I wasn’t serious about making French Onion Soup this time. I’m not absolutely sure, but I may have only made this once before. The soup turned out delicious that time, but as with many other things, I fail to repeat the process on a regular basis. I think the Internet did not exist the first time I made this, so I am not sure how I got a working recipe, but I did.

I may have made my beef broth from scratch the first time. This time, I’m just using a cheap beef broth from Walmart. I noted that when I deglazed the pan above, the fond on the bottom came off in flakes, and those not that flavorful.

I bought some Baby Swiss cheese slices for this, and then just a while ago read that Gruyere and Parmesan are the preferred cheeses of choice for this soup. It was Gary Golden that made this soup, years ago, when we were both attending Seminary in Louisville, KY.

I plan to toast the bread I have, multigrain mountain white wheat bread, with some of the Swiss in my oven and just put it on top of the heated soup. There are several elements that are working against this soup being as good as I remembered. *In writing this, I just recalled that I probably made this for the second time several years ago after having some at Marquis’ Bistro Restaurant & Lounge which is part of the Double Tree by Hilton hotel next to I95 & a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Fayetteville, NC. I don’t recall why I was at this hotel. I didn’t stay there. There may have been a work conference there, and then I decided to eat at the Bistro. The French Onion Soup was on their menu, I tried it, and was reminded of how much I had liked this the first time I tried it. More than likely, I tried making this at home again, but I recall no details.

I put Swiss cheese on the mountain bread, and also grated a small amount of Parmesan cheese and toasted a couple of slices. I ladelled out some soup in a regular soup bowl and then placed the toasted bread on top. Surprisingly this soup turned out well. But, the beef broth could have been much better, and that is what I would focus on, if and when I make French Onion Soup again… at home.

The melted cheese on the toasted bread worked very well. Eating the bread with the soup was a highlight.