2 large yellow sweet onions, halved and sliced
2 large red onions, halved and sliced
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 cup dry white wine
1 ounce cognac
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs thyme
4 slices bread
4 ounces gruyere or Swiss cheese, grated
1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions in batches with a few pinches of salt to release their moisture.
2. Cover and cook until the onions have completely caramelized (turned brown) and reduced considerably, about 1 hour.
3. Once onions have reduced, stir in white wine and cognac and raise heat enough to bring to a boil.
4. Stir in beef broth and add bay leaf and thyme. Reduce heat to a simmer.
5. Meanwhile, cut circles out of the bread, tracing around an ovenproof bowl or dish that you will bake the soup in.
6. Place the bread circles on a baking sheet and toast them directly under the oven broiler.
7. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and divide the onion soup into bowls, top with a bread circle and a portion of the cheese.
8. Put the bowls on the baking sheet and set under the broiler just until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

The first time I tried French Onion Soup was in a little restaurant in Jasper, Alberta. I hated it with a passion. It was potent and salty and had a huge chunk of bread floating in it. It was basically the antithesis of anything I'd ever want to it. I wrote it off and never tried it again.

Again inspired by a Good Eats episode, I decided to make French onion soup myself and see if it was any better than my previous experience. Shannon absolutely loves French onion soup, so if nothing else it wouldn't go to waste. I was kind of surprised at how easy it was to make, while being completely different from any soup I've ever made before. The initial prep work gave me a good cry, but caramelizing that many onions at once was really easy. Leave them alone to burn for an hour; it doesn't get much simpler than that.

I have to say that the soup was better than I remember it, but only until I ran out of cheese bread topping. After that, it was pretty much like eating a bowl of onions. Shannon said it was on par with the best she's ever had, but I pay her to say things like that. She said it was sweeter than most, perhaps due to the excessive caramelizing or just in comparison to whatever scary things they make it out of in a restaurant. I've always thought this soup had a reputation of being an artery clogging dish that is guaranteed to make you fat, but aside from a slice of cheese and oversized crouton, I'm not sure where the apparent health risk is coming from.

The best part about this dinner is that I found a use for my tiny little sauce pans that I haven't used since the Pork Tenderloin in Rhubarb Sauce recipe. Sure, little crocks would've been better, but my kitchen is slowly dwindling as we prepare for the move and I have to work with what I've got.