Los Angeles, Ca, November 5, 2014 – Have you ever wondered how restaurants get the cheese in French onion soup to come out so perfectly, brown, bubbly and deliciously melted? Get out your duster, 409, and wet rags; today is the day to clean and figure out how to use your broiler. The broiler is the most unused home kitchen accessories, and yet the best. Next to the oven, a broiler is a chef’s best friend in a restaurant kitchen. The secrets to so many of those favorite restaurant-style dishes you love are from the intense, fiery flame of a broiler. In a home kitchen, a broiler can be difficult to use, I admit, but despite obstacles, it’s well worth the effort.
After it’s cleaned out and I find new homes for the odds and ends that have accumulated, I put the broiler to work – on my au gratin potatoes or caramelizing corn gratin. As I serve it alongside the other salads and main courses, it undoubtedly looks as if it were made to perfection in a restaurant-style kitchen… while in fact it was made in the comforts of the hosts’ home.
Broiling is the intense heat that is isolated to either the top or the bottom of your stove. Though either works, I prefer the broilers that are at the top of a stove and, in all honestly I wish they made broilers as a separate appliance you could buy for your kitchen. And, if they already make it, it would be great if my extremely small kitchen could accommodate it.
The keys to broiling are 1) making sure that your crust is slightly moist to prevent burning or charring, 2) continually watch and turn what you’re broiling to get an even coloring and 3) have hot pads ready to go the second you put it into the oven. These are the first beginner steps to broiling like a professional chef.
Not only can you use a broiler to crisp the tops of your meals but you can also use it to enrich the sauces and salsas that are old favorites in your home. I have a friend who is an amazing chef and owner of The Reservoir in Silverlake Calif., and she makes a delicious salsa by roasting all of the vegetables before she purees them.
The intense flame is also a perfect way to blacken the skin of eggplants, bell peppers and chilies. By blackening the skin, you can easily remove it from the meat of the vegetable and, what is left, is a tender, richly flavored interior that can be used in combinations of things or merely by itself in dishes such as eggplant caviar. The most important thing to watch out for is the charring of the skin. At a certain point, the skin has nothing left to burn, therefore it becomes useless ash and, if you’re not careful, the whole thing will be ruined.
Delicious roasts and poultry can be flamed-kissed as well. By placing a raw piece of seasoned meat under the broiler, it can give you the caramelized exterior that you can’t get in the pan. A roast can be large and awkward to sear in a pan and, because of its natural curves, it can leave gray areas untouched. The intense heat of the broiler can cover a large area and prepare it perfectly for braising. Again, make sure you are watching as it can easily burn if you don’t pay attention. The great news is this doesn’t take any more time than it would to sear a piece of meat or chicken in a pan. In fact, it might take less time.
In a perfect world, my kitchen would have a special place for a restaurant-style broiler, but until then I will have to grin and bare it with my electric stove and its very poor – but still useable – broiler. While you have a few extra minutes, you might want to get to know your broiler. Clean it out, turn it on and try crisping a piece of bread. The possibilities are endless and you have to start somewhere, but, whatever you do, keep a close eye on what you’re broiling.
And just in case you are interested here is my delicious French Onion soup recipe:
French onion Soup
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 3 onions, peeled and sliced ¼”
- 2 shallots, peeled and sliced ¼”
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups of water
- 2 bouillon cubes (or 4 cups of good stock or broth and leave out the water)
- ½ cup sherry wine
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme or ½ teaspoon of dried thyme
- 2 slices of good crusty sourdough bread, toasted
- 2-4 slices of gruyere cheese (depending on how much cheese you like it)
Directions
Heat a large sauté pan on a medium high fire.
Next add olive oil, onions and shallots to the pan.
Turn the heat down to a medium low and slowly cook the onions for 20 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent them from burning. (if they appear to be burning turn down the fire and add a little more oil to the pan).
Season the onions with salt and pepper.
Once the onions are brown turn the fire off and add the sherry wine and red wine vinegar to the pan.
Scrape all of the fond from the bottom and pour everything into a soup pot.
Add the water, bouillon, bay leaf and sprig of thyme to the pot.
Bring everything to a boil and then simmer for 2-25 minutes.
When the soup is done add it into small soup crock pots (or bowls that can withstand high temperatures).
Heat your oven to a broil and transfer your oven rack to the top level.
When the broiler is ready place the toasted bread on top of each soup, top with cheese and broil for 2-3 minutes.
Serve.
