French Onion Soup

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients

  • For the Topping:
    • 8 slices of baguette
    • a splash of olive oil
    • a sprinkle of salt and pepper
    • 2 cups of Emmentaler cheese, some grated, some sliced
  • For the Soup:
    • 4 tablespoons of butter
    • 12 large onions, thinly sliced
    • ½ cup of sherry
    • 6 cups of real chicken broth
    • 2 teaspoons of salt
    • 1 teaspoon of pepper
    • 1 tablespoon or so of sherry vinegar
    • 4 sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F and turn on your convection fan if you have one.
  2. Lay the baguette slices on a baking tray and drizzle olive oil over each and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toast in the oven until they are evenly golden brown and crusty, about 15 minutes. Turn your oven to broil.
  3. Brown the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions to the butter, stopping it from over cooking. Lower the heat and continue cooking the onions. Keep a vigilant eye and stir frequently to prevent scorching. Gradually lower the heat as they begin to cook. The longer they cook the more they’ll shrink and the more their flavours will concentrate, this will take at least 30 minutes and sometimes as much as an hour. Add the sherry, adjust your heat to high and leave it there, stirring for a minute just long enough to cook off the sherry. Reduce the heat yet again, pour in the chicken broth and simmer as the flavours develop and meld, about 20 minutes. Season and finish by stirring in the salt, pepper, sherry vinegar and thyme.
  4. Ladle some hot soup into four ovenproof bowls and cover by floating a crusty baguette slice or two on top. Add a combination of sliced and grated cheese to each. Broil the soup just long enough to thoroughly and evenly brown the tops. Keep a close eye here, you’re on the verge of major crusty flavour, it will only take a minute or two depending on your broiler. Carefully remove from the oven, serve and share.