French onion soup

There’s nothing like the taste of cheesy, delicious authentic French onion soup to help you keep warm this winter.

Serves: Six to eight

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• ½ teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 cup of dry wine (red or white)
• 6 cups of beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon of ground sage
• Salt, pepper
• 3 tablespoons of cognac
• 340g of Swiss cheese, grated
• 115g of grated parmesan cheese
• ½ yellow onion
• 6 to 8 slices of French bread
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil

Method:

1. On medium heat, add cooking oil and butter to a stock pot.
2. Add sliced onions and stir.
3. Let cook until translucent, (around 20 minutes) add sugar and salt, then raise heat to medium high to caramelize the onions.
4. Reduce heat to medium low and add flour, stir.
5. Cook for two to three minutes until brown.
6. Add one cup of stock. Stir well.
7. Add remaining stock, wine, bay leaf, and sage and allow to simmer for half an hour.
8. Heat oven to 160°C. Drizzle olive oil over bread (on both sides) and cook in oven on a baking sheet for 15 minutes each side.
9. Add cognac and the half onion (grated) into the soup. Add salt and pepper.
10. Remove bay leaf from soup and transfer into soup casserole dishes.
11. Place some of the Swiss cheese into the soups, stirring.
12. Place French bread slices in soups and sprinkle remaining cheese atop, thickly.
13. Cook for around 30 minutes, then set oven to broil to allow cheese to brown. Let cool.

We know what to eat to stay healthy. So why is it so hard to make the right choices?