French Onion Soup

Here's a thought from Mary Jo Sharp to encourage you to get into the Word today:

"Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever lived.  Should we not be committed to a lifelong education to learn from Him and grow deeper in knowledge as His disciples (students)?  We should.  It is contradictory to tell the world Jesus, as the greatest teacher, has the most important knowledge a person can ever learn, while exemplifying a lifestyle lacking a desire to learn.  This contradiction is fairly easy to spot by persons from inside or outside the church."  --from Why Do You Believe That?

If you haven't spent some time earnestly seeking Him today, please stop reading this and go grab your Bible!  Our relationship with Christ and our witness for Him depend on it!  Semper fi!  (I now love this phrase.  If you don't know what it means, you really should google it.)

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I love French onion soup!  And I have yet to make a batch I didn't like.  I mean...onions, butter, sugar, wine or vinegar, beef broth...how can you go wrong?

Every single time I make it I search the internet for recipes and new ideas.  And, nearly every single time I come back to my own creation--a bit of this recipe and that one.  So, instead of searching again, and glancing back and forth between two or three pages, I'm just gonna type this up so I have a one-stop recipe spot.

My Very Own French Onion Soup

Place pot over medium heat.

Drizzle pot with olive oil.

Melt 3 Tbsp. butter.

Add 4-5 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced.

Sprinkle with sea salt.

Toss in a pinch or two of sugar.

Add any additional seasonings, such as pressed garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and/or pepper.

Cook 30-45 mins or 'til caramelized, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat and stir in about 3 Tbsp AP flour (so flour doesn't burn).

Cook 2-3 mins to cook away the raw flour taste.

Deglaze with a splash of balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce or wine.

Add beef broth, about 2 quarts.

Raise heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about ten more mins.

Toast baguette slices.

Pour soup in oven-safe bowls.

Top soup with toasted baguette slices.

Cover toast with Gruyere or a mixture of Swiss and Parmesan.

Place bowls under broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Enjoy!!!

If you have cognac and wine on hand and want to give Julia Child's recipe a try, visit this site:  Smitten Kitchen.  Love their opening paragraph:

I’m firmly of the belief that no matter what ails you in the realm of the kitchen, onion soup can cure it. Never cooked before? Don’t think you’ll be able to pull off the kind of cooking you believe you need to go to a restaurant to experience? Start with onion soup. Have only $5 to spend on dinner? Refrigerator is almost bare? Onion soup is your friend. Want your home to have a transcendent aroma bouncing off every wall, the kind that’s so distracting that you don’t even know or care what’s on the stove, only that you must have it now? Onion soup is waiting for you.

Really, just about any combo of the the above ingredients will give you a yummy onion soup.  Experiment!  It is so much fun...and so yum!