Hearty French Onion Soup

Hearty French Onion Soup
2 lbs. beef soup bones
1 T. vegetable oil
¼ c. Flour
½ tsp. Salt
pinch of Pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 carrot, unpeeled and sliced into chunks leafy parts of 2 celery stalks
1 bay leaf
4 C. water
4 large onions sliced into thin circles
¼ c. butter
1 tsp. white sugar
4 C. of homemade beef stock
2 C. commercial beef stock
½ C. red wine (I substitute red grape juice, cranberry juice or mixed red fruit juices.)
1 small loaf of French bread or a baguette
8 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Heat oil in large saucepan, mix flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder and dredge beef bones in mixture. Place in hot oil and brown on all sides. Add 2 C. of water to hot pan to loosen cooked particles of meat and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, add remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 hours.

Melt butter in large stockpot or saucepan with a heavy bottom. Stir in sugar and onions. Cook over medium heat until golden brown. This takes about 45-60 minutes. Stir occasionally and don’t rush, this makes the soup really taste good. If you need to add a little more butter at the end to avoid sticking you can do that. Stain beef broth, cut meat off of bones and add to onions. Add additional beef broth and juice, bring to boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Slice bread into 1 inch slices. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and toast in
325 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until browned. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place toast slices into 6 oven proof bowls, ladle soup over the toast and top with Swiss cheese slices. Place bowls on cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with remaining French bread slices.

If you are pressed for time, you can substitute the homemade beef stock with additional commercial canned stock, (chicken or beef) but you won’t get the beef pieces.

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