La vie en rose French Onion Soup

I have a confession.  This is the second time this week I have made this recipe!  I have a weakness, you see, for good soup...especially if it's French Onion soup.  Not just anything will do, though.  The best French Onion soup has this rich, velvety, and deeply smooth broth base that simply cannot be found in any other form.  Upon first taste, you might think it's just like any other soup you've tried, but then you take a second bite (or make a second batch) and instead decide there's much more to it than onions and broth.  French Onion soup has a taste to it that, when prepared properly, you can feel the warmth bubbling so far down in your tummy that you think it impossible to top!  

To achieve this, first you start with butter.  One stick of it, to be exact.  You fry that butter until it's all melty and brown.

Next, toss in your sliced onions.  You've gotta cook 'em for 20 minutes, covered, and every once in awhile give 'em a good stir so that they decide against sticking to the pan.  

Now, here's where the whole process of making French Onion soup becomes a chore, and you know what Tom Petty had to say about it:  The Waiting is the Hardest Part.  What makes this statement a true one is the fact that you put the pan in the oven with the lid ajar just a tad bit so that the onions turn brown.  AND! They must stay like this for an hour!!!  Wow, that's a LONG time, especially when there are onions on brown in the oven!  You will need to stir them at least once during this verylonghour in order to, again, prevent any of 'em from sticking!

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Okay, so while the onions and the butter are mingling in the oven, you should turn your concentration to the gahlick.  Peel and chop 2 cloves.  The huger the cloves the better...as a rule of thumb, of course.  You'll be glad later that you OD'd on the garlic.  Trust me on this.  It imparts SUCH a great punch in this recipe.  I am so thankful for garlic!  

 After you have counted to 60 sixty times in a row or your timer tings, either way, you are gonna want to pull the pan out of the oven and give it a last big stir before adding the vinegar (or wine) and broths and Worcestershire sauce.  

So! 

Stir it up.  Add the wine or the vinegar, whichever method you choose.  Add the broths, the garlic, and the Worcestershire sauce.  Stir it up YET AGAIN and simmer for yet another really long time -- 45 minutes, to be exact.  

The end result at the 45-minute mark will leave you with a beautiful brown soup with beautiful and savory translucent onions throughout.  They are so helpless in this recipe, too, and not at all offensive as one might guess because onions usually are offensive.  Take comfort in the fact that the cooking process turns this pungent root vegetable from offensive and strong to defenseless and slightly sweet to make the very best recipe for you and your loved ones.  

Add a toasted hunk of crusty bread, some shredded Gruyere, and ladle this simple-yet-sophisticated soup over all.  Share some with your a'more for dinner this week to stay warm and toasty, and give yourself permission to make it twice in the same week if you are so inclined.  

​Bon appetite!  

French Onion Soup

1 stick butter
4 whole large (or 6 medium) yellow onions, halved root to tip
1 cup dry red wine (OR 1 cup chicken broth with 1 Tbsp vinegar stirred in to sub the wine)
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups beef broth
2 cloves minced garlic
Worcestershire sauce
French bread or baguette, sliced thick
Gruyere cheese, grated

**Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

**Melt butter in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Place soup pot into the oven with the lid slightly ajar to ensure the onions will brown. Allow onions to cook in the oven for 1 hour, stirring at least once during the cooking process so onions won’t stick and burn.

**Remove pot from oven and place back on stovetop over medium heat. Stir, scraping off all the brown, flavorful bits. Turn off heat and pour in wine. Turn heat back to medium. Cook wine or broth and vinegar for five minutes, allowing it to reduce. Add broths, Worcestershire Sauce and minced garlic and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

**Butter one side of the bread slices and broil over low heat, allowing bread to brown and become crispy.  When soup is ready, ladle into bowl or ramekin. Place crispy bread on top, and then sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.

**Serve immediately.