French Onion Soup

This soup is variation on a classic French Onion . I have been making variations of this soup for years. I wasn't until I started working at Front Page that I really started playing with the different tweaks that I could do with it.

One of the main things I do is use different types of onions in the soup. I also stagger the addition of the onions into the soup so that when the soup is finished you still have the texture of onions and they haven't cooked completely down. I also use a heavy amount of cooking sherry, sherry vinegar, and mustard powder. The acid from the vinegar brightens up the broth, and the sherry and mustard give it a mild sweet and spicy flavor.

One of the best parts of this soup, is the broiled cheese topping that goes over the soggy bread. Ideally you have the proper vessel to bake or broil the soup off, but if not I have included a way to serve it.

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Ingredients

• Garlic, thinly sliced 1 head

• Butter 1 stick

• Crushed Red Pepper 1 T

• Yellow Onions, julienned 8 ea

• Red Onions, julienned 3 ea

• Shallots, thinly sliced 4 ea

• Chives 2 oz

• Oregano 2 oz

• Thyme 2 oz

• Bay Leaves 3 ea

• Cooking Sherry 1 cup

• Sherry Vinegar 1/4 cup

• Worcestershire 1 T

• Avenue Spice 1 T

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• Mustard Powder 1 T

• Beef Stock 4 qt

Garnish

Cheese Topping, Baguette (sliced thin)

Method of Procedure

1. Tie your herbs up with butcher's twine (or put in a cheese cloth sachet).

2. Saute crushed red pepper, Avenue spice, mustard powder and garlic in butter until soft.

3. Add 1/2 your onions and shallots and your herbs then continue to saute while stirring for about 30 minutes.

4. Put in your Worcestershire, cooking sherry, and sherry vinegar and continue cooking until most of the liquid is cooked out.

5. Add your beef stock and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 2 hours.

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper then add the remaining onions. Continue to cook at a simmer for another 3 hours.

7. To serve either:

   1. Place sliced baguette on-top of soup in a oven safe dish, then liberally cover with cheese topping . Broil on high for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and browned.

   2. Place your crostinis (thinly sliced baguette seasoned with oil, and salt and pepper) and top with cheese topping. Bake until browned and place on top of your soup.