Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 10 sweet onions about 8 lbs.
6 tablespoons butter.
2 tsp. salt.
2 - 4 cups white wine (optional, use stock if not wine).
5 cups homemade beef stock.
2 cups apple cider.
6 thyme sprigs, 4 bay leaves, and parsley. Make a bouquet garni or put in a spice bag.
1 loaf a baguette shaped (log shaped) small loaf of Grammie's bread.
Kosher salt.
Ground black pepper.
From Verna Blanchet: 1 cup Gruyère cheese, grated.
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Directions: |
Directions:You will need a large stockpot or a large skillet and a crockpot.
Oven proof stoneware or ramekins (Do you remember the brown ones with handles that I had for years?). A sheet pan lined with tinfoil.
Trim the ends off each onion, halve, remove peel, and finely slice into half-moon shapes (those dear mezza luna again).
Melt butter in a stockpot (if cooking soup on the stove) or skillet, add a layer of onions and sprinkle with salt. Repeat layering onions and salt until all onions are in the skillet. Let them cook down for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, stir occasionally until onions are dark brown and reduced to 4 cups, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Add enough wine to cover and turn heat to med-high, reducing the wine to a syrup. Add beef stock, apple cider and bouquet garni. Reduce heat and simmer at least an hour or place in the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours.
When ready to serve, place oven rack in top 1/3 of oven and heat broiler.
Cut bread in slices that will cover the top of the oven safe soup crocks.
Place slices on a baking sheet and place under broiler for 1 minute to brown. Flip bread, sprinkle with cheese and broil until golden and bubbly (1 minute).
Season soup with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bouquet garni/spice bag and ladle soup into crocks leaving one inch to the top. Place bread slices, cheese side up, toasted side down, on top of soup. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: First thing to do here is to thank Auntie Reagan Diamond's mother, Verna Blanchet. For years I used mozzarella cheese on top of the soup because I liked the texture. However, it does not have a ton of flavor. When we all got together for Christmas 2024, Verna brought French Onion Soup (one of Auntie Reagan's favorites) and she taught me to use Gruyère cheese - what a difference this makes!
In our family, we usually had this as the first course for Thanksgiving dinner (see "I'm Starving" in the introduction). I used those brown stoneware crocks to make this in for decades.
This soup (wait for it) is better if you make it ahead and just warm it up and prepare the bread on the day of serving. It also freezes very well.
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