Soupe a L'Oignon au Fromage

For my 6th soup recipe, I decided to go with Soupe a L'Oignon au Fromage (French Onion Soup). In keeping with my "February is for Food Network," this recipe is from the show, Sara's Secrets. One of the things I liked best about this recipe is that it was easy to cut in half. My ingredients are for 3 servings, here's the original recipe.

Soupe a L'Oignon au Fromage (French Onion Soup)

Serves: 3
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: approx. 1 1/4 hour

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large onions (about 2.5 pounds), thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 c. beef broth
1 c. vegetable broth
1 bay leaf (recipe review recommendation)
fresh thyme (recipe review recommendation)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 (1/2-inch thick) slices French bread, toasted
1/3 pound coarsely grated Gruyere

1. Heat the 2 T. butter in a soup pot over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook (add additional tablespoon of butter when pan is starting to get dry), stirring frequently, until caramelized, about 45-50 minutes.

Here's what the onions look when they are first put in the pan:
Here's what they look like once they've been caramelized:
2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and add the brandy. Return the pot to the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost dry. Sprinkle the onions with the flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. While stirring, slowly add the broth, bay leaf, and fresh thyme. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, with the cover slightly ajar, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf.  Season the soup with salt and pepper.

3. Arrange a rack about 4 inches from the broiler and preheat.

4. Arrange 2 ovenproof crocks or deep soup bowls on a baking sheet and ladle the hot soup into them. Arrange 2 slices of toasted bread on top of each soup and sprinkle with the cheese.

5. Broil the soups until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Watch carefully-this process goes fast! Serve immediately.

Voila!

My Notes:

• This was very very good! We served it with some roast beef sandwiches.
  
• We had enough for one more serving after both DH and I helped ourselves.
• I added a bay leaf and some fresh thyme (left over from last week) based on the a comment in the recipe review section.
• Red or white wine can be substituted for the brandy.
• Swiss or Fontina cheese can be substituted for the Gruyere
• I added and would have added even more broth. Straight beef broth tends to have a metallic taste so I tend to mix it with vegetable broth.
• Even though the recipe calls for salt/pepper I haven't needed to add it to the past few recipes.