French Onion Soup

So last night I tried my hand at making French Onion Soup. I will tell you right now, it is not as simple as tossing some onions in broth and done. And any recipe that says it will take an hour or so LIES. In order to get the right taste, you need to slowly cook your onions until they carmelize, which took me about 2 hours on medium heat. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of all the steps but I did get a few.... Now to find the camera cord.

The Finished Product

Here is my fool-proof French Onion Soup Recipe:

Ingredients

·         1/2 cup unsalted butter

·         4 onions, thinly sliced

·         2 garlic cloves, chopped

·         2 bay leaves

·         3 fresh thyme sprigs - 1 chopped

·         Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle (I also use white wine - the entire bottle, for a milder taste)

·         3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         2 quarts beef broth (About 2 packages)

·         1 baguette, sliced

·         1/2 pound grated Gruyere or Swiss

                                                                                                                            

Directions

Bay Leaves, Thyme, Garlic and Butter

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 2 hours. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 40 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Toast the baguette slices until lightly crispy. Don't put it on a baking sheet yet, you want the entire thing to be crispy so it doesn't turn into mush in your soup. Now arrange the slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.

Before the Gruyere crouton

Ready to Eat!

Traditional method: Ladle the soup into OVEN SAFE bowls or those cool single serve soup crocks, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.




Now, I served the soup with some grilled Swiss Cheese sandwiches on some crispy chiabatta but the soup can stand by itself, just make sure to make extra croutons!