French Onion Soup Gratinee

By Dottiejk

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon margarine or butter
• 5 medium onions (about 3 pounds); thinly sliced
• Salt
• 6 cup chicken broth
• 1-3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 12 diagonal slices french bread; 1/2 inch thick
• 4-1/2 ounce Swiss cheese
• 1-1/2 ounce asiago cheese (about 3/4 cup); grated

Preparation

Step 1

Melt butter in large soup kettle or Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add
sliced onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir to coat onions thoroughly with
butter. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are reduced and syrupy and
inside of pot is coated with very deep brown crust, 30 to 35 minutes. Stir
in the chicken and beef broths, red wine, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf,
scraping pot bottom with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, and bring to
simmer. Simmer to blend flavors, about 20 minutes, and discard herbs. Stir
in balsamic vinegar and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. (Can be
cooled to room temperature and refrigerated in airtight container up to 2
days; return to simmer before finishing soup with croutons and cheese).

Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to
350°F. Spread the bread out on a rimmed baking hseet and bake, flipping
once, until lightly browned, abdout 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the
oven. Turn the oven to broil.

Set heat-safe soup bowls or crocks on rimmed baking sheet and fill each
with about 1-1/2 cups soup. Top each bowl with two toasted baguette slices
and divide Swiss cheese slices, laying them in a single layer, if possible,
on bread. Soprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons grated Asiago
cheese and broil until well browned and bubbly, 7 - 10 minutes. Cool 5
minutes and serve.