Julia Child's French Onion Soup

Recipe adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients:

680g yellow onions

3 tbs unsalted butter

3 tbs all purpose flour

1 tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp granulated sugar

4 cups (2 litre) beef stock

2/3 cup dry white wine

3 tbs brandy

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:

2 cups of mixed Swiss cheese (Schweizer hartkäse) and parmesan

2 tbs butter, melted

French bread, cut into 1 cm thick squares, toasted*

• In a large saucepan melt butter and oil over medium low heat, add in the onions, toss to evenly coated, cover the pan and reduce to low heat. Let it cook for about 15 minutes.
• Uncover the pan, put the heat back to medium low, add sugar and salt, cook the onions for about 30 minutes or until they are evenly caramelized. 
• Sprinkle the flour over onions and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, add in the wine and then half of the stocks, stir and scrape the bottom of the pan, add the rest of the stocks, season it with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 35 minutes, skimming if needed. Stir in the brandy, cook for another 5 minutes and adjust seasoning.
• Preheat oven to 180 ˚C (350 ˚F), place few (about 6 or as desired) ovenproof soup bowls on a baking sheet. Pour the soup to each bowl about 3/4 full, take 1 cup of cheese and sprinkle evenly over each bowl of soup, place the croutons as desired, sprinkle each top with the rest of the cheese (1 cup). Bake for about 25 minutes (oberunter hitze) and additional 3 minutes on the broiler (ober hitze/ api atas) or until they are golden brown and bubbly.

*Toasted French bread (croutons)

Preheat oven to 175 ˚C, bake bread for about 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp. Remove from oven and drizzle the croutons with melted butter.