French Onion Bites

Name: French Onion Bites
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 36 Appetizers
Ingredients: 1 baguette, sliced 1/4-inch thick (36 slices); 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 onions, large chopped (about 4 cups); 1 garlic clove, lightly crushed; 1 bay leaf; 1 sprig fresh thyme; 1/4 cup white wine (I used cream sherry); 1 1/2 cups gruyere, finely shredded (about 3 oz)

Submitted by Debbwl

"Think of these as the best part of French onion soup minus the broth. This is a recipe I found on Gourmet.com and was posted by Maggie Ruggiero"

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photo by lazyme

Ready In:: 1hr
Ingredients:: 9
Yields:: 36 Appetizers

ingredients

1 baguette, sliced 1/4-inch thick (36 slices)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions, large chopped (about 4 cups)
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
¹⁄₄ cup white wine (I used cream sherry)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups gruyere, finely shredded (about 3 oz)

directions

Preheat oven to 375 F with rack in middle.
Arrange slices on a large baking sheet and bake in oven until golden, about 6-8 minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until butter is melted, then cook onion, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, covered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
Uncover skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Add wine and cook until entirely evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Discard garlic clove, bay leaf, and thyme. Transfer to a small bowl and keep warm, covered.
Preheat broiler.
Arrange toasts on a large baking sheet, then top each with a rounded teaspoon of caramelized onions and sprinkle generously with shredded Gruyere. Broil 3- to 4-inches from heat until cheese is melted, 1 to 2 minutes (watch carefully).
Steps that can be done ahead of time:
Onions can be caramelized 3-5 days ahead and kept chilled.
Bread slices can be toasted and cheese shredded 1-2 days ahead. Keep toasts in an airtight container at room temperature and keep cheese chilled.

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Reviews

These came out great. I used red wine like I normally do in French onion soup. A keeper!

Maito
What a great idea & wonderful recipe! I know I'll be using the recipe again. I served this for lunch with a salad. It's like the best part of french onion soup! Made for 2015 Culinary Quest.

Susie D
Wonderful appetizers and perfect finger-food! I made this as described and used a homemade baguette (after defrosting) I still had in advance. This recipes doesn't need many ingredients, so that I had just all on hand for the first dinner after coming back from my vacations. Thanks a lot Debb for this delish!

Artandkitchen
Excellent appetizer! Wow, this one impressed. I prepped the toast, onions and cheese in advance so it was super easy to put together at party time. Everyone loved it! Thank you! P.S. I had to use about 5 onions because mine weren't large. It's a good idea to use a measuring cup because you really want to have lots of onion mix!

LifeIsGood
Yum! This does taste like french onion soup. I made a small batch of these as an appy while watching a football game and wish that I had made more. Thanks for sharing this nice keeper, Deb. Made for Sweet December tag.

lazyme