French Onion Soup

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Peel the onions, cut them in half, and then slice them into half-centimeter thick slices.
• 2
  In a large pot, quickly heat the butter and oil and add half of the onions. Sauté very intensely and quickly until the onions are golden in places. Color is important, so keep stirring and sautéing until there's a risk of burning. At that moment, add a few tablespoons of water to the onions and let the fond dissolve at the bottom. This will delay burning for a while, and once the water evaporates, you can continue sautéing the onions. Repeat this process two or three more times until the onions have a uniform golden color.
• 3
  Once the first half of the onions is sautéed, add the rest and let them soften while stirring carefully. This time, you don't need to let them turn golden. With this different treatment, the onions in the soup won't be uniformly soft, but some pieces will provide a more interesting texture. Finally, add the sugar and stir for another minute until it dissolves.
• 4
  Sprinkle the onions in the pot with flour (if possible, use a small sieve) and stir briefly to dissolve the flour in the fat. Now add one-third of the broth and stir thoroughly again to eliminate any lumps from the flour.
• 5
  Then add the rest of the broth, wine, salt to taste, bring the soup to a boil, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Don't forget to stir occasionally.
• 6
  Meanwhile, preheat the grill in the oven, or heat the oven to 200 degrees if you don't have a grill. Sprinkle slices of baguette or loaf with grated cheese and place them on a baking sheet; if using rolls, cut them into thin diagonal slices. Place in the preheated oven and bake for a while until the cheese melts and the edges of the bread are golden, about five minutes.
• 7
  Season the soup with salt again if needed, or freshly ground pepper, divide into plates, and garnish with the baked cheese toasts.