Julia Child's French Onion Soup with Venison Stock

Rick and I dug up The French Chef on our Firestick last weekend, so Julia Child's episode on onion soup spurred this recipe. It's a simple dish if you use store-bought stock, but making it from scratch can be a labor of love. Plan to set aside a whole day for this recipe, or break it down over two days: one to make the stock and the second to prepare the soup. 

Use venison leg, shoulder or neck bones– parts with joints and cartilage– to make the stock. You can cut down cooking time by simmering the stock just 3 hours, but we prefer to simmer bones at least 8 hours for the best flavor and mouthfeel. 

Why would you spend so much time making soup? Even if you only make this recipe once, it'll teach you two essential cooking skills: how to make bone stock and how to caramelize onions. Neither process can be rushed to build flavor, and learning to appreciate these techniques will give you a foundation upon which to improve other recipes.

Servings: 4-6
Prep/Cooking Time: 12 hours
Ingredients:
Venison Stock
- 3 to 5 pounds of venison bones (neck, leg and/or shoulder bones)
- Tomato paste, about 3 tablespoons
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and halved
- 1 head of garlic, top sliced off
- 4 to 5 quarts of water
- 2 teaspoons of whole peppercorns
Onion Soup

- 1 1/2 pounds of brown/yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 2 quarts of venison stock, kept warm in a medium stockpot
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, plus extra
- 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- 1/2 cup of dry vermouth 
- 3 tablespoons of brandy or cognac
- 1 to 2 cups mixture of shredded Swiss and grated Parmesan cheese 
- Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- 6-12 pieces of thickly sliced French bread
- Fresh thyme leaves, optional 

Venison Stock

1. Place bones in a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. This process will help boil out impurities and make your stock taste cleaner and less funky. All that dirty scum that comes to the top is what you don't want in your stock. 

2. Drain the bones and discard the cooking liquid. Scrub off any scum you see leftover on the bones. 

Preheat oven to 450°F. 

3. Place bones in a roasting pan and "paint" them with a thin layer of tomato paste. The acidity in the tomato paste will add another dimension to your stock, both in taste and color.

Roast in a 450°F oven for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. Bones should be deeply brown, even charred in some places. Add the onion halves about halfway to three-quarters of the way through to brown. 

4. Place bones back into the cleaned stockpot and cover with water, about 4-5 quarts. 

5. Bring stock to a simmer, add browned onion, garlic and peppercorns. Simmer for 8 hours, adding more water as needed to keep bones submerged.


 

6. Evaporation is desirable to concentrate the stock, but shoot for at least 2 quarts of stock leftover in the end. If not, add more water or beef stock to compensate in the recipe. 

Strain stock and discard solids. Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating. Discard solid fat before use. If you plan to use the stock right away, skim off fat from the top. 

French Onion Soup

1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and oil and toss with onion. Cover and sweat onion for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

2. Uncover, turn heat up to medium and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Cook onion until it turns into a deep, golden brown, stirring frequently (not constantly). This process could take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour. The onions will reduce by a lot.



Onion Caramelization 101:

Adjust heat as you go along. Browning too quickly? Lower the heat. Not taking on color? Raise the heat, but not too much.

With a wooden spoon, scrape up browned "crusties" that form at the bottom of your pan and incorporate it into the onion. If you let it sit, it will continue to caramelize and eventually burn. 

If you accidentally look away too long and there's significant buildup, that's OK as long as there isn't a thick, caked-on layer of blackness. Add a splash of water to deglaze the pan, scrape and stir. 

For proper caramelization to occur, you need to maintain a balance between heat and moisture: Enough heat for caramelization to occur, but not so much that the onion dries out quickly and burns. Add small splashes of water here and there, if needed, but not too much– the goal is to caramelize, not to steam.

You will notice that I wrote frequently and not constantly for stirring the onion. One mistake people often make in cooking is stirring/moving/flipping their food too often. For food to take on color (gray is not color), you need to allow it time to sit undisturbed over heat. Too much agitation will slow down the process. I gave the onions a stir every 30-60 seconds. 

3. Once onions have caramelized to your liking, turn heat down to low and stir in flour. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Then whisk in 2 or 3 ladles of hot venison stock, getting rid of all lumps. 

4. Then whisk that "gravy" mixture back into the stockpot with the rest of the stock. Add dry vermouth and simmer for 20 minutes, partially covered.

Meanwhile, toast sliced French bread until they're dry and crispy all the way through– 300°F oven for about 15 minutes. 

5. Season soup to taste. Before serving, stir in 3 tablespoons of brandy/cognac. Ladle soup into oven-proof soup bowls. Float a slice, or two, of toast on top of the soup, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Place bowls onto a sturdy cookie sheet and broil until cheese melts and becomes toasty. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves and a splash of olive oil, optional. 

(I don't like that much cheese nor bread over my soup, as you can see, so use as much as you prefer. Most French onion soups I've seen seem more cheese than bowl. Ick.)