French Onion Soup with Garlic Cheese Rounds

This recipe is the combination of three different recipes that I've tweaked.  It is not difficult, just time consuming.  (I know, I have a lot of recipes like that.)  This is the perfect first course for a dinner party.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. of red onions
• 1 ½ sticks of butter
• 1 T. salt
• ¼ t. cayenne pepper
• 2 T. flour
• 6 bouillon cubes
• 10 C. chicken stock
• 2 T. Pickapeppa sauce
• 2 T. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 French baguette
• Garlic powder
• Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 10 slices of Swiss cheese

Directions:

1. Slice onions into ¼ inch rings
2. In a Dutch oven, sauté onions, salt, cayenne pepper, and 1 stick of butter over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, until they start to brown
3. Add flour and cook for 3 minutes
4. Dissolve bouillon cubes in ¼ C. of boiling water
5. Add bouillon, chicken stock, and sauces
6. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer on lowest heat possible
7. Cook for 2 hours
8. While soup is simmering, make the Garlic Cheese rounds
9. Slice baguette into thin slices and spread with butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and Creole Seasoning
10. Broil for about 3 minutes until toasted
11. Add a  ½ slice of Swiss cheese and broil until cheese melts
12. Serve piping hot soup with Garlic Cheese rounds floating on top

Tips and Tricks:

• I use a Baby Swiss cheese for this recipe.  It melts smoother.  Cut a square piece of cheese into 4 pieces and place two small squares on each slice of baguette. After the rounds cool,  I cut them into 4 pieces, so they are bite size croutons in the soup.
• Making your own chicken stock for this recipe is cheaper and tastes better.  Follow my link to find out how I make mine.