French Onion Soup

Preparation time: approx. 90 minutes

Preparation You'll need: A medium pot Two ovenproof baking dishes of medium size
Ingredients Soup (for 2 persons) 4-5 medium onions 45 g butter 90 ml red wine 30 ml cognac 750 ml granulated chicken stock 750 ml granulated beef stock just under 1 Tbsp toasted flour Nutmeg, pepper Ingredients Topping 100-120 g grated Gruyère 6-8 slices of baguette, depending on the diameter. Approx. 1 cm thick. 1 small clove of garlic
Preparation Peel and quarter the onions, then cut into thin strips. Heat the medium pot over a high heat. Add just under 1 Tbsp of flour and toast until medium to dark brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning. When ready, tip the flour into a small bowl. Put the pot aside for 2 or 3 minutes so that it can cool down a little. Now melt 45 g butter in the pot and cook the onions over a medium heat until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, measure 90 ml red wine and 30 ml cognac into a glass. Add 3 heaped tsp of grained stock (chicken, beef) to the roasted flour. Now switch to a high heat and continue to cook the onions, stirring constantly (make sure that no black burnt crust forms on the bottom of the pan) - approx. 10-15 minutes. As soon as the onions are well browned and caramelised, deglaze with wine and cognac. Continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated, which is quite quick. Add the roasted flour/grained stock and stir well. Deglaze with 1.5 litres of water and stir well again. Bring the soup to the boil. Now reduce the soup by a good half (approx. 900 ml) over a medium to high heat. This will certainly take half an hour to three quarters of an hour - in the meantime: Stir from time to time. Flavour with pepper and nutmeg. Don't forget to preheat the oven: approx. 210℃ top heat. Toast the 6-8 slices of baguette in the toaster to a medium brown colour. Grate 100-120 g Gruyère cheese. As soon as the toasted slices of bread have cooled, cut 1 small clove of garlic in half and rub lightly into one side of each slice.
Last Steps Once the soup has reduced to approx. 900 ml, divide between the two oven dishes. Now sprinkle about 2 Tbsp of the cheese over each, place 3 slices of bread on top and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Place in the oven and bake for approx. 5 minutes. The cheese should then be lightly browned, otherwise switch the oven to grill briefly and don't let it out of your sight.