FRONCH OWNION SHOUP. It’s cold out there baby, and this soup is the cure to all your cold day woes. It’s warm, and full of onions, and topped with cheese, and breads. MMMM breads. Men love this soup, ladies love this soup. Mothers, sons, daughters. But not Uncle Tony, Uncle Tony hates onions.
If you don’t hate onions, get ready to chop em up, cause dis french onion soup is full of them. You need to chop a lot because they cook down into almost nothing. Patience is also important in this soup, because onions take a long time to caramelize. You want them caramelized in this soup. It’s so much better that way. I have almost no patience, but manage to make this soup often, cuz it’s worth it.
Peel them, cut them in half, and slice them into nice thin slices. Like really, really thin.
I made this soup for 8 people, so my bowl of onions was quite full. The recipe below is for half this amount.
DAT’S A LOT OF ONIONS!
GET YER BUTTER MELTIN’. Not as exciting, sorry. Butter and olive oil is a good idea.
Then toss in the onions and coat them with the butter and olive oil. Turn down the heat and let cook for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While they’re cooking down, you can make these crusty, chewy, crunchy yummies.
Start by slicing up a nice loaf of french bread into diagonal thinnish slices.
Lay them out on a large pan and brush one side with olive oil. Let bake in a 400 degree oven until cripsy and brown.
Ok, so I need to stop and preface a little about what I’m about to do. I like toasted the rounds of bread and toasting the cheese right on top of the rounds. Then I add them to the soup. I know traditionally, the bread is placed in a soup croc on top of the soup and is then covered in the cheese and broiled, butttttttt I do not like when the bread gets all soggy. It’s not my thing. Plus if you make these crouton thingies and have a bunch of them left over, you can just keep dunking them in the soup. No sadness when your little teeny bread round has run out! This may not be for everyone, but it sure is right for me!
Cut up some nice slices of cheesy, or you can shred it. Shreddin’ it is probably better.
Top it on the bread and let it broil.
Meanwhile, the onions should be nice and caramely.
I was a little impatient so they weren’t as caramely as they should be.
Then add the BEEF BROTH. This will make for the darkest and richest soup. I like using the Better Than Boullion brand because it is so rich and full of flavor. I add in the boullion first and then add the water. Add in some rosemary. You should probably chop it up, but I was careless and just threw it in.
Also, add the red wine at this point. Red wine is best, again for its dark color and richer flavor. I think a pinot noir or cabarnet savignon are the best choices. Toss in a bay leaf or two.
Add some worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper and let it cook down for about 15 minutes.
Serve in mugs or bowls topped with the crouton yummies. You should have some happy people after this!
- 3 medium sized vidalia onions
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 cup of red wine
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 slice of french bread
- 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
- Cut the onions into thin slices.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Add the onions and coat them in the butter/oil. Reduce heat to medium and let the onions cook down until caramelized, about 20-30 minutes.
- Add the beef broth, red wine, rosemary, bay leaves, worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes on low heat.
- While cooking, cut the bread into this slices. Brush one side of each bread round with the olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees until toasty brown. Add the shredded cheese on top of the rounds and place in the oven again until cheese is melted and a little crispy.
- Place soup in bowls and top with bread rounds.
I'm a country girl at heart. I tried living in the city and it just didn't work. Welcome to my ramblings as a teacher and wife. 
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