Soupe Oignon

That's French for onion soup.

On my drive to Pendleton I pass several onion trucks and pass countless more onions that have fallen from the trucks onto the roadside. Every onion I see makes me crave some French Onion Soup. So I finally made some.

Here's the journey:

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4-6 onions, sliced (purchased from a store)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle (or chicken/veal stock if you don't cook with alcohol)
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Prep and slice the onions.

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat.

Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Yum. See all that butter :) That's how you know it's French.

They go through various ugly stages.

These onions had lots of moisture, so they took longer.

Almost done.. see the color developing.

Caramelized! 

Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 10 minutes.

Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir.

Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.

I love this stuff! It makes delicious, quality stock, keeps
forever, and is super concentrated.

Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper (I used the crock pot for this and let it simmer all afternoon).

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese

It's a family favorite!