• Cooking Time: 20
• Servings: 4
• Preparation Time: 10
• 30g Butter
• 450g Onions, sliced
• 25ml Brandy (optional)
• 2 Cloves Garlic, sliced
• 30g Flour
• 1 Litre Beef Stock
• Sprig of Thyme
• Baguette
• Gruyère Cheese

1. Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan and melt the butter. Add the Onions and Thyme, season. Cook until they start to colour stirring often. This should be over a fairly high heat as you want the onion to get some colour, it will take around 10 minutes. Be patient, the colour you get on your onions will dictate the colour and richness of the final soup. The colour the onions get is from the natural sugar from them, this caramelises and makes them go brown. A few edges may catch and go black but try to avoid this.
3. When the onions are browned then add the Brandy (if using) and reduce . Then reduce the heat and add the Flour. Stir this through and cook for about a minute.
5. Add the Stock and Garlic and bring to the boil. Make sure you stir the soup well while adding the stock to avoid lumps. Simmer on a moderate heat for 10 minutes until the soup is thick and rich. Check for seasoning.
7. For the Croutons rub the bread with a garlic clove cut in half (using the cut side) and top with the cheese. Grill them until they are bubbling and golden.
9. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the croutons.

This is my favourite soup and is really good for the cold evenings. Easy to make and full of flavour, you can’t go wrong. I have made this the traditional way using baguette and Gruyère for the croutons but you can use whatever bread and cheese you have/like (Cheddar cheese will work fine). Using more smaller onions instead of a couple of big ones will be better for this dish as they have a stronger, sweeter flavour. Use the best stock you can. Making beef stock at home isn't always practical but a good stock is essential (I used ‘those’ cubes, make them 2 cubes for a litre of water works well) There are no amounts on the Baguette and Cheese. It depends on your taste and the size of your bowls (the photos will show what I mean)