We at Slashfood love our French Onion Soup.

To be quite honest, I would be okay without the soup and just eating the crouton topped with the melted, bubbling, gurgling, broiled cheese, but then, all my guests would wonder why their soups were naked.

I tweaked a recipe for an onion soup that’s like a French onion soup, but has a broth base made with a lot of white wine and (specifically, Riesling) and chicken rather than beef stock. It was my first time ever making an onion soup, and though it was different from a regular brown French Onion Soup, it tasted pretty good. Then again, the extra Riesling I drank while the onions were sweating might have made me a more generous critic than normal.

Riesling Onion Soup

Melt 1½ T. butter with 1½ T. olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add 1 minced garlic clove and 4 large onions, very thinly sliced (you can leave them as rings, as I did, or cut the rings in half) and cook onions until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Sprinkle 1 T. flour over softened onions and cook for about 5 more minutes.

Pour in 2 c. Riesling that you would drink (not the dessert kind) and simmer for 10 minutes. The wine guy told me that I could probably use a Sauvignon Blanc to cook with, as well, but I think he was just trying to get me to buy two bottles.

Pour in 6 c. chicken stock and simmer everything for about 45 minutes. If it gets too stew-y, add a little more stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into oven-proof bowls, or if you’re like me and haven’t gotten around to using that gift certificate to Sur La Table for miniature crocks, use ramekins. Place a thin slice of French bread on top of soup, sprinkle with cheese (I used fontina), and stick under broiler until the cheese is all gorgeous bubbly, about 5 minutes.