January 2nd, 2017
French onion soup has got to be my favorite soup, well it's actually a tie between French Onion Soup and Beef Barley Soup but I don't think it's fair to compare apples to oranges.
I always buy a 10 pound bag of onions from Sams club and whatever don't get used in a few weeks, I'll recycle into French Onion Soup.
I usually wing this recipe but this time I loosely followed this recipe by Tyler Florence
Ingredients
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. (took me several hours). 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 (half an hour). 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.
Here's where I went off on my own, see pics.
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.
Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence
Lets get started
I planned on provolone for the cheese but would have liked the Gruyere, anyhow I had neither and ended up with Mozzarella which is fine.
♪♫ Heaven ♫♪
So not to disappoint you guys...next time I'll smoke the onions before cooking them!
I usually don't use Thyme but I don't think I would ever make this again without the thyme.
I got a lot of complaints when making this due to smell. My oldest daughter told me she went to work and everyone was noticing this odd smell, turns out it was my French Onion Soup following her to work!
However, the soup was fantastic!
French Onion Soup

French onion soup has got to be my favorite soup, well it's actually a tie between French Onion Soup and Beef Barley Soup but I don't think it's fair to compare apples to oranges.
I always buy a 10 pound bag of onions from Sams club and whatever don't get used in a few weeks, I'll recycle into French Onion Soup.
I usually wing this recipe but this time I loosely followed this recipe by Tyler Florence
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
- 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 quarts beef broth
- 1 baguette, sliced
- 1/2 pound grated Gruyere
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. (took me several hours). 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 (half an hour). 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.
Here's where I went off on my own, see pics.
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.
Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence
Lets get started
I planned on provolone for the cheese but would have liked the Gruyere, anyhow I had neither and ended up with Mozzarella which is fine.
- Onions and 3/4 stick of butter

- Fresh Thyme from the garden, Garlic and Bay leaves

- Salt and pepper, I was careful of the salt due to me using salted butter, beef base and beef bouillon, but wanted to salt the onions to draw out the moisture.

- Red wine

- Removed Bay and Thyme sprig




- I had no beef broth so I decided to use chicken broth and doctor it up with beef base an beef bouillon.




- I like cheese so I put some on the bread in addition to the top.


- I add a bit of fresh cracked pepper on top of the cheese, it really makes the cheese pop.

- Bake at 400° until I couldn't stand it anymore!

♪♫ Heaven ♫♪

So not to disappoint you guys...next time I'll smoke the onions before cooking them!
I usually don't use Thyme but I don't think I would ever make this again without the thyme.
I got a lot of complaints when making this due to smell. My oldest daughter told me she went to work and everyone was noticing this odd smell, turns out it was my French Onion Soup following her to work!
However, the soup was fantastic!