French Onion Soup

In my last post, I told how I had managed to chop 5 onions with almost no eye burning. (CHEW GUM!) So now that you know that... I guess you're ready to chop some onions! 

I had never made French onion soup until YESTERDAY, but Van loved it -- and he especially loved it in a baked bread bowl, covered with melted gruyere cheese. His exact words were, "this is a meal fit for company". haha (My country boy...)

So here's a picture of my finished product, followed by the recipe.  

(Pinterest-inspired) French Onion Soup 

INGREDIENTS

3	pounds yellow onions, cut into 1/8-inch pieces (I used 5 onions)
3	tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2	teaspoon table salt, plus more as needed
1	pinch sugar (my pinch = 1/2 teaspoon)
8	cups water , plus more as needed
1	tablespoon all-purpose flour (i didn't have any, so I used self-rising and it worked just fine)
1	sprig fresh thyme
1/4	cup dry white wine
1	baguette , crusty (I bought a round sourdough bread, cut out the center and baked to make crusty)
8	ounces Gruyère cheese-I sliced it thick and placed it over the top of the top of the bread bowl…..the cheese melted mostly into the soup and a little off to the sides, but it created a thick, even layer this way.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar. Toss to evenly coat.
3. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Take the cover off, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are lightly browned.  I cooked mine for a little less than 90 minutes.
5. At this point, stir every 5 minutes and add water (a tablespoon at a time to loosen up the dark brown stuff that forms on the bottom of the pan).
6. Continue to cook until the onions are an even dark brown color, an additional 30 minutes longer or so.
7. Add the flour and stir for two minutes.
8. Add 8 cups water and thyme to the onions and bring to a boil.
9. Lower heat  and simmer for 20 minutes.
10. Add white wine and simmer 10 minutes longer.
11. Add salt to taste.

For the bread bowl:

1. I heated oven to 350 degrees F
2. I had bought a round piece of sourdough like bread in the bakery at my grocery store. I cut a hole in the center and hollowed it out. I baked the bread for about 8 minutes... until I thought it was crispy enough. Then I poured some warm soup into the bread bowl, placed a slice of gruyere cheese over the top and placed it back in the oven on broil for an additional 5 minutes (until cheese was melted). 
3. Cool before serving. :)