Passport to France

Your everloving greened eyed chef here and as a few of my readers know, I had swine flu and have been trying to get over it. Pretty much gone except for a slight cough and just really tired. I was wanting to make something that would help in my recovery and remembered a show Rachael did where she made a great looking French Onion Soup, so i figured, hey why not.............

Ingredients
1 tablespoon evoo
2 tablespoons butter
6 medium onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry sherry
6 cups beef broth
4 thick slices crusty bread, toasted
2 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese


Heat a deep pot over medium to medium high heat. Work next to the stove to slice onions. Add oil and butter to the pot. Add onions to the pot as you slice them. When all the onions are in the pot, season with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme. Cook onions 15 to 18 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender, sweet and caramel colored. Add bay leaf and sherry to the pot and deglaze the pan drippings. Add 6 cups broth and cover pot to bring soup up to a quick boil.

Arrange 4 small, deep soup bowls or crocks on a cookie sheet. Preheat broiler to high. Once soup reaches a boil, ladle it into bowls. Float toasted crusty bread on soup and cover each bowl with a mound of cheese. Sprinkle remaining fresh thyme on cheese and place cookie sheet with soup bowls on it under hot broiler until cheese melts and bubbles


The Verdict............well, I have to say this is a very tasty dish. the flavor was rich and the various ingredients really blended well together. I used broth for a more beefy flavor, but you could use beef stock too if you wanted less beef taste. You also could and roast to the soup as well for a bit more of a hearty dish.

The cats even got in on the acct, they all loved this dish and quickly lapped up a bowl. The dish took the full thirty mins to make, but is well worth the effort, so enjoy.