French Onion Soup

I've ALWAYS been a fan of french onion soup!  I order it at restaurants and swoon in that beefy, onion broth rolling in silky cheese.....(You want it now dont you! HA!)  Well sometimes I use the weekends for those big recipes I save that are more "involved" than a weeknite meal, etc.  So I dug out my trusty, I mean the book I stole from Aunt Linda, Hello! Paula Deen's FAMOUS FRENCH ONION SOUP!!!  It was soooo yummy and WAY easier to make then I thought it would be. It could easily be on your weeknite meal rotation! Even easier because I cooked in right in old faithful, i.e. my Crockpot!!

Ingredients:
olive oil
4 Lg vidalia onions, sliced thin
2 tsp sugar
2lbs stew meat
1/2 stick margarine, melted
4 cup beef stock
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 loaf French bread
2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (or any cheese you like, I used Mozz.)

Combine your onions, butter and sugar in the crockpot until well coated.  Cook on high for 90 min until soft. 
Saute your stew meat in pan 5-7 min until completely seared and add to your onion mixture.  Deglaze your pan with the wine, scraping all the bits off the bottom and add that to onions as well. Add remaining ingredients (s&p, thyme, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce).   Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hrs or low for 4-5 hrs.  Turn to low and cook 1 hour uncovered until soup thickens.

Meanwhile, slice French bread into 3/4 slices and butter both sides. Toast slices on griddle until golden brown. Ladle soup into an ovenproof bowl, add toasted bread and cover with cheese. Place ovenproof bowl on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees or 5 minutes under a hot broiler.

Enjoy! :)
Dani