Brrrr… it’s cold outside!  Warm up with a delicious bowl of soup.  One of our favorite soups is French Onion Soup.

Beef Broth

The day before, I make a rich beef broth to use for the soup.  I use my leftover ribs from my Christmas Rib Roast or you can use beef short ribs.  Place ribs in stockpot, add 3 ribs of celery with leaves, 3 medium carrots, 1 medium whole peeled onion, a small bunch of Italian parsley and cover with 4 inches of water.  I add a heaping tablespoon of More Than Gourmet Classic Veal and Beef Stock (can be purchased at Gourmet Pantry) to make my broth richer.  Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium low heat until the meat falls from the ribs.  Strain broth and  let cool, refrigerate overnight and then skim the fat before using in the soup.

Optional note:  I pick the meat from the ribs to use in my soup.  Make sure you cut it up into small pieces.  This is more than enough broth for this soup recipe, the rest can be frozen for future use.

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 4 T butter
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 pounds yellow onions peeled halved and sliced into 1/4 inch half circles
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 T flour
• 1/2 c dry sherry
• 2 quarts Beef Stock (see recipe above)
• Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1  French baguette (also can be purchased at Gourmet Pantry) cut into 1/2 inch slices and then cut into large cubes (cut only enough cubes to cover the soup for 6 bowl, save the rest to have with the soup)
• 4 cups Gruyere cheese, grated on large hole of grater

Instructions

1. Melt the butter and olive oil in a large Dutch oven on medium low heat.  Add onions, spreading out in as thin a layer as possible.  Sprinkle with sugar, cook, stirring just as needed to keep from sticking until the onions are soft, golden brown, & beginning to caramelize, about 1 hour.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the onions, stir to coat, add sherry and beef stock ( you may add the beef here as well), bring to a simmer.  Cook partly covered for 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the broiler, lightly toast the bread under the broiler then set aside.  Ladle the hot soup into 6 ovenproof bowls, Arrange the bowls on a baking pan.  Place several bread cubes over each bowl of soup.  Cover with grated cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and turning brown on the edges. Serve hot.

This soup is great on its own or served with a salad and French baguette, enjoy!