French Onion Soup

But crying is good for us from time to time. Soon you will be on to the magical part, watching a colossal pile of onions shrink and caramelize to make a sweet, flavorful, wonderful soup. Save this recipe for the winter, when other vegetables are out of season and you want to fill your home with warm aromas. As my friend Marilyn, who suggested this recipe, said, “the smell in your kitchen is absolute heaven.”
 * Best if you accept it now: you are going to cry making this recipe, since the first step is to chop a mountain of onions.

Ingredients

 * 4 lb onions, any type
 * 4 cloves garlic
 * 2 tbsp butter
 * 2 bay leaves
 * 1 tbsp vinegar, any type (optional)
 * 3 tsp salt
 * pepper
 * 8 cups water
 * 6 slices bread
 * 1½ cups cheddar, grated

Additions

 * beef or chicken stock instead of water
 * red wine
 * chili flakes
 * fresh thyme

Directions
Chop each onion in half lengthwise, peel them, then cut them into halfmoon slices. These big slices are fine since you’re cooking the onions for so long. Slice the garlic as well.

Melt the butter in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves. Cover the pot with a lid and leave it for 10 minutes. When you come back, the onions should have released a lot of moisture. Give them a stir. Pour in the vinegar and put the lid back on.

Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. When the onions at the bottom start to stick and turn dark, add a splash of water to unstick them. Don’t worry, the onions aren’t burning, just caramelizing. The water helps lift off the sticky, delicious, sweet part!

Once the onions are very dark and about a quarter the volume they once were, add all the water and a bunch of salt and pepper. Cover the pot again, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for another hour. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Ladle the soup into bowls.

Now it’s time to make cheese toast! If you want classic French onion soup— with the toast directly in the soup, which makes it a bit soggy—place a piece of bread on top of each bowl of soup, sprinkle with cheese, then heat the bowls under your oven’s broiler until the cheese is bubbly.

If you don’t like soggy toast, just make the cheese toast on its own and serve it on the side to dunk.

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