Dee’s French Onion Soup au Gratin
Serves 4
You will need four soup crocks for this recipe or oven-proof bowls.
This is the best French onion soup I have yet to taste!
What you’ll need:
3 large yellow onions, sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups rich beef stock
1 to 2 Tablespoons reduced brown stock such as “More Than Gourmet”
½ cup good quality dry white wine, optional and to taste
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
½ inch fresh French Thyme, on the stem
1 to 1 ½ cups each shredded Gruyere and Swiss cheeses, mixed
About ¼ cup good quality Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano
French baguette slices, toasted
Steps:
- Sauté onions in butter and olive oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until limp, golden and buttery, but not mushy. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Mix in beef broth, demi-glace, and wine. Stir to be certain that all the demi-glace has incorporated. Add minced garlic and thyme sprig. Heat through. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your personal taste. You may find you like a little more wine or that the broth needs a little more beefy flavor.
- Remove the thyme sprig.
- Ladle the soup into 4 ovenproof bowls, distributing the onions as evenly as possible. There should be lots of onion! Don’t overfill the bowls, there’s more to add!
- Sprinkle a little of the Romano or Parmesan cheese directly over the soup.
- Now top each soup serving with slices of toasted bread (cover the soup).
- Sprinkle Gruyere/Swiss cheeses evenly over the top of each soup and sprinkle with a little more Romano or Parmesan (just a little).
- Put soup bowls onto a cookie sheet to prevent oven spills. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes or more, until top is puffy and golden.
