I don’t know about you, but I love French onion soup… And I always thought it was something hard to make! Guess what? It’s not!!!
You need just a few ingredients… Onions… some beef broth, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and some butter and cheap red wine! That’s about it. Oh, and some spices to flavor… a bit of salt and perhaps a little garlic or herb mix.
First thing… chop up a couple big onions. I used a sweet variety, but really, just about any will do. I cut up 4 large ones. And then you add a stick of butter and sauté the onions until they are nice and soft, slightly caramelized. The trick is not to rush it all.
Then, add a cup of red wine. I thought this was rather fun because of the rooster on the label and the fact that it was $6. It really doesn’t have to be fancy wine at all.
Then add a dash of Worchestershire sauce… I put in a couple good shakes of the bottle… and add in two boxes of beef broth. One box is 32 ounces, so I guess that means add in 64 ounces! I added in a little bit of water as well, just to cover up the onions nicely.
And then, you simmer for a good long time. The longer the better, really. Not hot at all. In fact some people like to throw it all into a crock pot for 5 or 6 hours!
When I read about how this was actually a peasant food… made easily with some beef bone broth, leftover wine and cheap onions… simmered for a long time and then eaten with older, stale bread and a bit of cheese, it made sense! It was just delicious! I simmered my pot on the stove for about 2 hours.
Dressed it up with a few croutons and some shaved Parmesan cheese! You can use other types of cheese as well… I think Swiss would be delightful.
Just a nice easy homestead warming soup! And it smells divine!!!!
