Soupe a L'oignon... Facile.

Oui, my francais est tres tres horrendous, mais... j'aime les food de france.
I am working on honing my french skills... till they're formidable et... jolie?
(clearly i only remember part of 7th grade french)

anyway... i love french onion soup. i make a beeline (or bee ligne.. huh huh) for it whenever I'm in france.

I've given it a few goes in my kitchen, but I always find its not quite as rich and flavorful as I would like, without the feeling of heaviness.

Well... this time, I think i've conquered (or Napoleon'd) it. and it only takes half an hour-ish. Holler!

the KEY is the parmesan rind... but here... read the whole recipe

Easy French Onion

Ingredients:
2-3 tbsps of butter (i err on the side of more butter, but i dont cook for health.)
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 large onions (I used 1 vidalia onion, 1/2 red onion, 1/2 spanish onion)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 fresh thyme sprigs
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 cup white wine
5 cups of beef broth
1 cup of water
small block of gruyere cheese
1 brioche
salt
pepper
a 2 inch by 3inch piece of parmesan RIND (now you can use it instead of tossing it!)

*also you need ovenproof bowls


Directions:
Preheat your broiler.
Slice your onions into thin strips.
Melt the butter in the bottom of a pot, cook the garlic until aromatic, then throw in the onions and sugar.
Cook until the onions are sweating (5 mins-ish) and then pour in about a fourth of the wine (1/8 cup... im Asian, thus good at fractions.)
continue to cook for 2 more minutes, add another 1/8 cup, then 4 minutes later, or when they are looking brownish and tender, add the rest of the wine.
Stir in thyme, bay leaves, some salt and pepper.
Let this cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Pour in your beef broth and water, then throw in the parmesan rind. Bring everything to a boil and let it boil for 2 minutes or so.
Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and the rind.

slice your brioche bun into quarters and stick 2 quarters in each bowl, ladle the soup over that.
Thinly slice your gruyere and layer it on top of your soup. (I added in just a little bit of pepper jack bc I like a bit of a kick.)

Broil that baby until the top of the soup looks golden brown, melty, and delicieuse.

bon appetit!