmered for an additional 40 minutes. Cognac was the last ingredient and it really made a difference in the flavor. I was surprised at the subtle sweetness it added to the soup. While all of this was going on, I made homemade large croutons from fresh french bread. They baked for 30 minutes with olive oil added halfway through and a fresh garlic rub when they were hot out of the oven. Finally, the soup was ladled into individual tureens, freshly grated parmesan was added, croutons were layered on with a slice of gruyere on top. 20 minutes of baking and 3 minutes of broiling later, a little piece of heaven was born.

I served the soup with another one of my dad's favorite foods; butter lettuce with Point Reyes bleu cheese crumbles, chunks of tomato and avocado. My dad brought me a bottle of Bistro Blends of Napa Valley Fig Balsamic that he purchased at a "green" expo in Eugene and this was the bit of perfection we needed to finish off the salad. I highly recommend this balsamic to anyone that appreciates a fine tasting vinegar. It is tasty with a capital T. Their website is http://www.bistroblends.com/ and it looks like they have some fabulous products in addition to their fig balsamic.

This is one of those nights when I am deeply satisfied with my cooking project. I made something from my heart for a person that I love . Does it get any better?