Crock Pot French Onion Soup
So, I have to be honest. I am not sure that I have ever tried French Onion Soup before tonight. It always sounded intriguing, but looked kind of weird, so I shied away. I've been searching for interesting recipes for my new handy dandy Crock Pot I got for Christmas, and I came across this recipe for French Onion Soup. It sounded delicious, but the slow cooker is mostly for work days, and I definitely didn't have time to caramelize onions in the morning. So, I searched for a different recipe, and found this one. As usual, there were parts of each recipe that sounded better to me (or that fit the available ingredients on hand -- let's be honest: I was looking up these recipes last night at 11pm when I suddenly realized recipe 1 wouldn't work for the morning!). So, I kind of combined the two and came out with this:
This is Tom's latest home brew that I used in the recipe! |
- 3 1/2 large sweet onions, sliced thinly
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 cup beer (I used Tom's latest home brew!)
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- A few small sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme (from the little that I have growing in my sun room...er...living in my sun room. Any growth right now is debatable.)
- Crusty bread (I think I had a ciabatta loaf)
- Gouda cheese
So easy! Hardest part is slicing onions... |
Directions:
Place sliced onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add beef broth and beer. Top with balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, butter and herbs. Cook on low for 8 hours. Just before serving, top a couple of pieces of crusty bread with the Gouda. Bake at 400 degrees until melted, then broil for a few minutes until bubbly. Ladle the soup into a small bowl and top with cheesy toasts!
I thought this turned out great! Of course, my caveat being I'm not sure if I ever have had French Onion Soup before and hence not sure if this is the expected taste. Anywho, I'll eat it!