French Onion Soup

French Onion soup is one of my favorite soups. I always get it at diners and I must say there is always variation on how good it will taste. Sometimes it is really good and warms your bones and other times it leaves something to be desired. I guess it is one of those soups that can be made several different ways. I have been hesitant on trying to make it at home because I wanted to be able to melt the cheese on top like they do in the diners and I was unsure whether or not my bowls were oven safe. After a quick stop to crateandbarrel.com I found out they were indeed oven safe, now all I needed was a recipe. I looked at a couple and saw one from the barefoot and we know everything the barefoot cooks is delish. However, the recipe called for cognac which I do not have on supply. So I continued to look and found one from Tyler Florance. I was unsure but decided to give it a go. OMG was this soup amazing. Better then I have ever had in a diner. I highly recommend it. The only thing was that the soup was like molten lava hot. The meal was very satisfying if I do say so myself.

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 ( I used like 3/4 of a bottle)
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.

Alternative method: 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.