French Onion Soup

A has been craving for this soup after our Paris trip. I have been searching a good French Restaurant in Jakarta who served this soup, but well search result NIL. So I decided to cook this soup (once our new house is ready). While browsing for the perfect recipes, it turn out that this soup is quite easy to make. It's all about the cheese and and the fresh onion. So for those who are a big fan of French food like us, I am sharing the recipes here with everyone:

French Onion Soup Cheese

Gruyere cheese is used in classic French onion soup recipes but you can use another kind of cheese if you prefer it or if you do not like gruyere. Gruyere cheese is a hard yellow cheese from Switzerland. It is sweet and slightly salty.

Some French onion soup recipes use mozzarella, cheddar, Jack cheese or even parmesan and the sharpness of cheese contrasts well with the natural sweetness of onion. For traditional French onion soup, cheese is a necessary topping but you can use your favorite cheese if you are not fond of Gruyere or if you cannot find it.

French Onion Soup Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 6 large red or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
• Olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups of beef stock, chicken stock, or a combination of the two (traditionally the soup is made with beef stock)
• 1/2 cup of dry vermouth or dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon of dry thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 8 slices of toasted French bread
• 1 1/2 cups of grated Swiss Gruyere with a little grated Parmesan cheese

METHOD

1 In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30-40 minutes (or longer). Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization.

2 Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, vermouth or wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf.

3 To serve you can either use individual oven-proof soup bowls or one large casserole dish. Ladle the soup into the bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.