Unencumbered French Onion Soup

After the last horrid onion soup I had, I had been hankering for one of divine quality. The sweet buttery taste of onions, the savory heady perfume of thyme, and the bite of sherry vinegar just seemed to call out my name this week. I rarely have the booze on hand so it never makes it into my soup, but it tastes fantastic anyways. I also don't often bother with the bread and melted cheese in the bowl. Personally, I feel it gets in the way of good soup, and can be a bit of a nuisance. I cannot count how often I have burnt or scalded myself due to french onion soup bread. I'll take my bread and cheese on the side.

The wonderful soup is filling and accompanied with some crusty bread, salami, coarse mustard, and cheese, it's a wonderful cold weather meal.

French Onion Soup
Adapted from The New Soup Bible
(Serves 6)

What You'll Need...
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 1/2 lbs yellow onions
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon shery vinegar
6 cups of beef/chicken/veggie stock
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup dry white wine (optional)
3 tablespoons brandy (optional)

What You'll Do...
1) Melt the butter with the oil in a large pot. Add onions and stir. Cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring now and again. Add thyme.

2) Reduce heat to very low and cover for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Don't burn your stupid hand from the stupid steam like I did.

3) Uncover the pan and increase the heat a bit. Stir in sugar and cook for 5-10 minutes, and
onions start to brown a tad. Add sherry vinegar and up the heat a bit more. Stir frequently and let them cook for about 20-30 minutes.

4) Bring the stock to a boil in another pan. Stir the flour into the onions and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in the hot stock and then the brandy and wine. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

5) Eat it and love the buttery goodness of the onions and thyme.