Recipe - French Onion Soup

3 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 One half pound (4 large) Bermuda onions,
spanish onions, or sweet
onions of your choice,
thinly cut or sliced up
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 cup Dry white wine
2 qt Beef broth (see note below
for using canned)
2 Ribs celery with leaves,
each rib cut in half
Salt to taste (remember that
the broth may be salty, and
that you will be topping
the bowls with cheese ...
I, myself, would just omit
this, but YMMV)
Black pepper to taste
One fourth cup Dry fino sherry
4 sl French bread, each cut
1/4inch thick and lightly
toasted (up to 6)
One fourth cup Coarsely grated Emmenthal,
Gruyere, or other
Swisstype cheese (up to
1/3)

This recipe is from the new _La Bonne Soupe Cookbook_, by Doris Tobias and
JeanPaul Picot. Although I have not yet had a chance to try making it, I
have eaten it many times at La Bonne Soupe (a delightful little restaurant
near Rockefeller Center in NYC), and can highly recommend it.

As stated below, at the restaurant, this is featured as a meal in itself,
comprised of the soup, French bread, a tossed salad (La Bonne Soupe serves
theirs with the house dressing of honeymustard), wine or coffee, and
chocolate mousse. Delicious.

1. Cook onions and sugar in butter over low flame until onions are lightly
caramelized (about 20 30 minutes). (I would use a Dutch oven for this, so
I wouldn't have to dirty another pot later.)

2. Add wine; cook over medium heat until wine is reduced to half (about 5
minutes).

3. Add broth, celery, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat.

4. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer about 40 minutes.

5. Remove celery; discard it.

6. Add sherry; simmer 5 minutes longer.

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

8. Ladle soup into individual ovenproof soup bowls.

9. Top each soupfilled bowl with one slice of bread and sprinkle with 1
tablespoon of the cheese.

10. Put bowls on cookie sheet and put sheet of soup bowls in oven. Heat
until cheese melts and bubbles (about 5 6 minutes).

Yield: 4 6 servings Posted to EATL Digest 10 Mar 97 by Teasel
teasel@JUNO.COM on Mar 10, 1997