French Onion Soup

I love French onion soup!  One evening this week we had spinach salad and French onion soup and it hit the spot.  I have never been really happy with my original recipe and every time I have made it I have tried something a little different.  I finally hit the mark and figured out how to get the taste I wanted.  Onions with the beef broth from a can just didn't cut it for me. 

The way to make excellent onion soup is to have good beef broth.  I made a couple of roast in December for various things and I saved the broth from these roast.  I seasoned the roast with salt, pepper and garlic and one package of onion soup mix.  I pour this over the roast with 2 to 3 cups of water.  I put the roast in a foil pocket and seal it after I put in the water.  This also makes a wonderful roast gravy.  I put the juices from the roast in a plastic container in the frig but you could freeze this until you are ready to use it.

When I was ready to make the soup, I used three large yellow onions.  I peeled, sliced them in half and the cut thin slices.  Put all the sliced onions in about 3 tablespoons of butter and cook the onions stirring often until they are golden.  Then add your beef juices and about one more cup of water.  Taste and season at this time with salt and pepper.  I also added 2 sprigs of fresh thyme. I let this simmer for about 30 minutes then let it sit for about 30 minutes. 

I sliced French bread about 1/2 inch thick slices and put them in the oven to toast them on both sides.  Ladle your soup into an oven proof bowl and put one slice of French bread on top of the soup and then top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  I had some Provolone and Asiago on hand that I shredded. Then add a generous amount of cheese to the top of the bread.  Then put this under the broiler until the cheese melts and serve.

This was very rich and delicious and I'll have to say it was the best onion soup I have eaten.  I'm not always going to have the juice from a roast to make French onion soup but if you want excellent French onion soup this is the way to get it.