The onions for an onion soup need a long, slow cooking in butter and oil, then a long, slow simmering in stock for them to develop the deep, rich flavor which characterizes a perfect brew. You should therefore count on 2 1/2 hours at least from start to finish. Though the preliminary cooking in butter requires some watching, the actual simmering can proceed almost unattended.
1 ½ lbs. or about 5 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions
3 TB butter
1 TB oil
A heavy bottomed, 4-quart covered saucepan
Cook the onions slowly with the butter in the saucepan, covered for 15 minutes
1 tsp salt
½ tsp of sugar
3 Tb flour
Uncover, raise the heat to moderate, and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.
2 quarts of boiling brown stock, canned beef bouillon, or 1 quart of boiling water and 1 quart of stock or bouillon. (I used 2qt chicken stock)
½ cup of dry white wine or dry white vermouth (I used white wine)
salt and pepper to taste
Off heat, blend in the boiling liquid. Add the wine, and season to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30-40 minutes or more, skimming occasionally. Correct seasoning. (This is why you skim)
A fireproof tureen or casserole or individual onion soup pots
2 ounces Swiss cheese cut into very thin slivers
1 Tb grated raw onion (I didn’t use this)
12-16 rounds of hard-toasted French bread
1 ½ cups Swiss, or Swiss and Parmesan cheese
1 Tb olive oil or melted butter (I didn’t add this)
reheat oven to 325 degrees. Bring the soup to a boil and pour into tureen or pots. Stir in slivered cheese and grated onion. Float toast rounds on top of the soup, and spread the grated cheese over it. Sprinkle with oil or butter. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven, (Oops, I forgot to to this) then set for a minute or two under a preheated broiler to top slightly.
I didn’t do this last part
A 2-quart bowl
1 tsp cornstarch
1 egg yolk
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 TB cognac
Beat the cornstarch into the egg yolk, then the Worcestershire and the cognac. Just before serving the soup, lift an edge of the crust with a fork and remove a ladleful of soup. In a thin stream of droplets, beat the soup into the egg-yolk mixture with a fork. Gradually beat in two more ladlefuls of soup. Again, lifting the crust, pour the mixture back into the soup. Then reach in under the crust with the ladle and stir gently to blend the mixture into the rest of the soup. Serve.