French onion soup

Halve the onions pole to pole, slice off the roots and tips, remove the basal plate, and slice thinly pole to pole.

Add the parsley, sliced carrots, thyme, halved garlic cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns and cloves to the beef broth and simmer on a back burner about an hour.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy Dutch oven about a minute and add the onion slices.

Caramelize slowly over medium heat, keeping them moving and scraping down the sides, with no sugar and no shortcuts, until soft, jammy, fragrant and leaving a deep golden brown fond. Drop a Parmesan rind into the broth.

Add about two tablespoons of flour and cook one to two minutes.

Deglaze with a cup of dry sherry, scraping up the fond, and cook off the alcohol.

Add the strained broth and simmer five to ten minutes, then add a splash each of fish sauce and soy sauce.

Drizzle the thick baguette slices with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toast at 400F about five minutes.

Rub the toasts with a cut clove of garlic, and check the soup for seasoning.

Ladle the soup into broiler safe crocks to the bottom rim, add a layer of shredded Gruyere, two baguette toasts, and as much more cheese as will fit.

Broil three to five minutes until golden brown and bubbly, and garnish with chives.