Oui, Oui! French Onion Soup

There is just something about a nice hot bowl of soup that warms my soul.  Any kind of soup, I love almost all of them - Vegetable, Tomato, Chicken Noodle, Mushroom, Minestrone, Italian Wedding and French Onion, I could go on, but to name just a few.  Most people eat soup in winter, well I'm an all year round soup girl.  Homemade always tastes better to me and I make a lot of it.  Here is my take on homemade French Onion Soup.

Recipe Below.

 Just a few ingredients that's all it takes.

 And everything is better with butter.

 I used three very large sweet onions.

 Minced garlic and sliced onions.

 Into the pan they go!

 Break up the onions.

 Add herbs....

 Cook them down....

 a little Sherry doesn't hurt....

 It's lookin' good....

 The aroma is amazing!

 A little flour to thicken.

Add the beef stock.

Simmering with all that good flavor.

Wow, it looks so good!

Almost ready....

I did use an immersion blender for some of the onions.  Took out about 3/4 of them and used the blender on what was left in the pan and then put the rest of the onions back in.

And here it is, yummy homemade onion soup.  Toast a few baguette slices and top with cheese, put under the broiler for a few minutes until cheese melts.  Please use an ovenproof crock or bowl.

HOMEMADE  FRENCH  ONION  SOUP

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

3 very large sweet onions, sliced (mine were huge)

4 big cloves of garlic, minced

4 bay leaves

6 sprigs fresh thyme (you can use 1 tsp dried)

2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper

1 1/4 cups Sherry or 1 cup red wine (not cooking sherry/wine)

3 heaping Tbsp. flour

3 quarts beef stock

Baguette slices, toasted

Sliced Baby Swiss cheese (or Mozzarella or Parmesan)

Directions

Over medium heat in a large dutch oven, melt stick of butter.  Add - onions and break them apart, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and salt and pepper. Cook until they are soft and somewhat caramelized, about 25 minutes.  Turn off heat (to be safe) and add the sherry/wine, turn heat back on and bring the pot to a boil.  Reduce heat until the sherry/wine has evaporated and the onions are on the dry side, not so much liquid left in the pan, around 10-15 minutes.  Take out the bay leaves, and if using fresh thyme, strip the leaves from the stems and discard the stems. Put thyme leaves in the pan. Sprinkle the 3 Tbsp. flour over the onions, mixing in as you sprinkle to coat the onions.  Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn in the pan.  Add all the stock, bring the pan back to a slow boil and cook for about half hour. Season with salt and pepper if you like.

When ready to eat, start the broiler.  Ladle soup into oven proof ramekins or bowls, arrange baguette slices over the soup and top with cheese.  Place under the broiler until cheese is melted and browned. Serve immediately.