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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

French Onion Soup

I have never had French onion soup before and my husband asked me to make it for him this week.  I would recommend making the soup on a weekend vs a weekday because as I learned it takes an extremely long time and needs to be watched carefully because the onions can burn quickly if they are not watched.  

Ingredients:
4 lbs yellow onion (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
3 cups water
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 cups beef broth
4 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs of thyme
black pepper to taste

1 baguette
1/4 lb  Gruyere cheese (sliced or crumbles)


Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400.

Coat dutch oven with 2 tbs olive oil.  Place onions and 1/2 tsp salt in dutch oven, cover and place in oven for 1 hour.  Stir onions scraping bottom of pan and return to oven partially covered.  Cook an additional 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.  Do this until onions become a deep golden brown.

Remove pot from oven and place on stove top over medium heat.  Cook until liquid evaporates and a dark crust begins to develop on the bottom of the pot (about 30 minutes).  Stir in 1/4 cup water and scrape bottom of pan.  Evaporate water until another dark crust forms (Repeat these two steps 3 more times).    At this point the onions should be a dark brown.   Add Sherry to the pot and cook until evaporated.  Add remaining water , beef and chicken broth, bay leaves and thyme and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove Bay leaves and thyme before serving.

Slice baguette into 1/2 inch slices and place on a baking sheet.  Top each slice with Gruyere and place under broiler until cheese melts.

Place sliced baguette on top of soup before serving in individual soup bowls.

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