Onion Soup
Mending Hurt Feelings with Onion Soup
Let me start this story and its recipe with an explanation. This is a very simple recipe that was created by my son when he was 10 or 11 years old. Even though it’s quite good please don't judge it on its culinary sophistication; rather see it as an example of the healing power food and food preparation can bring. It's a short and simple story, but it speaks volumes about parenting, kids, cooking, cooperation, and love this is a recipe for parenting as much as it is for preparing food.
When my son, Drew, was young, maybe 10 or 11 years old, he took an interest in cooking and would occasionally help me prepare dinners. In fact, we joked that he was my little prep chef. We had great fun working together. We have always been and continue to be close. Cooking together deepened our bond then, and it still does even though he's a grown man and a terrific cook.
Well, as youngsters tend to do, Drew had done some thing that got him into trouble—nothing serious, nothing big in the grand scheme of things, but to a young boy, it was serious. I don't remember what he did, nor what the punishment was, but I do remember that Drew was, at first, angry, and that led to him being sullen. He sulked around the house for a while, then went outside to shoot basketball. I watched from the kitchen window as he worked out his frustration by shooting hoops. And as I watched him, I thought about how hard it is to be a parent—to inflict frustration and pain on someone you love with all your heart, and to do so because you love the person with all your heart. Tough love. I hate it, but it is what has to be done sometimes. So, I watched Drew suffering the pains of tough love; I suffered more.
Finally, I knew it was time to mend the relationship, not by sweeping away the punishment, nor by minimizing what had happened, but by moving forward. So, I went out to where he was playing and silently joined him. Of course, Drew is quite athletic, and I am most certainly not, but I shot some balls, and we played something of a brief one-on-one game. After a bit, I broke the long silence. “It would be my honor if you'd come in and cook with me.”
Drew stop playing, looked at me, and said simply, “Okay.” It wasn’t a big dramatic moment, but it was one that started the mending process. Nothing more was needed.
“Is it okay if I make up a recipe?” Drew asked, taking me a bit by surprise.
“Of course you can. Tell you what, I'll prep, you cook. What are we making?”
“Onion soup,” he proclaimed confidently.
We went inside, became lost in cooking, began talking, and healed.
There are scores and scores of onion soup recipes, and I'd love to say that on that afternoon a unique onion soup was born—it might have been, but I'm not sure. But I am sure of two things: (1) My son invented this recipe with minimal help from me. I have included his original recipe without any changes, and (2) Drew came in that afternoon, and we cook together, and our hearts were mended. The kitchen is still the heart of the home.
Onion Soup
Ingredients
2-3 slices bacon
3 lbs. onions, either thinly sliced
2 tbs. fresh thyme (or 1 tbs. dried)
½ c. white wine
1 tbs. salt
8 c. chicken broth
¼ c. rice wine vinegar
Instructions
Fry bacon in a Dutch oven or stock pot until crisp. Remove bacon, chop into small bits, and reserve the drippings. Alternatively, the bacon could be cut into small pieces before frying. The results are similar.
Add the onions to the bacon drippings and cook until the onions are nearly caramelized (12-15 minutes). The onions will begin to turn golden on the edges.
Add wine to deglaze the pot and continue to cook until the wine is almost completely evaporated.
Slowly add the chicken broth to the onion mixture. Reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the thyme and salt.
Add the rice vinegar and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add crumbled bacon bits to the soup.
