French Onion Soup

Yum.  It's my personal favorite soup.  I'm not sure if its the warm broth or the gooey cheese or the crunchy bread that makes it divine.  I can't pick one part.

This is my personal French Onion Soup.  I'm not French so it's a best guess, close enough substitute.

French Onion Soup

4 large yellow onions peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of really good red wine
1 sweet bay leaf
2 quarts of beef stock
Asiago Cheese
Croutons or toasted bread

Caramelize the onions in a large stock pot by heating the oil, adding the thinly slice onions, and sauteing over low heat until brown and sweet.  Take out the onions once they are all caramelized and deglaze the pan with the wine.  Reduce the wine until it is 1/2 the volume or about 1 cup.

Pour in the beef broth (you can use 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 beef broth or vegetable broth for meatless meals), add the sweet bay leaf, and cook for 1-2 hours on a low heat being careful not to boil so as not to reduce your broth too much.

Put a couple of croutons or a slice of toasted bread in each bowl of soup, place the cheese on top and flash it under the broiler until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Yum.

You can make this a crock pot recipe by caramelizing the onions and deglazing the pan with wine and placing everything in the crock pot and cooking on low for 6-8 hours.