Learning to Love

"Onion soup sustains. The process of making it is somewhat like the process of learning to love. It requires time and committment, extraordinary effort, time, and will make you cry," according to Ronni Lundy.

My second Barefoot Bloggers post is going to be late as I'm making the recipe tomorrow while I'm off from work and can enjoy the deliciousness. In the meantime, though, I do have some fantastic soup to share with everyone. I made this on a cold, rainy day and seeing as we have some more cold, rainy days coming up here, I figure it's time to share.

I love French onion soup but have never made it at home, because among the list of things my husband doesn't like is French onion soup, or onions at all really. I rarely see the point in making a big batch of something when I'll be the only one eating it, but for this, I made the exception. I'm really glad I did, because it turned out fantastically and I really enjoyed it for lunch with a sandwich and a chick flick. Even though that was my special occasion, this looks fancy enough to serve to dinner guests and is pretty simple to put together. For some reason, I've always loved French onion soup with Provolone cheese melted on top, but you could use Swiss or Gruyere (Paula's suggestion) and I'm sure it would be equally delicious. I made half a batch as it was just for me, so if you're feeding a crowd double what's below.

French Onion Soup

adapted from Paula Deen's recipe

makes 3 servings

Ingredients:

4 onions, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. flour

4 C. beef broth

1/8 C. dry white wine

pinch of dried thyme

salt and pepper

loaf of French bread

1/4 lb. Provolone cheese, sliced (3 slices per serving) or 1 C. grated gruyere cheese

Directions:

Saute onions and garlic in oil over low heat until soft and golden yellow.

Sprinkle the flour over the onions and continue to cook for a few more minutes until flour is well browned.

Add the broth and the wine and bring to a boil.

Add thyme.

Reduce heat and cover, simmering gently for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the bread into slices 1 inch thick. Toast the bread on both sides, using a griddle or the broiler.

Ladle the soup into an oven safe bowl, add a piece of toasted bread and top with the Provolone.

Place the bowls on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and place under the broiler for 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

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