Rachel's French Onion Soup

Ingredients:
iv lbs yellowish onions, halved as well as thinly sliced
2 quarts beef stock
1/3 loving cup vermouth
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
half dozen sprigs thyme (tied together)
2 bay leaves

to serve:
staff of life rounds (day sometime slices of a baguette or artisan white does well)
shredded Gruyère (I used cave aged Gruyère)

Directions:
Heat the olive stone oil as well as butter inwards large skillet or saucepan. Add the onions. It is okay if they are mounded high inwards the pan, they volition laid upward downward quickly. Cover as well as laid upward the onions until simply kickoff to soften, stirring occasionally thus they laid upward evenly. Stir inwards the balsamic as well as take away the lid. Cook until the onions are caramelized, stirring real occasionally, nigh xl minutes. Deglaze the pan amongst the vermouth. Add the stock, salt, pepper, bay leaves as well as thyme. Bring to a boil thus cut down the estrus as well as simmer for thirty minutes. Remove the bay leaves as well as thyme. Bake the staff of life as well as cheese on a baking canvas for v minutes at 350 as well as transfer them to the superlative of the soup. Alternatively, split upward the soup amid oven security bowls. Top amongst a piece or ii of staff of life as well as sprinkle amongst cheese. Bake for 10 minutes at 350. If you lot accept broiler security bowls as well as a roomy broiler, superlative amongst staff of life as well as cheese as well as broil until the cheese melts.


Note: I wanted to speed upward the dinner procedure thus I caramelized the onions as well as deglazed the pan inwards the morn as well as thus refrigerated them until I was laid upward to brand dinner. You could create this the black earlier if desired. Follow the balance of the directions every bit written about.

My thoughts:

I don't meet French onion soup on menus real oft anymore (too '60s?) which is shame because it is i of the few soups that tin push clit off existence elegant as well as rustic at the same time. Luckily, it is slow to brand at home. It is slightly fourth dimension consuming, at that topographic point is zippo hard nigh the recipe. Caramelizing onions is a hands off action for the most purpose as well as you lot barely request to stir the soup every bit it cooks. There are a lot of variations inwards recipes for the soup: everything from using sweetness onions (not needed, yellowish onions a quite sweetness i time caramelized, no request to brand candy) to including apple tree cider (ew!) as well as a lot of dissimilar cheeses. I created this recipe to brand my ain ultimate French onion soup, i that is real flavorful but non also rich. I dispense amongst the saccharide many recipes telephone telephone for as well as exercise balsamic vinegar to assistance along the caramelization procedure land adding to the depth of flavor. I am also fond of floating a piece of staff of life on the superlative of the soup rather than broiling the whole thing. Same flavor, perhaps slightly less cheese as well as no request to purchase broiler security bowls.