Classic French Onion Soup

A crisp Fall Sunday afternoon, a perfect setting for French Onion Soup!  This soup takes a while, but it tastes fantastic and it fills the whole house with the aroma of comfort in a bowl.  I started making this soup a few years ago from a recipe I found in an old church cookbook and I have changed it just a little since then.
Here is what you will need to get started:

4 T. unsalted Butter
5 medium Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
3 Cups Chicken Broth
3 Cups Beef Broth
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1T. Worcestershire Sauce
1T. Dried Parsley, or 2 Stems Fresh Parsley
1t. Dried Thyme, or 1 Stem Fresh Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
1 T. Balsamic Vinegar
4 Slices French bread
4 Slices Gruyere Cheese, left out at room temperature
To get started, melt the butter in a large saute pan.

While the butter is melting Slice all 5 onions using a mandolin.  Alternatively, you can slice them by hand, but that would take forever and would be miserable… So get a mandolin, mine was like 20 bucks.

Once you have all the onions sliced up, add them to the butter and slowly cook them over medium low heat until they are soft, fragrant and caramelized.  This should take at least 45 minutes.

While they are cooking, you can mix up the broth.  In a large soup pot, add the broths, red wine, worcestershire sauce and red wine.  Bring that to a boil for a few minutes to cook off the alcohol.  Then add the Bay Leaf, Thyme and Parsley.

Then reduce the heat to low and add the caramelized onions. Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes, then add the vinegar ans season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove the bay leaf and stems of the herbs if you used fresh.  Keep the soup on a very low heat to keep it warm while you toast the bread.

Next, pre-heat the  broiler and toast the bread on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes on each side.
Ladle the soup into oven safe bowls, then add the soup, top with a slice of bread and a slice of cheese.

Place soup under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese melts and turns a light golden color.  Now dig in!

Check out my blog at www.theviewfrom8600ft.com for step by step instructions to this and many other recipes