French Onion Soup

Who wouldn't love a steaming bowl of comfort???

I improvise my French Onion Soup most of the time...come to think of it, I have never followed a recipe for this dish. It's been a trial and error process, but it seems to work out each time. I have found that in the past, my soup has lacked a certain "something"...a richness, a thickness that typically is found at restaurants. So, alas, I improvised more this time and came out with something that had that certain spark I was searching for! Normally I use 1 can of beef broth, water and other various items...this time, I reached for the beef broth, found I didn't have a can and found a can of Campbells French Onion soup...cheating? OK, a LITTLE...but I added love to it, so it's totally mine!

Feel free to make this recipe your own, vary the ingredients to your taste, use a pot on the stove rather than a crock pot...whatever floats your boat!

French Onion Soup - serves 2-3
Recipe - courtesy of ME!

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 beef bouillon cubes dissoved in 3 cups of water
• 1 can of French Onion canned soup (I used Campbells)
• 5 tbs. butter (the real stuff, people!)
• Salt (sparingly) and Pepper (a lot) to taste
• About 3 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce - can be varied to taste
• Croutons - any kind
• Provolone cheese - or any kind you wish, hey, I'm not picky.

Directions

Dice the onion and put into a medium saute pan with 2 tbs. of the REAL butter. Caramelize the onions over medium high heat until they are golden.

Break out the crock pot... Add dissolved bouillon, can of soup, 3 tbs. of butter, salt, pepper and Worcestershire and turn crock pot on (did you know that if you add ingredients after you turn the crock pot on to heat, it will crack the ceramic?? I found that out a crock pot ago!). Add onions and stir. Pop the lid on and let simmer away on high for about 3-4 hours. Or longer, depending on when you want to eat...

To serve - In an oven-proof bowl, lay one slice of cheese in the bottom of the bowl, add a layer of croutons (shortcut for the toasted bread, it works wonderfully), ladle soup into the bowl at this point and cover with another slice (or two...) of cheese. Place under the broiler on high until cheese is melty and delicious. Enjoy!!!!