Your Search for the Perfect French Onion Soup Recipe Ends Here

There’s something about a cold winter's day that makes me crave French onion soup. Wait! Who am I kidding? I crave French onion soup virtually all of the time. It's just that there's something about eating it while curled up on the couch on a cold winter day that makes me feel warm and cozy inside.

If there's a French onion soup recipe, I've probably tried it, but there's one that stands out above the rest. I think one of the reasons that I've fallen head over heels with this recipe is that it calls for red wine and adding dry wine enhances the flavor in wonderful ways.

Thanks to Food Network chef, Tyler Florence, this is my favorite go-to when the craving hits and I'm super excited to share it with you. Note that it takes some time to make this, but the end result is worth every second in the kitchen.

Tyler Florence’s French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red cooking wine (or just use some really dry drinking wine), about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts beef broth
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions:

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat and then add the onions,  garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cook this until the onions are very soft and nice and caramelized which should be about 25 minutes. Add the wine to the pot and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry about 5 minutes. Toss the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with flour and then stir. Turn the heat down to medium-low so that the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Once that's done, add the beef broth, bring the soup back up to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

In the last few minutes of the soup cooking process, preheat the broiler in your oven and arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere cheese and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and float a couple of the Gruyere toasted baguette slices on top.

Or, you can do what I do and ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls in the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese. When I do this, I use a crock and put it under the broiler.

Your mom or grandma probably had a tan and brown crock or two tucked away in her kitchen cabinet and for good reason, these hold a good amount of soup and are safe to put under the broiler. Always check to make sure whatever you're serving your soup in is broiler-safe or you'll have a huge mess on your hands.

[via Food Network]