French Onion Soup with Pear & Pecan Salad & Emeril's Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette - A Recipe!

Ok first off, i can not claim any of  this as my own. The soup is from Jersey Tomato @ All Recipes.http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/french-onion-soup-gratinee/detail.aspx

I will, however, blog the ever loving hell out of it because it is, hands down, the most awesomest {yes that is a word in my world} French Onion Soup EVERRRRRRRR. You will need oven soup bowls FYI.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large red onions, thinly sliced
• 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 1 (48 fluid ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 thick slices French or Italian bread
• 8 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese slices, room temperature
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese, room temperature
• 4 pinches paprika

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy.
2. Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
3. Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler.
4. Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one.
5. Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately!

ENJOY

&

SERVE WITH SALAD!

I serve this with  Pear & Candied Pecan Salad w/ Emeril's Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, 
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Beat the vinegar in a bowl with the optional sugar, garlic, salt and pepper until sugar and salt dissolves. Then beat in the oil by droplets, whisking constantly. (Or place all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake to combine.) Taste and adjust the seasonings.

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  Enjoy & serve with your favorite wine.