French Onion Soup

By dkanon

Ingredients

• 1/2 c butter
• 4 medium-sized sweet onions, sliced thin
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 10.5 oz cans Beef Consomme
• 1 10.5 oz can Beef Broth
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 4 thick slices French Bread (or 2 c Parmesan croutons)
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 4 slices Swiss cheese, chopped
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• paprika to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Melt butter in a stock pot. Add onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and caramelized (about 30 minutes). Add consomme, beef broth, and vinegar and simmer another 30 minutes (at this point you can also transfer to a crock pot and cook on low heat for several hours).
When ready to eat, toast French bread in broiler for about 2 minutes turning once, until lightly toasted on each side. Remove from broiler, but keep broiler on. Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme from soup. Ladle soup evenly into 4 oven-safe serving bowls. Place a slice of French bread into each bowl and top with provolone and Swiss cheese.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and paprika over the top and broil for about 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.