French Onion Soup: It's Contagious

When I visited the Harts of Ada last week, the intoxicating aroma of simmering onions greeted me at the door. Janelle and Chris had enjoyed The Best French Onion Soup In The World* at the Lock Sixteen restaurant in Lima a few days earlier and Janelle was attempting to figure out the recipe at home. She was using homemade beef stock. I am not going to make fun of the fact that she makes her own beef stock. And jam. And noodles.

It was an excellent soup. That broth was really top-notch, but for me, French Onion Soup is all about the bread and the cheese. I decided to try my hand at French Onion Soup once I returned to Seattle.

This morning I busted out my trusty crock pot and set some onions to cooking. I got to smell them all day while I worked from home. The resulting soup was kind of a disappointment, but I think this recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook has potential. Below is what I should have done, and will do next time:

6 large yellow onions, sliced thin (fewer tears if you peel the onions and put them in the freezer for a few minutes before slicing them)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cans beef broth
2 tablespoons wine
4 to 6 1-inch thick slices French bread
8 oz. Gruyere cheese

Toss the onions in the oil. Cook in the crock pot on high for 9 to 10 hours. The ones on the bottom will get all crispy and dark.

Add the broths and wine and continue to cook on high until hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toast bread slices in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Ladle soup into ovenproof soup bowls and put the bowls on a baking sheet. Top each bowl with a slice of bread and cover with a slice of cheese. Put the bowls under the broiler and broil until melted and bubbly.

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The original recipe called for half beef broth, half chicken broth, and no other seasonings. It explicitly says not to add salt, but I thought the soup was kind of bland. I also threw in an extra onion this time, and that was a mistake. It was like eating a bowl of onions and bread. There wasn't enough broth to soak into the bread properly. I used mozzarella instead of Gruyere because I shop at the ghetto Albertson's that doesn't carry Gruyere. Despite being from Ohio, I successfully reasoned that mozzarella would be better than Velveeta.

I hope for better luck next time, or perhaps I will try to modify the leftovers tomorrow.

*I later received a conflicting report that The Best French Onion Soup in the World comes from Cal's Restaurant in Garrettsville. Take that, France.