I have made this many times to rave reviews. I use a quart box of each broth.....and about 1/2 cup of sherry, 1/4 cup cooked with the broth and the other 1/4 cup added at the time of serving. It came from a symphony fundraiser cook book....that's why it's called white note....and it is lighter than most onion soups.

White Note Onion Soup
4 to 5 large onions thinly sliced
6 T. butter
3 T. all purpose flour
3, 10 oz cans of chicken broth
3, 10 oz cans of beef broth
3 T dry sherry

French bread
grated Swiss cheese
grated Parmesan cheese

In a large Dutch oven ( a heavy pot holding at least 4 quarts) melt the butter and cook the onion very slowly until soft but not browned....just a little golden....blend in the flour, tossing the onion to coat evenly, add warm broths slowly stirring all the while ( so you don't get flour lumps), then simmer VERY slowly for about 2 hours. Toast slices of the bread on a cookie sheet in an oven at 350 until brown, turn and toast the other side. Add sherry to soup. Ladle soup into bowls, top with a toast slice and a mixture of grated Swiss and Parmesian cheeses.....serve and enjoy!!
Linda C

French Onion Soup is one of my favourites and nothing could be easier.

Linda's recipe is much like I do mine except I place mine under the broiler before serving to melt and bubble up the cheese....I'm betting Linda's does too and just forgot to mention it.

Only trick is to watch so it doesn't burn and let cool a bit before you eat! Or risk burnt roof of teh mouth syndrome!

As an aside, would you consider making a quiche instead of the meat plate? A quiche is very easy to do and goes perfectly with the French Onion Soup, add a tossed salad and you have a wonderful and memorable meal.

Here is my recipe. A little different than the one posted above and super easy!

French Onion Soup
My own recipe

2 lb sweet onions, sliced thinly & separated into rings
Bacon Grease
4-1/2 c beef broth
1/2 c white wine
2 T Worcestershire
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Salt & pepper

French bread slices, toasted
Gruyere Cheese

Saute onion rings in bacon grease until lightly browned. Combine onions and remaining ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if necessary

Ladle soup into oven proof bowls. Place one slice of toasted French bread on top and 2 slices of gruyere or swiss cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is browned and bubbly.
Serve.

Linda

Whenever I'm in the mood for French Onion soup, I always make Julia Child's recipe from her masterful book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1

3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar (to help carmelize the onions)
3 Tablespoons flour
8 cups light beef stock, at a boil
1/2 cup dry white wine (like extra dry vermouth)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons cognac

Garnish: 6-8 croutes of hard toasted French bread rounds; 1-2 cups grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter and oil over low heat in a heavy soup pot. Stir in the onions, cover, and sweat til tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the cover, turn the heat up to medium, and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook 30-40 minutes, stirring often, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown. (Back in the 1960s, as a new bride, I was acquanted with an older, beautiful French woman (then in her 40s or 50s) who often made French onion soup. I happened to visit her one day when she had the soup on the stove and she told me something I've never forgotten: The secret to French onion soup is to slowly and patiently cook the onions until they are the desired deep, golden brown.)

Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat and whisk in the boiling stock. Add the wine. Season to taste. Put back on the heat, bring to a simmer, and simmer, partially covered, for 30-40 minutes or more, skimming as needed. Correct seasoning (you can set it aside uncovered at this point until you are ready to serve).

When ready to serve, with the soup at a simmer, stir in the cognac. Place the toast pieces in the bottoms of each bowl, pour the soup over it, and pass the cheese separately for your guests to help themselves.

Nope....onion soup in a broiler is an American affectation. the hot soup melts the cheeses just fine. That stuff with the broiled topping started at someplace like Outback.
I usually put the couton in the bowl, top with cheese and ladle in the soup.

Yes , Linda I agree that the "traditional" recipe calls for the crouton and cheese on the bottom with soup ladled over, but that is not what you posted in your recipe.

Your recipe says to " Ladle soup into bowls, TOP with a toast slice and a mixture of grated Swiss and Parmesan cheeses." which is why I thought it was meant to be broiled so the cheese would melts and browns.

Having enjoyed French Onion Soup in France several times I can tell you that the version with the cheese broiled on top is not "an Outback creation" but rather a version called "Soupe a la Onion Gratinee" and is one of Julia Child's favourite variations of traditional french Onion Soup.

This one is fine when a made a day or two ahead and reheated over a low heat.

FRENCH ONION SOUP - serves 4 to 6

3 Tbs. butter
4 large sweet onions (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp. sugar (optional, see note)
1 cup dry white wine
2 quarts beef broth
2 ribs celery with leaves, each rib cut in half
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry fino sherry
4 to 6 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick, lightly toasted
1/4 cup coarsely grated Emmental, Gruyere, or other Swiss-type cheese

Melt the butter in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, a minimum of 30 minutes. (The longer the onions cook slowly, the richer the flavor of the soup.)

Add the white wine and cook over medium-high heat until the wine reduces to about half, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, celery, salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and allow the soup to simmer until the onions are meltingly tender, about 40 minutes. Remove and discard the celery. Add the sherry and simmer soup for another 5 minutes.

To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Ladle the soup into individual ovenproof bowls. Top each with 1 slice of bread, sprinkle with 1 Tbs. cheese, and place the bowls on a cookie sheet. Heat in the center of the preheated oven just until the cheese melts and bubbles, 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and serve at once.

Source: La Bonne Soupe - NYC

Note: The tiny bit of sugar added to the onions helps caramelize them, but the onions themselves will caramelize if they're sweet enough and if you're patient enough. I never use it, just keep them cooking. I always use firm yellow onions. The large white onions don't seem to get soft enough and vidalias become soft but have such a bland flavor when cooked.

Also, this is the original recipe from the restaurant but I bake the baguette slices with the cheese by themselves and then float them on the soup rather than putting the soup bowls in the oven.

Ruthanna - for those that don't have oven proof bowls the idea of making the cheese/toast melts seperately is an excellent idea. I did that once when preparing FO soup for my large family. Although adding the croutons and cheese to the bottom of the bowl would've been a great way of doing it also.

Teresa

The secret to good French Onion Soup is as ruthanna said. Cook the onions low and slow. You cannot speed up this process. Letting the onions caramelize sufficiently gives the real flavor to this soup. Anne Burrell (Secrets of a restaurant chef) has an excellent recipe. She uses chicken broth instead of beef broth. Actually, I use her recipe but use half beef and half chicken.

Ruthanna,

I have a few friends at Alliance Francaise (FIAF)NYC. We always just walk over to La Bonne Soupe after we meet, and my favorite is their Onion Soup.

I've tried to imitate their soup without much success.

Thanks for posting their recipe. I am sure going to try again.

dcarch

The secret of a good french onion soup is keep it simple.It's peasant food. Brown the onions for at least 30 mins, often longer. As has been said, don't rush this step.
The next thing that is really important is the quality of your stock. You can add wine, beer or even a drop of brandy. The version on the toast and cheese are many and varied; there is no one correct answer to that but don't forget that the other name for this soup is the "ivrogne" - the drunkard. It was believed that this soup could remove alcohol from your body - it's still served in the bars here early in the morning after the "reveillon" of christmas and new year! Bonnes f�tes de fin d'ann�es!

Wow, nice to see all the recipes and discussions! I'm not sure which I will use but I certainly will keep them all. We aren't much on alcohol, even in cooking so will have to decide since I will have to buy whatever I will use.

Maybe someone else will try one of them and let us know how it turns out. Anyone else want to post a diferent version?

Another fan of the Julia Child version here. And if you like, you can carmelize a whole mess of oniions in your crock pot overnight, use what you need and freeze the rest for later.

Just peel and slice about 5 pounds, add a few drops of EVOO to the crock, add the onions and a sprig or two of thyme. Set on low, stir after about 4 hours (or not)and you are done after about 6 to eight. I do mine overnight, but is sure makes for some interesting odors on waking up!

I use Julia's recipe for the most part, with my own changes (I use red wine, vermouth and brandy and part rich beef broth that is reduced by half), but I still deeply caramelize the onions. I have her book "The Way to Cook" and the recipe in there is a little different than the one Beth posted from her earlier book.

Last time I made it, several months ago, the onions took almost two hours to caramelize to a walnut brown.

I can post the recipe but it's not much different than others here.
Ina Gartens French Onion is also excellent, one of the few I've seen that uses enough alcohol.

Barefoot Contessa french onion Soup

2 1/2 lbs yellow onions, halved, and sliced 1/4-inch thick ( 8 cups)
1/4 lb unsalted butter
1 bay leaves
1/2 cup medium-dry sherry
1/2 cup brandy or 1/2 cup cognac
1 1/2 cups good dry white wine
4 cups beef stock
4 cups veal stock ( or just double up on the beef stock)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
freshly grated parmesan cheese ( or a cheese of your choice)

Directions

In a large stockpot on medium-high heat, saute the onions with the butter and bay leaf for 20 minutes, until the onions turn a rich golden brown color.
Deglaze the pan with the sherry and brandy and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes.
Add the beef and veal stocks plus salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf, taste for salt and pepper, and serve hot with grated Parmesan.

Dcarch, I was working in Manhattan in the early 70's when La Bonne Soupe opened and often ate dinner there and at La Fondue directly across the street.

I always get a little nostalgic when I make that onion soup and also their calves' liver with mustard sauce. I doubt if it's still on the menu but it was quite popular when bistro-style restaurants served animal parts other than grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts. LOL

Thank you asking this question. I've gotta try one of these recipes soon. I had the creamy one couple years ago and did not like it one bit.

I do like Panera Bread's French onion and came up with a version that I think is very similar. It has no alcohol but is still quite good. I'll post it later if you would like it.
And I don't know if you understand, but the people who have posted recipes are accomplished cooks. You don't need "someone else to try them and see how they come out".
Sorry, but that just irked me.

mboston, you can just leave out the alcohol. As much as it adds to the taste, given a really good beef broth, you'll be OK.

If you are OK with using a bit of alcohol , ie not a total abstainer, then buy a bottle of dry sherry to use in the soup. It adds much to the flavour and the bottle will last you forever, and I mean forever.....unless you invite me over!