Equipment
Ingredients
Garlic-Gruyere Croutons
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 200 g french baguette, cut into thick slices
- 2 garlic, halved
- 250 g gruyere cheese, freshly grated
Oxtail and Broth Base
- 1000 g oxtail, cut into segments
- 15 ml neutral oil
- 1500 ml beef stock, warmed
- 5 g fresh thyme, tied in a small bundle
- 2 bay leaves, dried or fresh
Caramelized Onions
- 1500 g yellow onions, sliced pole-to-pole
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 10 g kosher salt
- 60 ml dry sherry
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Melt 30g of butter in a large, broiler-safe Dutch oven over medium heat. Toast the baguette slices in batches until golden and crisp on both sides. Remove the bread from the pot, immediately rub each slice with the cut side of the halved garlic cloves, and set aside.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the neutral oil to the same Dutch oven. Add the oxtail pieces and sear aggressively on all sides until a deep brown crust forms. Remove the oxtails and set them aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pot.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the remaining 50g of butter to the pot along with the sliced onions and kosher salt. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot, until the onions reduce to a dark, sweet, jammy paste.
Pour the dry sherry into the pot to deglaze. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to dissolve any remaining browned bits from the bottom into the onions. Cook until the alcohol aroma dissipates and the liquid has almost entirely evaporated.
Return the seared oxtails to the pot. Pour in the beef stock and add the thyme bundle and bay leaves. Bring to a gentle simmer at 95C/203F, then cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and cook until the oxtail meat yields completely.
Carefully remove the oxtail pieces from the broth. Discard the bones, thyme bundle, and bay leaves. Shred the tender meat using two forks, discarding excess cartilage, and return the pure meat to the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Turn off the heat. Carefully float the prepared garlic-rubbed baguette slices across the entire surface of the soup, trying to cover as much liquid as possible. Heap the grated Gruyere cheese evenly over the bread layer, ensuring it touches the edges of the pot.
Place the entire Dutch oven under a preheated broiler set to 260C/500F. Watch closely and broil until the cheese is bubbling vigorously, melted through, and speckled with dark brown, crusty spots.
Chef's Notes
- Patience is paramount when caramelizing onions; do not rush the process. True mahogany color takes at least 45 minutes and is the foundation of the soup's flavor profile.
- Using oxtail provides an immense amount of natural gelatin, giving the broth a luxurious, lip-smacking texture that standard beef stock alone simply cannot achieve.
- When broiling the whole Dutch oven family-style, ensure your pot and its handles are broiler-safe. Enamel-coated cast iron is ideal for this technique.
- For the croutons, day-old or slightly stale baguette works best as it absorbs less liquid and maintains its structural integrity under the heavy blanket of melted cheese.
- Be sure to slice your onions pole-to-pole rather than orbitally. This helps them retain a slight structural integrity even after hours of cooking, preventing them from turning into mush.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Store the soup base separately from the croutons and cheese if possible. If stored together, the bread will disintegrate.
Freezer: 3 months — Freeze the soup base only. Do not freeze with bread and cheese topping.
Reheating: Reheat soup base gently on the stovetop. If recreating the gratin finish, add fresh toasted bread and cheese, then broil.
