French Onion Soup

My recipe for French Onion Soup is based off Julia Child's in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, with a few edits and more explicit instructions in places. 

This soup takes a lot of time and attention (and a tireless stirring arm). End-to-end it takes me about 2 hours and 45 minutes. I think it's worth it, though, and the soup reheats well for about a week after.

One of my favorite parts is watching the onions slowly break down and turn into liquid gold.

The flavor of the onions becomes rich, deep, and caramel-y. The other key to making this soup really special is the time under the broiler. My thick, sturdy supper club bowls withstand the heat but get very hot to the touch. We have to eat off hot pads. 

For cheese I like to use Gruyère or Asiago.