Kitchen Garden Journal

• 2lbs yellow or cipollini onions
• 1/2 stick butter, or combination of oil and butter
• 1 shot Port wine
• 2 quarts homemade beef stock, or use canned
• salt & pepper
• To serve:
• 4 slices slightly stale french bread
• grated Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese, or a combination

This is an absolute classic and is actually pretty easy once you get all the onions peeled and thinly sliced. Heat the butter in a large, heavy skillet or dutch oven and add the onions. When they are hot and actively cooking, reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a long time, even over an hour. What you are looking for are the various phases the onions go through as they cook: sweaty, soft, mushy, golden, deep golden and virtually disintegrating. Be sure to stop there, before they start sticking and turning black. Add the Port and stir until evaporated. (If you happen to have saved some pan drippings from a roast, throw them in now. There are few better things to use them for.) Add the beef stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. The soup is done now but if you wait until the following day to serve it, it's even more delicous. To serve: Toast the bread. Serve hot soup into individual oven-safe bowls, topping each with a piece of bread and some grated cheese. Place all the bowls on a baking sheet and stick them under a hot broiler until the cheese is brown and bubbly.