Souper Sunday Series: French Onion Soup

It's that time again...it's Sunday so that means soup is on my menu! This time around it's the classic French Onion Soup, a soup that's just as much about presentation as it is about flavor. Last weekend we had a out of town friend visiting, and she challenged me to make a bomb-tastic French Onion Soup, so I've accepted the challenge and here it is!!

Similar to the mushroom soup we made a few weeks back, this soup starts with butter and the core ingredient: Onions! I used large yellow onions cause I find sweet onions give it too much sweetness...who would have thought!

Rather than cutting in thin strips, which actually gives the dish it's name, I did large chunk cut...so maybe it's American Onion Soup, but we'll keep it simple.

In the soup pot, with 1/4 cup of butter melted, along with a good sprinkle of kosher salt (it gets the water out), this should sweat on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes.

After that is done, the onions should be soft and golden in color. Next, black pepper, thyme (about 4 sprigs), and a 1-2 bay leaves are added. Then a secret I learned from Chef John's instructional video, you add 1/4 cup of sherry wine and 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar (this is very important don't skip that ingredient!).

Then 2 cups of chicken broth, 3 cups of beef broth, and 1 cup of water. Bring to simmer and reduce to medium-low again, allow to simmer for 1 hour.
   

 

Season with salt and pepper, using a high heat crock, add soup, a piece of toast, and shredded Gruyere cheese to the top. Set oven to broil setting, and broil until cheese is well melted. BE VERY CAREFUL! the crocks will be extremely hot!! 

Gruyere cheese can be very expensive but it's the finishing touch that makes the dish so good! You could probably get away with using just swiss, but it won't be the same...trust me!

Be sure to check out Chef John's Recipe for French Onion Soup!