French Onion

French Onion soup is one of my favorite things to order at restaurant. I can be fully satisfied with a crock of French Onion and a house salad.

During the blizzard week we didn't have a lot to do besides eat, so we decided to make French Onion soup. This is one of the best things (in my opinion) that JCW cooks. The fresh thyme and gruyere make the soup.

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray, makes 5 bowls.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter 6 medium onions, thinly sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, picked and chopped or poultry seasoning

1 bay leaf, fresh or dried

1/2 cup dry sherry

6 cups beef stock

4 thick slices crusty bread, toasted

2 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Directions

Heat a deep pot over medium to medium high heat. Work next to the stove to slice onions. Add oil and butter to the pot. Add onions to the pot as you slice them. When all the onions are in the pot, season with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme. Cook onions 15 to 18 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender, sweet and caramel colored. Add bay leaf and sherry to the pot and deglaze the pan drippings. Add 6 cups stock and cover pot to bring soup up to a quick boil. Arrange 4 small, deep soup bowls or crocks on a cookie sheet. Preheat broiler to high. Once soup reaches a boil, ladle it into bowls. Float toasted crusty bread on soup and cover each bowl with a mound of cheese. Sprinkle remaining fresh thyme on cheese and place cookie sheet with soup bowls on it under hot broiler until cheese melts and bubbles.

We prepared the soup and prepped the bread before we headed out into the snow.

EAS & JCW

It was dusk by the time we headed home.

This was the perfect meal after coming in from the cold. Part of the fun of making this soup is getting to use our Lion’s Head Soup Bowls from Williams Sonoma...I think anything tastes better in them.

Special thanks to JCW for always trying to accommodate a picky eater. xx