By Greg B. With the onslaught of winter and colder temperatures, there are few simple meals I like than to come home for a nice warm bowl of French onion soup.  Unfortunately, it is also not really the simplest of possible winter warmer meals, but it is among the tastiest.  In a few steps, the right equipment, and a lot of time, you too can enjoy some homemade French onion soup!

To start, you’re going to need onions.  I like to use Yellow Onions, nothing special is needed here.  If I am cooking for myself, I’ll cut up two medium/small onions, bearing in mind that onions always shrink down when cooked.  Fry these in butter in a pan until cooked and golden grown

Add to this mixture one can of beef broth of stock, if you have it.  Add salt and pepper to taste, then I like to add a big splash of white wine, not too sweet, since the onions are plenty sweet to begin with.  let this simmer for about 20 minutes on low, for some of the liquid to cook down.  You’ll know it is almost ready when it becomes a little thicker and more viscous of a soup, rather than liquid and onions.  The onions will also become very soft, as you cook the hell out of them.

About 10 minutes before your onion/stock/wine mixture has cooked down, turn your oven on to 450F.  Once the onion soup has finished cooking, pour some into an oven proof bowl, or if you are fortunate enough to have them, French Onion Soup bowls.  Usually very thick and hardy ceramic with dual handles (or, sometimes no handles).  Be sure to leave room at the top for the final ingredients: croutons and Gruyere cheese.  And bear in mind, the croutons will sop up the liquid quite a bit, so if you are a fan of broth, be sure to add more liquid either to this recipe in general, or to the bowl you are going to eat from!  Otherwise you’ll just have a bread/cheese/onion mixture which, while sounding kind of delicious, is not actually French onion soup.

Now, you can substitute other forms of Swiss cheese for the Gruyere.  And to be honest, I don’t know why the French, who aren’t too friendly with anyone, let alone the Swiss, would be using Swiss cheese on the French Onion Soup, but hey, I don’t make the rules!  This is just the classic way of making it.  Add croutons to the top of the soup, and cover with shavings or slices of Gruyere cheese, then add it to the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown at the top.

At this point, pull the soup and LET IT SIT for a few minutes.  It will be very hot, so give it some time to cool down.  Don’t worry, it wont get cold, you have the heavy duty ceramic bowl keeping the heat, as well as the cheese layer on top trapping heat exchange, so this will stay hot for a long time.  I usually end up serving this as a final dish, since I’ll put it in the oven around when I am ready to eat dinner, then pull it and let it cool, and have it at the end of the meal.

And that’s how simple some good French onion soup can be!  Given the right materials, and a proper amount of time, you can me it with ease.  However, it does take a bit of patience to prepare, but if done right, it can even be a veritable meal in itself! (note: it is a very hearty soup, so please plan your meals to go with this accordingly!). (2nd Note:  place a drip pan or something below the soup when you place it in the oven, there is potential for cheese or anything else to bubble out and burn at 450F, and you don’t need your smoke alarm going off!  Unless you want to test it, of course).