Ooh la la! Snow Day soup!

Yeah, yeah, I have a recipe for you, but can we first talk about the important things? Like snow? This is the view I had leaving work this afternoon at 4:30:

And there's supposed to be more coming tonight and/or tomorrow. Look at that up there. Isn't it pretty?! My little winter-loving, southern, introverted soul is absolutely dancing with glee. I LOVE SNOW.

You know what else I also love, especially in conjunction with snow? Soup. Seriously, there are a billion delicious kinds, and they're usually fairly healthy and contain a lot of veggies. You can never get bored of soup. One kind I love that I've been wanting to experiment with is French onion. So while I watched it snow out my boss's office window today, I got an idea...

...make French onion soup for dinner and share it with you all, of course!

I couldn't find a single recipe I liked, so I combined this one and this one. Even combined, the recipes were super easy. To begin, peel and slice 2 large sweet onions into 1/4-inch thick half-circles. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot, then simmer the onions until tender, about 10 minutes or so. Add in garlic, salt and pepper for the last 1-2 minutes of cooking.

Pour in 4 cups of beef broth, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Let simmer for 15 minutes. In retrospect, we think it could have even simmered longer to give it a richer flavor.

Once the soup has simmered to your satisfaction, ladle it into two ovenproof ramekins. Top with cubed bread - the original recipe called for ciabatta bread, but we used a sourdough baguette. Layer thin slices of fontina cheese on top of the baguette. Put the ramekins on a cookie sheet (trust me, it makes for easier removal), and pop in the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and melty, about 4 minutes.

And when it comes out, OMG. Just look at that.

Seriously, look at that crusty bread and melty cheese...and underneath it is a warm, hearty bowl of onion soup...

Maybe it was just the timing, what with the snow and everything, but this soup was great. Again, I think it could be a little richer, but overall it's fantastic. We had some extra onion soup part left over, so we'll probably freeze that. The next time we want French onion soup, all we'll have to do is thaw the soup, put it in a ramekin, add a little bread and cheese, and it'll be an easy weeknight meal. This is one of those things you can definitely prep ahead of time, if you're one of those people who likes freezer meals. I mean, the broiling part only takes 4-5 minutes.

If you're in the southeast United States, and I think most of my readers probably are, you're in for some snow/ice. If you have two onions, two cloves of garlic and some beef broth, you're won't go hungry.

HAPPY SNOW DAY #1, EVERYONE!

Ooh la la French Onion Soup

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 large sweet onions, sliced into half-moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
hearty bread, cubed
fontina cheese, thinly sliced

Directions:
Melt butter in a large pot. Saute onions until tender.
Add garlic, salt and pepper, and saute until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
Add the beef broth, rosemary and Worcestershire.
Let simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes.
Pour onion broth into oven-safe ramekins.
Top with cubed bread. Layer fontina cheese on top of bread.
Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbly.
Enjoy!