Mismatched Forks and Wine Bottle Rolling Pins: Winter Madness and French Onion Soup

Oh my god.

SO many things to post.

So bad at keeping up with it.

My keyboard is tired, the million web tabs I had open for various projects are closed, I’m awesome at FreeCell again, and my final papers are turned in.

Winter break!

And boy is it winter out there. We are in the middle of a big nor’easter that consists of TWO storms combining together! …I’m a weather nerd. It’s wonderful.

So while the world is a white blur, I figured now would be an excellent time to post this wonderfully warming recipe.

You know the chilled to the bone feeling? That one where you feel like you will never get warm again?

This soup eats that feeling for breakfast.

French Onion Soup. Sounds fancy, but it’s so easy!! And it’s SO good.

So grab an awesome chopping partner, grab some wine, grab some tissues, and sit back and laugh in winters face while you eat this wonderful soup.

We had a crying contest to see who would last the longest.

I’m just gonna say I won

French Onion Soup

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

6 large red or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
3 Tbs of Butter
1 Tbs of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups of your stock of choice (beef, chicken, or vegetable), or a combination of the two (traditionally the soup is made with beef stock) **
1/2 cup of dry vermouth or dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon of dry thyme
Salt and pepper
enough slices of toasted French bread (4,6,8, whatever you want)
1 1/2 cups of grated Swiss Gruyere (We used mozzarella because it was on hand)

**The better quality your stock, the better quality your soup! Stock really makes a difference.

Method

1 In a large saucepan, slowly cook the onions in the butter and oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30-40 minutes (or longer). Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization. BE VERY CAREFUL! …I left it for a few minutes and we ended with onions stuck to the bottom of the pot, and had to change to a new pot.

2 Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, vermouth or wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf.

3 Ladle the soup into oven proof bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.