The title of this post was also the title of an article by Samin Nosrat that appeared in the NYT Magazine. Before reading this I had not realized that the word 'panade' as I use it, for the bready goup one mixes into a sausage or a meatloaf, is also the name of a stand alone dish.
She says, "If you've never heard of it, you're not alone. Richard Olney, the 20th century food writer who championed French country cooking, lamented the dish's disappearance from cookbooks when he sang the praises of panade in The Times in 1974. Like Olney, I believe that the ultimate panade is the onion panade, the ancestor--and still the best--of onion soups."
It begins with browning the onions to a rich caramel color, slathering them over slices of dry country bread and finally sprinkling them with generous amounts of Gruyere and Parmesan. At that point, Olney would add salted water while Samin would douse the whole thing with "an absurd amount" of chicken stock. Cook slowly, top with more cheese, then brown it off. Cheese, onions, bread.
And you can have wine with that.
Those of you who, like me, always feel a little sad when the raft of cheese and bread in the middle of my onion soup is gone will rejoice with me at the idea of a whole casserole of just that. Here's her recipe:
1 large stale loaf crusty sourdough cut into 1/3 inch slices
8 tbls unsalted butter, divided
2 tbls EVOO
4 lbs onions, thinly sliced
sea salt
2 tblsp white wine vinegar
1/4 c white wine or dry vermouth
5-6 cups chicken stock or water
12 ounces Gruyere, grated
3 ounces Parmesan, finely grated
black pepper
I'll shorthand her instructions, y'all can probably guess exactly how to do it anyway.
Preheat oven to 325. Evenly oven-toast the bread in a single layer for about 20 minutes each side to achieve light golden color.
Meanwhile melt half the butter, add EVOO, onions and salt. Cook covered for about 15 minutes until transluscent. Then, uncovered, cook the onions until dry and darker brown, then deglaze with salt and vinegar. Adjust seasoning to taste--onions should be lightly tangy. Add pepper. Remove onions to a bowl, add stock or water to pan and bring to a simmer.
Combine cheeses. Increase oven to 425.
Butter a baking dish, line it with a layer of toast and then scoop over some onions. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese, then repeat bread, then cheese, and finish with a bread layer (reserve the final 1/3 of cheese for later). Ladle an initial three cups of stock/water over the panade, pressing down and adding more to coax absorption to the max point without overflowing. Dot the top with remaining butter, cover with parchment and foil, and place in oven to bake for 30 minutes. (Consider putting baking sheet under to catch any overflow.)
After the initial bake, remove coverings, add remaining cheese and bake 15 minutes more until golden brown. Cool ten minutes before slicing.