(Julia Childs would approve, as would Anthony Bourdain would approve. It ain’t rocket science, just like the election).

Cold was the night. First decent cold of the year, the first sneer of the winter wind that cuts deep.

There is going to be a lot of crap going down today all across America. I am so glad that I voted already. I should go over to the polling station in the basement of Culpeper Gardens Assisted Living and do an informal poll of how many neighborhood people are out there doing their civic duty. Or, I could slice up that bag of Vidalia onions.

Civic duty or hot bubbly soup? Your call. I am just so happy that the advertising is going to stop, and the unit will be filled with the smell of sautéed Georgia goodness.

It was cold at bedtime. The local news told me that the freeze was on for everywhere that counts in the northern part of the state. Another nor’easter is bearing down, probably missing us, but the local models are not in accordance with the national model, so we could get smacked with a brush of Old Man Winter’s sleeve. It is not supposed to interfere with voting, but who knows. The fun-and-games with missing polling stations and early voting is already in the bag.

I am resolved to only vote once today, and just see how it goes.

There is so much swirling around. I don’t understand the polls, so I just hope the eligible people go and do their thing and let us know at the end of the day what they did.

With some degree of certainty. That local curmudgeon Mark Plotkin made a prognostication on the flat-screen before I gave up on trying to stay awake for Monday Night Football. He said that the “provisional ballots” in Ohio are going to delay the results of the Ohio voting for as much as ten days, so it seems wise to make plenty of soup.

I love French Onion soup and rarely have it, since the extended prep time makes it an activity to do with the television murmuring in the background.

It is not rocket science.

The Cloak and Dagger Cookbook has been on hiatus since before the accident this Spring, and I am only now getting back into fun in the kitchen. The Russians inspired me with that fabulous lasagna down at the farm last weekend, and inspired me. There is nothing like bubbling, melted cheese on top of piping hot onion soup.

I have done it before, flying blind, and got things mostly right- I mean, how far wrong can you go with a bunch of sautéed onions, vegetable or some sort of broth and melted cheese? I have some Swiss Raclette from the artisans in Up North Michigan with which I have been wanting to experiment, and the cold snap and the emotion surrounding the election suggest to me the time has come.

I did my homework. The legendary chefs all have some sort of signature twist to a very simple recipe. I cobbled together this recipe from the Julia Child and Anthony Bourdain and it seems pretty good. One issue is with Julia’s flower- it can make what I think should be a liquid into something much more substantial. I will leave it up to you.

It might be a little more time consuming than you anticipate, but unless you were attempt to vote in several precincts, there should be plenty of space minutes waiting for the fate of the West to be decided.

STEP 1:
8 nice Vidalia onions, sliced
6 oz fresh creamery butter, salted or unsalted, your call.
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

I used the little Cuisinart to make fast work of those onions, but hacking them up with a sharp blade is also good therapy for an election day.  Weep early, right? Get it out of the way.

I like my big Lodge cast-iron fry pan with the glass cover. Throw the onions in the oil and melted butter and sauté gently for about a quarter hour, or until things are nice and caramelized rich brown.

(Onions before and after 45 minutes of caramelization)

STEP 2
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
Add the salt and sugar and complete the browning process, which could take another half hour of pacing back and forth from the kitchen to check the exit polls in Iowa. Or is it Ohio? I forget.

STEP 3
3 tbsp flour
Add and cook for another 3 minutes, which is one of those things that need to be watched, depending on how many glasses of wine you have had. The flower was in the Julia Child recipe, which makes a sort of roué that is perfectly understandable in her French tradition, but it is going to make the broth thicker than some might like.

STEP 4
3 oz port/brandy/red wine. Your choice, like the election, but I find taking some internally is good, too, and aids in precision.
2 oz balsamic vinegar.
Add and deglaze the pan. Scrape up those cool brown bits. The beauty of cast iron is that you can apply real steel to scrape the surface, unlike those non-stick pieces of junk. That’s where the goodness resides!

STEP 5
2 litres stock, boiled separately. Bourdain says chicken stock. Child says beef. My vegetarian friends prefer veggie broth. Just have two liters of it.
3 slices bacon, cubed. (purely optional, and I mention it only because Anthony and Julia said to. We don’t have to do everything we are told, as I expect to see in the course of the election).
1 Bouquet garni (fresh thyme, flat leaf parsley, and a bay leaf in cheesecloth). This is the fancy-pants part, but it is useful to keep stems out of your teeth later and it always makes me feel like I am taking things to the next level, like the President in the second debate.

Take the Lodge 14” skillet with the caramelized onions off the heat, then add these last three ingredients and simmer for 30-45 more minutes skimming the top if necessary.

STEP 6
While the soup is simmering, shred the cheese (use the Cuisinart if it is still out!) and slice up the baguette from Croftburn Farms into rounds.
3 cups Swiss Raclett cheese, shredded.
Bake the bread rounds into croutons in the oven at 325 for half an hour. Half way through, baste them with olive oil, and flip them to get the other side nice and toasty.

STEP 7
Now the dramatic conclusion. Put on a movie or something non-partisan, trust me, the talking heads will have something all new to say by the time it is over. Light some candles, assuming you have power to start with. Spoon the soup into oven-safe bowls, position the bread rounds like aircraft carriers on the rich brown liquid. If you are a sissy, go ahead and break up the croutons for ease of spooning later, but I like the fight. Top with heaps of the grated Racelette and broil on high high high, watching carefully to ensure you do not set fire to the kitchen. Pay attention and do not get distracted by some fatuous rhetoric from the Lamestream Media or the Fox alternative.

For added danger, at least if you are a handy-person, you can try one of my favorite kitchen-aids to do the browning: a blowtorch. This approach offers all sorts of opportunities for additional fun. Whooosh!

When it is rich brown but not black, pull the bowls out of the oven, or put down the blowtorch and enjoy.

Just like Election Day.

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com