If you have read the About page, you know that cooking did not come naturally to me. It is a skill I have honed through trial and error over 15 years. I learned through cook books, food bloggers, and my own (many) mistakes.
I’m fairly competent now but I still have my own fails. Regularly.
I had one today. I found a chunk of Gruyere cheese in the back of my fridge and had a sudden craving for French Onion Soup. Gruyere cheese is a melty, gooey cheese and is often used to top French Onion Soup, so it seemed like a logical jump. (OK, maybe not, but that’s where my brain went.) I thought hey, I can try this recipe, maybe test it out for The Titanium Spork.
Now, I have never made French Onion Soup before but I knew the basics. Caramelize the onions in butter, add garlic and thyme, deglaze with wine, add broth and let simmer. Add chunks of baguette and then broil the cheese.
Seemed simple, right?
Yeah, well, if you are making the soup for one person, don’t use a 4 tbsp of butter. You end up with grease layered over the top.
Also, do not use 1/3 cup of boxed cabernet sauvignon. I mean, boxed wine is fine to drink during COVID-19 self-isolation (which is why I had it), but the saying that you should cook with good wine is true. The soup was so sweet! (Which I don’t mind drinking during self-isolation, as it keeps me from yelling at Mr. A and our son.)
Also, 1/2 tsp of thyme is not a good idea. Really not a good idea.
In good news, if you don’t have a French baguette, a whole-grain English muffin works well in a pinch.
Also in good news, if you don’t have a nice, oven-proof soup crock, a Pyrex bowl works great. I was planning to buy soup crocks but really didn’t want to wait a few weeks for the soup, so I punted to Pyrex.
But the English muffin and Pyrex couldn’t save the soup. It was horrible. Mr. Alexander took two spoonfuls and made the “ick” face. I ate 5 or 6 spoonfuls, and decided it needed to go into the garbage.
It even looked disgusting.
In fact, as I was writing this post, I had the picture up on the screen and my 11 y/o son passed by behind me. “Ew, that looks gross. What IS that?”
It’s a food fail, boyo. A food fail.
