Dutch Girl French Onion Soup

One of my earliest memories of favourite restaurant meals in the 1970's was French Onion Soup.....it was different than what I had grown up eating(canned or packaged soup-with added left-overs was the norm in our house), it was decadent and fun to eat, with the cheese covering the dish, around the rim, so it took a long time to finish, but delicious to the very end! I still like it in the fall when the new onions are harvested.

Beef Stock

3-4 marrow bones, or left over rib bones from roast with some meat still clinging to it
2 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery, preferably the center of the celery bunch, leaves and all
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
Water to cover at least 8-10 cups
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper
2 small Bay leaves
2 beef bouillon cubes
Pinch of dried thyme, or 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, left whole

Wash vegetables, cut tops and tips off the carrots, the stalk end off the celery, peel the onion and garlic, cut all into large chunks, add the meat bones and veggies into a large stock pot, cover with 10 cups water, add the salt, pepper, bay leaves, bouillon cubes, thyme, dried or fresh. Bring to a boil, stir frequently, then turn heat down to simmer, for about 2 hours, if the water level gets too low, just add more water, taste for salt, add more but remember not to add too much, because the stock is being added to the onion mixture, which will also be seasoned.

Onions for Soup
1/4 cup butter
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
10-12 onions, yellow, red, sweet, mixture, peeled and sliced, if the onion is large, cut in half, then slice
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper
2/3-3/4 cup red wine
3-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Strained Beef stock, either using the above recipe or reduced salt beef stock from the store
in a large Dutch oven, heat the oil and butter, add all of the onions, stir to coat with the oil/butter mixture, cook and stir for 15-20 minutes over medium heat then medium low heat, until onions are golden and caramelized, add salt, pepper and garlic, stir the mixture until the garlic has blended into the onions, turn the heat up to medium high, add the wine, stir well, scrape up the bits of onion on the bottom of the pot, cook this mixture until the wine has reduced by half, add the Worcestershire sauce, then add the strained beef stock, if you are using store bought beef stock, add a bit of Worcestershire sauce to it (to Jazz it up and give that homemade flavour)adding any meat from the bones, cut into little bits, stir well, taste for seasoning, add more salt but not too much, because you are adding cheese toast to the soup, cheese already has lots of salt, so the overall dish will be perfectly seasoned if you go easy on the salt all the way along.

Cheese Toast

Crusty Baguette, cut into 1 inch rounds
1 cup Gruyere, shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Dutch cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese, shaved
2-3 tablespoons butter, cut into tiny bits, to dot the top of the soup

Cut the baguette, put on a sheet pan, bake in a 350 degree F oven until it is toasty,this will take about 15 minutes, turn as necessary. Mix all of the cheeses, cover the baking baguette with the cheese mixture for the last 5 minutes of baking, ladle the hot onion soup into oven proof bowls, add one or two cheesey breads to each bowl, top with shaves of Parmesan cheese, and a couple of dots of butter, put the bowls of soup on a sheet pan, broil for 2-3 minutes until cheese is bubbly, serve on a small dish being careful because the bowls are piping hot! Serve with a green salad and more bread if desired. Perfect for lunch or light supper. Enjoy!