French Onion Soup (amazing!)

This soup is wonderful!! and not hard to make! and so tasty! and so wonderful!

This is Julia Child's recipe for French Onion Soup. This is the second recipe I have tried from my Julia Child cookbook. This was my second success!! I can't wait to eat this soup again! and try more recipes from my cookbook! And, don't let the name Julia Child scare you, this recipe was easy to follow, not hard.

Allow at least two and a half hours for this recipe.

- 1 1/2 lbs of sliced yellow onions
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar (helps the onions to brown)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 quarts boiling brown stock, canned beef bouillon, or 1 quart of boiling water and 1 quart of stock or bouillon
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp cognac
- 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

- rounds of hard-toasted French bread
- 1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil or melted butter

Cook the onions slowly with the butter and oil in the covered saucepan for 15 minutes.
Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown. (So pretty and so yummy.)

Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.

Off heat, blend in the boiling liquid. Add the wine, and season to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes or more, skimming occasionally. Correct seasoning.

Just before serving, stir in the cognac. (You can stop here and serve as French onion soup with no croutons, but what is french onion soup without the yummy cheesy croutons?!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

(while soup is simmering) Place the bread in one layer in a roasting pan and bake for about half an hour, until it is thoroughly dried out and lightly browned. Halfway through the baking, each side may be based with a teaspoon of olive oil or beef drippings; and after baking, each piece may be rubbed with cut garlic.

[After simmering and adding the cognac] Stir in the 1/2 cup of grated Swiss cheese. Float the rounds of toast on top of the soup, and spread the rest of the grated cheese over it. Sprinkle with the oil or melted butter.

Bake for 20 minutes in the oven, then set for a minute or two under a preheated broiler to brown the top lightly. Serve immediately.

This was truly a-ma-zing! If you want something that tastes like you are eating at a restaurant, this really is a great recipe. So yummy! Great for entertaining, or cut in half and would be great for an at-home date night. Hope you try it! You won't regret it!