French Onion Soup just makes me let out a loud ‘Mmmmm’, I have a problem with letting out yummy sounds when enjoying food. This is quite possibly my favorite soup around, and is definitely a staple order when I go to pubs. Its loaded with caramelized onions (yum), topped with cheesy goodness (double yum), and is in rich, deep and flavorful broth (triple yum)! If you’re not drooling by now, I question the validity of your palette.

So my parents were away on vacation in Aruba…lucky them, and if I don’t feed the my brother and I dinner we usually end up eating pb&j with a side of whatever was left in our fridge. Since we share the same love for this soup, I decided to be the best sister ever and make this with our dinner. Along with french onion soup being my favorite pub food, steak tidbits is another. Who wouldn’t love garlic bread topped with tender skirt steak and melted mozzarella? A crazy person, that’s who! I have to admit, I’m a bit too hungry while writing this blog post and am somewhat dreaming about having this in my tummy. Unfortunately I don’t have an exact recipe written out for the steak tidbits, as I just threw it together. But check the bottom of the blog post for a low down of how to make these!

Any who, this soup is always crowd pleaser for the onion lover in you life. It is a simplistic soup to make but brings a complex flavor which will make it seem like you’ve slaved in the kitchen for hours to make. And the best part is you probably have all these ingredients in your cupboard already! So really, what are you waiting for? Get cookin’!

French Onion Soup

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 yellow onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts beef broth
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 1/2 pound grated Gruyère

Directions:

1. Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 40 minutes.
2. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and sir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
3. When you’re ready to eat, preheat the broiler to 350°F. Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with Gruyere. Place the bowls onto a cookie sheet and put under the broiler for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Steak Tidbits

Ingredients:

• 1 baguette
• Skirt steak or any tender steak of your choosing
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Mozzarella cheese
• Garlic powder

Directions:

1. Slice the steak into bite-sized pieces and place into a Ziploc bag with the soy sauce and crushed garlic, let marinate for approximately 20 minutes.
2. In the meantime preheat the broiler to 350°F. Cut your baguette in half and butter each side. Sprinkle each side with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place bread in oven until lightly browned.
3. Pan fry the skirt steak until medium rare. Place the cooked steak on prepared bread. Top with mozzarella and place back under broiler until cheese is melted with golden brown.