french onion soup

What do soy sauce and apple butter have in common?  Before I would have thought absolutely nothing, but both of them together make this french onion soup rock!  My mother-in-law is cringing as she reads this, because when I mentioned this concoction to her last week she cried in an e-mail "no, no no!" and pleaded for me not to attempt this strange combination. But like a little kid, that made me want to try it even more, and I am so glad I did!  The combo of soy sauce and apple butter give this soup a silkiness that I have not found yet in other recipes.  I've tried french onion soup in the slow cooker several times before and even, gasp, added onion soup mix to it in the past (the soup ended up tasting like powder and had a way-too-strong onion taste and smell.)  Give this recipe a try, Arlene, I promise you will not be disappointed!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. beef bones (found in the freezer section --- ask the butcher if you can't find them)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 large vidalia onions, about 4 lbs. Halved and cut into 1/4" slices
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
5 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 cup apple butter (found in the jelly aisle)
3/4 cup dry sherry (not cooking sherry --- the real stuff)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
Salt and pepper
1 loaf French bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 1/2 cups Gruyere and/or Swiss cheese, shredded

Arrange beef bones on a paper towel-lined plate.  Microwave 8-10 minutes until well browned.  Meanwhile, set slow cooker to high, add butter, and cover.  When butter is melted, add onions, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, brown sugar and thyme.  In a small bowl, stir together flour, apple butter, sherry and soy sauce until smooth.  Pour over onions and toss to coat.  Tuck beef bones under onions and around the edges of the slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 8 - 10 hours until onions are softened and deep golden brown.

This is what it looked like after 8 hours.  The liquid should be nice and thick.

In medium saucepan, heat broths until boiling.  Remove beef bones from slow cooker and discard.  Stir broth into slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange bread on baking sheet and bake 5 - 8 minutes, until edges are golden brown.  Divide cheese evenly among the bread, and broil on high until bubbly, about 3 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with 2 bread/cheese croutons each.

I had a lot of extra swiss/gruyere cheese left so after I placed the bread on top I then covered it again with cheese and stuck it under the broiler once more for about 2 minutes until the cheese started to brown.

So in the end, soy sauce and apple butter truly do go together!  We couldn't taste either of them, but again, their main purpose was to create a silky-smooth texture.  This one is definitely a keeper!