French Onion Soup - 4 stars

i was so happy to eat this dish. soooooo happy. i haven't had french onion soup in ten years or so - i've never made it, and i've never come across any non-dairy french onion soup topped with soy cheese in a restaurant. :-) it took me a bit to find a recipe that didn't call for an incredible amount of butter in the soup base, but i did... of all chefs, it was paula deen's (the queen of fatty buttery foods) recipe! she uses olive oil in place of butter.

(i could use a recipe that called for butter and substitute margarine instead, but tony is sensitive to "fake tasting" butter, so i try to avoid recipes that call for huge quantities of butter. i'm always afraid he'll taste the margarine and not like it. then there'd be too much food left for me to eat. :) )

the only issue i had with the recipe is that it didn't state what the total weight (or even what the size) of the onions should be. the soup base was too onion-y for me - not in flavor, but the proportion of onion to broth was off. i used medium sized (~3" in diameter) onions - if you use those, use only 5 or 6, not 8. next time, i'll use less onion, which might make the recipe a five star.

this was easy to make - i sauteed the sliced onions for awhile, added a bit of flour, sauteed more, added broth, wine, thyme and bay leaf, and simmered for awhile. when it was ready, i scooped the broth into a bowl, topped it with thick toasted slices of french bread, and the cheese slices. i broiled it on high for a couple minutes to melt the cheese. YUM!

the picture above is tony's dish - it was topped with gruyere, which i believe propelled it to five stars for him. i'm not sure what's on top of the cheese in the picture - maybe cracked black pepper? he grated his cheese - i sliced mine in thin slices so it could overlap the edges of the baking dish.

i have a feeling that there are some richer, more decadent recipes for french onion soup out there... now that i've made it once, i'll research more before i make it again.

French Onion Soup

Prep Time:

30 min

Cook Time:

45 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 to 6 bowls of soup

8 onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 cups beef stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 loaf French bread
2 cups grated Gruyere

Saute onions and garlic in oil over low heat until tender and golden yellow. Sprinkle flour over onions, cook a few minutes more, browning the flour well. Add stock and wine and bring to a boil, add thyme and bay leaf. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Meanwhile, slice French bread into 3/4-inch slices and butter both sides. Toast slices on griddle until golden brown. Ladle soup into an ovenproof bowl, add toasted bread and cover with cheese. Place ovenproof bowl on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees F or 5 minutes under a hot broiler.