The Best French Onion Soup

The circuitous route this recipe took to get here was from Connie Bucy ... via Jamie Blenker ... and originally from "Cook's Illustrated."

For the best flavor, make the soup a day or two in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step one, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to three days before proceeding with the recipe.

Soup Ingredients

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

6 large yellow onions (about 4 lbs), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4 inch-thick slices

Table salt

2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing

1/2 cup dry sherry

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (Swanson certified organic free range is recommended)

2 cups beef broth (Pacific beef broth is recommended)

6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine

1 bay leaf

Cheese Croutons Ingredients

1 small baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices

8 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Directions:

For the soup:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7 quart) dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for one hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot after 1 hour.

3. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15-20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6-8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape whatever collects on spoon back into the onions.)

4. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6-8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing two or three more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about five minutes.

5. Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.

6. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons:

1. While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in singel layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To serve:

1. Adjust oven rack six inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl ith one or two baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyere cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, three to five minutes. Let cool five minutes before serving.