French Onion Soup

For Christmas, Parker got me a set of really nice soup crocks or ramekins. I had asked for them in order to make individual pot pies, soups, etc. that could go into the oven. Tonight I decided to try them out with some French onion soup. I ended up making a very delicious French meal, which is not a cuisine I specialize in. French cooking to me is sort of like Italian cooking covered in heavy (and often unnecessary) sauces. But I got inspired yesterday when I found the delicious, warm, crusty French loaf I had looked for last week. I also bought a whole red snapper yesterday at Harry's that I thought would go perfectly with my French-style dinner.

For the snapper, I cooked it like I always do whole fish. I buy the freshest looking whole fish I can find and have them clean it (guts and scales) but otherwise keep it whole (head, bones, skin). Then I brush the fish on both sides with a beaten egg and coat it in Kosher salt. Literally, I use about a handful of salt. It forms a crust on the fish and gives it just the right amount of flavor. I then stuff the belly with whole green onions and bake it at 425 about 20 minutes or so until its cooked through. That's it! Super easy and it ends up being flaky, moist and delicious. This is how they make it in Italy and the hardest part (besides having the fish stare at you the whole time) is cleaning it. But with a little practice, its very easy to do. I'll try to post a step-by-step next time. I tried to make a beurre blanc to go with it but it did not turn out tasty enough so I went without, which is how I normally serve it anyways. I also did baked asparagus with hollandaise sauce which was very tasty. Hollandaise is something I had never done before either so I just found a recipe on FoodNetwork.com and tried it out. I added a little garlic to the recipe (can't stop an Italian cook from adding garlic) and it was much better. Lastly, my French onion soup, from scratch. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

French Onion Soup

2 large sweet yellow onion
4 Tbls butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup cabernet sauvignon (or other dry red wine)
2 cups low sodium beef broth (I made my own, recipe to follow later this week)
3 Tbls brandy
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
2 Tbls fresh grated gruyere cheese
3 slices mozzarella
3 slices French bread, toasted

In a large stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. Quarter the onions and slice somewhat thinly. Add onions to butter and saute over medium heat about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and let onions soften about 20 minutes. They should be al dente, not mushy but soft and translucent. In the last 5 minutes, add garlic. Increase heat to medium-high and add wine. Bring to a low boil. Add beef broth, brandy and bay leaf and simmer at a low boil for about 15 minutes, allowing alcohol to cook out. Add thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into 3 or 4 small, individual bowls. Top with slice of bread, shredded gruyere and then mozzarella slice. Broil on low about 5 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.

*I found that the slices of bread were a little more difficult to "cut into" with a spoon so I'll probably do homemade croutons with the French bread next time. To do that, I will cut bread into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle with olive oil or spray with olive oil cooking spray. Sprinkle with gruyere cheese and bake at 450 until browned and toasted, turning once.