French Onion Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet onions, sliced (vidalia or maui)
• 2 large onions, peeled and fairly thinly sliced (suppose you could chop as well if you like that better, i like to use sweet onions like vidalias or )
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup dry wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (use half a teaspoon if dried)
• 26 fluid ounces beef stock
• 2 slices crusty bread (toasted in oven, croutons can also be used)
• 1 cup gruyere cheese, grated (you can also use fontina, emmentaler or a mix of cheeses)
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 heat butter and oil on a low heat in a heavy pot (i like to use a dutch oven) and add in onions.
• 2 sprinkle on a bit of salt, and toss to coat in butter.
• 3 proceed to cook on low heat until onions are caramelized, stirring only occasionally.
• 4 once onions are caramelized, which means they should be very soft and a deep brown/amber color, but not burned, add in the wine and stir.
• 5 let the wine reduce down until it's got a thick consistency, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
• 6 add in the thyme, bay leaf, and your beef broth and let simmer for 30 minutes (at this point i like to wait about 5 minutes after adding broth and test for salt- adding more if needed).
• 7 you can serve immediately, but it's often better if you let it sit in the fridge over night first. to serve: heat soup, portion out into individual oven-safe bowls or crocks and place bread/croutons on top, and then sprinkle the cheese on top. place under broiler until cheese bubbles and browns.