French Onion Tater Totchos

I had a good handful of Gruyere cheese leftover from making zucchini pizza the other day but no more squash so I was trying to figure out a good way to use it up.  I considered sprinkling it over some fingerling potatoes that I had gotten in my Boston Organics delivery, but then I had an eureka moment and decided to make French onion tater totchos!

They're French onion because I caramelized onions and then deglazed the pan with sherry and beef bouillon.  They're totchos because it's melted cheese and other toppings on top of tater tots that you'd eat like nachos.  But whatever you want to call them, they're amazing.

I ended up using a 10" skillet to bake the totchos in, but you could use another similarly sized pan or even double the recipe and make this in a sheet pan.  Using a full bouillon cube in the recipe as is makes a pretty salty dish, so if that's a concern for you, you can use half a cube; I was just too lazy to try to halve the cube myself.

French Onion Tater Totchos
serves 2-4

14 oz. frozen tater tots
1/2 cup cooking sherry
1 beef bouillon cube
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese

Arrange the tater tots in a single layer and bake according to the instructions on the bag.

While the tots are baking, dissolve the bouillon cube in the sherry.  Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat and add the onions.  Start cooking them without any butter until they dry up and start to color.  Turn the heat down to medium-low, add the butter, and continue cooking until the onions are soft and evenly browned.  Add the bouillon-sherry to deglaze the pan and continue cooking until most of the liquid is gone.

When the tater tots are done, remove from the oven and set the oven to broil.  Top the tots with the onion mixture and then the shredded cheese.  Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is nice and melty.  Serve immediately.

Next:  Quintessential Apple Pie with Bacon Fat Crust
Previously:  Salted Egg Yolk Mochi Ice Cream
Two Years Ago:  Burmese Coconut Noodles with Tofu
Three Years Ago:  Homemade Tagliatelle with Shaved Truffles
Four Years Ago:  Passion Fruit Marshmallows
Seven Years Ago:  Nutella Ice Cream
Eight Years Ago:  Tomato and Eggs Over Rice