"Soupe à l'oignon" -- Onion soup

With my job I was able to go and visit the EU institutions. Brussels and Strasbough in meetings with the Council of Europe. Last year, I had this awesome dinner, right beside the Schuman building (see picture) and ended up in this very cute restaurant that had German

 and french food. I had my very first onion soup, and yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam it warmed my heart that night. 

It's been so long since all that and here I am now, to jot it down. Okay onion soup takes WORK AND TIME, like 2 hours total I would say, but it is worth it when you have time. I followed this recipe of Martha Stewart.  Okay, the trick of this soup is caramelizing the onions for a looooooooooooong time, like an hour. This is how you achieve this flavour that will knock the ball out of the park as well as your socks! both at the same time, trust me.

INGREDIENTS:

-4-5 big onions. 

-3 -4 tablespoons of butter.

-1 heaped teaspoon of white sugar.

-1 heaped teaspoon of flour.

-125 ml of white wine.

-1 litre of beef stock.

-2  bay leaves.

-1/2 teaspoon of thyme. 

-olive oil.

For the toast:

-Some toasted bread-

-Some grated strong cheese.

STEPS:

0. Step 0: Did you know that if you put the onions in the freezer for 20 minutes you don't cry when you cut them??? I tried that in this recipe and it worked! 

1. Drizzle the olive oil in a big saucepan or dutch oven. Heat up and then add the butter. Melt the butter.

2. In the meantime slice the onions, on the thin side, really, you do not want thick slices, but not transparent either! 

3. When they are sliced add to the butter and keep fire to like number 3 out of 6. Now stir the onions every once in a while and they progressively start browning. After 15 minutes add the sugar to start the caramelization process, which is truly amazing. 

4. Continue cooking the onions in low heat for an hour. Yes an hour, I know this is crazy long, but this how you get this succulent flavor where something as strong as onions become near candy.

5. After that hour your onions are probably brown and sweet! Great, now add the flour and continue stirring.

5. After 5 minutes, add the whine and deglaze the pan for about 5 minutes, so with the liquid lift up the brown spots on the pan.

6. Now add the beef stock, the thyme and the bay leaves and bring it to a boil.

7. Now let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

8. In the meantime, toast some bread on the oven. 

9. Now serve the soup in bowls and put on top the pieces of toast and the grated cheese and quickly grill it at maximum temperature for 5 minutes. The cheese will melt and toast toast more.

10. That's it. Ready to die of pleasure? 

Ah perfect for a wintery day.