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1
Slice & segment 3 pounds of onions.
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2
Melt together the butter and olive oil in a large stockpot.
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3
Crush and peel the garlic. You don't have to mince it; it will caramelize and turn soft and sweet as it cooks. Caramelize the garlic in the olive oil and butter.
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4
Pour in the onions, season with salt and pepper, and stir around just until the onions are all coated in the olive oil/butter.
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5
Add in the fresh thyme and the bay leaf and let the onions caramelize, about 20 minutes.
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6
Once the onions are caramelized and have cooked down, pour in the stock, about 4-6 cups depending on whether you prefer your soup more onion-y or more soup-y.
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7
Then, pour in the wine or beer and simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour and as much as three hours, tasting occasionally to adjust the flavors.
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8
Meanwhile, slice down your bread. Stale bread is perfectly okay for this, just heat it up a bit in a warm (250u00b0F) oven first to soften it. Toast the bread; you can rub both sides with a cut clove of garlic first, if you like. You'll want 2 pieces of bread per person - one for the bottom of the bowl, and one for on top.
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9
If you're going for the mix of cheeses, grate together about 1/2 cup each of parmesan, pecorino, gouda, and gruyere. Alternatively, you can drape a deli-cut slice of cheese (emmentaler, gruyere) over the top of the bowls, but I like to do a grated mix. Get that ready, and set it aside.
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10
Preheat your broiler. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf from the soup.
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11
Arrange your oven-safe individual serving bowls or coffee mugs on a baking tray with a thin lip.
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12
TO SERVE: drop a toast slice in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle in the soup and cover with a second slice of toast. Then cover the toast with cheese. Be generous! You want the cheese to seal in the soup and drape over the edge of the bowl.
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13
Broil for a few minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbling on top. Garnish with a little fresh thyme, and serve.
