French Onion Soup

Instructions

1. This is going to be easy. Slice your onions and mince your garlic while butter is melting in the pot. Add onions and melt down. Add garlic, thyme and bay leaves, and cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add your brandy and stir, allowing the alcohol cook off. NOTE: Classic French Onion soup contains red wine here! I like to use brandy instead. I just prefer the flavor. If you use brandy, your soup will be light in color, like mine. If you use red wine, it will be that deep, red-brown color you are probably accustomed to seeing in restaurants. I say, the cook gets to choose!

3. When your alcohol has cooked down, you will stir or whisk in the flour. This will thicken your onion mixture. Cook while stirring, for about 5 minutes. Then add the beef stock and stir or whisk away all of the lumps.

   Allow to come to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste your soup and add salt and pepper as desired, before you ladle into soup tureens.

4. While your soup is simmering, grate your gruyere and slice your bread.

   

5. Place the desired number of soup tureens onto a sheet pan with sides, and turn on the broiler in your oven. Remove the thyme sprigs and the bay leaves from your piping hot soup (carefully).

   Fill each tureen about half-full with hot soup, about one big ladle-full. Float one or two slices of bread atop your half-filled soup tureens, and cover with shredded cheese.

   Place filled tureens on sheet pan under the broiler and watch carefully so that the cheese melts and bubbles but does not burn. Remove from oven carefully and enjoy!