French Onion Soup Base

Last night, I made the base for the French Onion Soup which I will serve tomorrow night.

Here’s the recipe:

(the house *STILL* smells amazing!)

I doubled this as I wanted enough for 4 people PLUS leftovers. LOL. However, if you just want to make a lovely dinner for 2, then the below recipe is great..

4 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2-3 large yellow onions, sliced (I used the food processor to slice)
1 Tbs brown sugar (optional but it does help caramelize the onions)
1/4 cup dry white wine
32 ounces beef broth (I used low salt)
1 cup water
1 tub Knorr Homestyle Concentrated Beef Stock (optional as well but it does beef up the flavor nicely)
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley (can use fresh if you have it)
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Melt butter with the olive oil in a large dutch oven until foamy. Add the onions, toss them well to get them nicely coated with butter. Lower the heat, add the brown sugar.

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Cook onions over medium heat until lightly caramelized – about 25-35 minutes. (I had to cook for 35 minutes) Be careful not to overcook!

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Pour in the white wine and continue cooking until the wine has evaporated.

Pour in the beef broth, water, concentrated beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.

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At this point, I let the soup cool and popped it into the fridge.

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For the rest of the recipe, you will need:

baguette – sliced into at least 6 slices and toasted
1/2 pound shredded Swiss cheese, preferable gruyere
1/4 pound shredded gouda cheese

More details tomorrow 🙂

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