French Onion Soup

We don't know about you, but we love French Onion Soup. Is there anything better on a cold winter day? There's just something about caramelized onions that make us happy. 


We've experimented with different recipes, but in the end, we ended up creating our own recipe for this. 


Here's what you need:
5  lbs. sweet onions
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups white wine
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
6 cups of beef broth
2 cups water
1 oz. whiskey/cognac
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Here's what you do:
Start by heating a your olive oil in a dutch oven. You just want enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

Clean your onions and slice into crescent moon shapes. We know, it's a lot of onions.

Once your oil is hot, add all of the onions to the pot. For each layer of onions that you add to the pot, sprinkle a dash of salt and a pinch of pepper. Throw the lid on and walk away for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the lid and give it a quick stir. Let it cook, uncovered over medium-low heat for a couple of hours. Stir this occasionally, but be patient and let the onions cook down in their own time. Your patience will be rewarded with this:

Ok, so it might look a little gross, but it tastes a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Now that you have a pot full of caramelized onions, add the white wine, until the onions are just covered.

Let that reduce by about half, then add the thyme and bay leaves. You'll also want to salt and pepper this again.

Now add the beef stock, water and brown liquor. Traditionally, French Onion soup is made with cognac, but we used a scotch with a gold label. You can use whatever you prefer.

Bring the soup to a boil and then let simmer for at least an hour.


About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, pre-heat your oven to broil. Slice a nice crusty bread on the bias and top with cheese. We used provolone here, but gruyere is also a great compliment to the crouton. Place these under the broiler and keep an eye on them. They will cook quickly.

Now, simply spoon up a bowl, top with the crouton and serve.

Enjoy!