French Onion Soup
	3 Tbs    butter   1 Tbs    olive oil   1 kg    onions   .5 tsp    sugar   .5 tsp    salt   2 Tbs    plain flour   3 l    beef stock   4 Tbs    brandy   1 cups    dry white vermouth   1 sticks    french bread   60 g    swiss cheese, thin sliced   .5 cups    swiss cheese, grated   .5 cups    parmesan, grated     1 Prep: Thinly slice onions. 2 Set the saucepan over moderate heat with the butter and oil; when the butter has melted, stir in the onions, cover the pan, and sweat slowly until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Blend in the salt and sugar, raise heat to moderately high, and let the onions brown, stirring frequently until they are dark walnut colour, 25 to 30 minutes. 3 Sprinkle in the flour and cook slowly, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, then whisk in 2 cups of hot stock. When well blended, bring to the simmer, adding the rest of the stock, the brandy, and the vermouth. Cover loosely, and simmer very slowly 1 1/2 hours, adding a little water if the liquid reduces too much. Correct seasoning. 4 Divide amongst the containers. Cool in the refrigerator and then transfer to the freezer. 5 Defrost well before reheating gently in a saucepan. Preheat oven to 180°C. 6 Slice each of the french bread sticks into 12 rounds. Toast these rounds on both sides under a griller. 7 Line the bottom of a large, good-looking casserole dish with half the slices of toasted French bread, and spread the sliced cheese over them. Ladle on the hot onion soup and float over them a layer of toasted bread, topping with the grated cheeses. 8 Bake at once in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese has melted and browned nicely. Serve as soon as possible, if you dally too long, the toast topping may sink into the soup.   Servings: 6 Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours Ready in: 2 hours and 30 minutes    Recipe Type Soup   Copyright © 2006, The Gourmet Saint