Jericho French Onion Soup

Hi, this is not just a fabulous recipe, but also the starter to my Music Themed Father's Day meal, check out the link to see what I made for main course and pudding as well as my inspiration behind picking this recipe. As the soup was a starter, I didn't want it to be too filling so I took out the cheese on toast at the bottom of the bowl to make it a bit lighter. However, if planning to serve this as the main course of a meal, then I would advise serving with the cheesy toast or any other bread for dipping/soaking up the soup. The elimination of wine was just my personal preference and I found that it actually tasted quite nice with the tomato juice but feel free to do whatever you fancy. Enjoy!!

Dietary Info:

-Contains Gluten {Easily changed though, just use a Gluten-Free bread option}

-Contains Dairy {You can always either skip out the cheese or use a dairy-free one}

-No Nuts

-Suitable for Vegetarians

-Unsuitable for Vegans {But can be quickly adapted by using no or Vegan cheese}

Ingredients:

-4 oz of butter (feel free to reduce this) {110-115g. I reduced it to 2oz/50g of butter altogether, although that was done with 1oz/25g of unsalted butter that I had leftover from another recipe and just a spoonful of margarine to increase amounts}

-3 to 4 Yellow Onions {These are the same as brown onions. Also, I chose to use 4. Remember to chop them up as well!}

-1 Head of Garlic {This is one bulb or roughly 5-10 cloves. I used 4-5cloves of garlic, finely chopped.}

-2 (or more) Sprigs of Thyme, Oregano, Tarragon, Bay Leaves, or Rosemary {We don't have any fresh sprigs of herbs so I used about 1tbsp of dried thyme, which, for obvious reasons, couldn't remove later, but, it did add a nice flavour to the soup.}

-1 tsp Flour (optional) {I used whole meal flour}

-1 Pint Beef Broth {I used a 2 and 1/2 Beef OXO stock cubes with a pint of hot water}

-1 Pint Water {Boiling}

-1 cup Red Wine {Beef stock or Tomato juice is a good substitute if you don't want to consume alcohol. I used tomato juice. 1 cup = 235ml}

-Salt and Pepper

-1 Loaf of Bread {You will only need 4 slices of it}

-4 Slices of Cheese (Works great with Sweet Rowen cheddar)

Method:

1:Melt the butter at the bottom of a large pot {saucepan} and add the chopped onions and garlic and a dash of salt {This should stop it from browning, as you just want the onions translucent. But, if you're like me, you'll end up accidentally burning the bottom of the onions anyway!}. Add your herbs in a neat bundle, as you will be removing them later. Cook on low, covered, for 30 minutes until the onions are translucent but not burnt {oops}. Remove the herbs {If possible}. Add a teaspoon of flour and stir well, so there are no clumps. {I would recommend using a whisk, if after adding your liquids, there are still a few lumps}

2:Add your broth, water, wine, and allow to cook for 20 minutes.

3:This is a great chance to cover slices of bread with cheese, and toast them in a toaster oven or broil them in your oven. {Or you can make cheese on toast under the grill or any other way that you normally make cheese on toast}

4:When everything is ready, put the bread at the bottom of the bowl, and ladle the soup on top. Enjoy!