French Onion Soup

Yes, it is a balmy 82 degrees today in Minnesota.  I was not pleased to stand outside in jeans waiting for the bus.  Poor clothing choice by me.  


But, what does 80 degree weather call for?  French Onion Soup.  Riiight.  Sorry, but I have been craving French Onion Soup since the last time I had it... my bridal luncheon...in April.  In the spirit of cleaning out our pantry and taming my craving, I made my First French Onion Soup tonight.  


I did the usual search around the internet for a recipe thing and found Tyler Florance's (swoon...I LOVE Tyler! Ask Mr. Schwartz about it.) version.  It had great reviews so I thought it was worth a shot.  And wow was it! Great flavor and the melty cheese, don't get me started.  I do have to say it is a bit time consuming and I was absolutely starved by the time it was done.  


So you feel like cranking your AC up flashing forward to winter or saving this one for a later date, I would totally recommend it!  


Musical Selection: Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer.  It has been one heck of a week and things in July are just continuing to get crazier!  Its a nice jam.  

Start by melting your butter.  

Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook the onions until they are soft and caramelized.  Tyler's recipe says this takes 25 minutes.  He is wrong.  This honestly took almost an hour.  I set my timer for 10 minute increments and stirred when it went off.  It is worth it so don't rush through this.  

You want the onions to end up looking like this.  

After the onions have caramelized, add the wine, bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat and stir until the moisture has evaporated like so. Discard the bay leaves and thyme. Sorry for the crummy picture, it was steamin' onions!

Dust the onions with flour.  

Stir and cook for about 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.  

Then add the beef broth and bring back to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes.  


When you are ready to eat, toast your baguette in the oven.  I drizzled a bit of olive oil on them before popping them in the oven. 

Ladle your soup into bowls (wish I had cute crocks for bowls at this point).  

Top with one or two or three of your sliced baguettes depending on how large they are.  

Top everything with the cheese. 

In the oven is where the magic happens.  To be honest, I wasn't 100% sure if my bowls would last through the broiler....eeee....  

Look at that melty cheese! THE best part of French Onion Soup. Delish!!! 

I do have to give a little shout out to the two little lights in my life who are ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!!! Happy Birthday little's Auntie loves you!!! 


Stay tuned for goodies I will be whipping up for their big birthday bash this weekend!!! 




French Onion Soup 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts beef broth
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add sliced onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 1 hour. Add wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the moisture has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust onions with flour and stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes, cooking out the raw flour taste. Add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When ready to server, preheat the broiler.  Toast baguettes in the oven for a few minutes.  Ladle the soup into bowls, 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.