But Baby It's Cold Outside...

 

I love this song; especially on a chilly night.  The sound of Dean Martin and Doris Day going back and forth playfully throughout the song is just so heartwarming ‘cause there is nothing like the company of a loved one all snuggled up in front of a fire and a nice glass of wine on a nice chilly night.

 

Even better with that loved one is sharing a nice bowl of hearty soup.  One of my favorites to make when it’s cold outside is this dead simple French Onion Soup au Gratin.  With the temperatures slowly dipping down throughout the past week, I decided to make some tonight to warm me up.

The recipe calls for both chicken and beef broth.  I use low-salt store bought stocks, but I can only imagine how much better this recipe would be if one had homemade stock.  So if you have a favorite stock recipe I’d recommend trying that.  If not, Paula Roy, an Ottawa based freelance culinary writer, recently posted a great stock recipe on her new blog “Constantly Cooking”.  I can’t wait to try this soup using her stock.

French Onion Soup au Gratin

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large red onions, thinly sliced
• 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 1 (48 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 thick slices French bread
• 8 slices Le Gruyere cheese slices
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese
• 4 pinches paprika

Directions: 

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook approx. 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy.
2. Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
3. Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler.
4. Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one.
5. Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately!