French onion soup

Beef broth:

• Beef bones 1.5-2 kg
• Beef meat for soup 0.3 kg
• Carrot 1 large piece (or multiple smaller ones)
• Sellery 1 piece
• Leek 1 piece
• Whole garlic 1 piece
• Spring onion 2-3 pieces (optional)
• Small ginger 1 piece
• Large onion 1 piece
• Peppercorns 1-2 tablespoon(s)
• Cloves 2 pieces
• Bayleaf 2 pieces
• Thyme 5 grams
• Parsley 5 grams
• Beef broth cube 1 piece
• 3.5 liters of water
• Parmesan cheese rind if you have any 1 piece (optional)

Soup:

• Onions 3 kg
• Garlic cloves 7-9 pieces
• Flour 3-4 tablespoons
• Unsalted Butter 100 grams
• Thyme 10 grams
• Sherry or white wine 200 ml
• Soy sauce 50ml
• Fish sauce 25ml
• Gruyere cheese 300 grams
• Parmesan cheese 50 grams
• Chives 15 grams
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 baguette

Making the broth:

1. Roast the bones and the oxtail in the oven 220 degrees Celsius for 30 min
2. Peel the onion and carrot and cut away the stems. Half the onion, cut the carrot in large chunks. Half the whole garlic clove so the garlic is parted and exposed, do not peel it. Remove the stem of the leek, chop a large chunk of the greens off, not all, take off the first layer and cut it lengthwise. Clean the leek thoroughly as it contains sand. Chop 2-3 slices from the ginger. Clean the spring onion. Chop the sellery into similar sized pieces as the carrot.
3. Let the bones from the oven rest in a big pot of cold water for 5 minutes
4. Clean out the water for new fresh, and parboil the bones for 15 minutes, after that rinse with cold fresh water.
5. Add all the vegetables, beef bones, spices & herbs, beef broth cube and water to the pot. Let this simmer for 3-24 hours.
6. Strain all the solids from the broth, make sure to squeeze all the juices out of the solids.
7. Let it cool down and refrigerate overnight, the next day you can scoop off the fat if needed.

Making the soup:

8. Clean the onions, remove stem, top and skin. Half them and remove the basal plate and buds. Cut the onions into smaller strips top to root! Don’t make the chunks too small/thin as they will shrink in the pan! 
9. Mince the thyme and garlic.
10. Add the onions to a pot with butter and fry it until caramelized, this can take up to an hour depending on the amount of onions!
11. Add the flour in table spoon batches, mix until incorporated. Fry the mix for 1-2 min, don’t let it burn, it will stick a little bit to the bottom.
12. Add the wine or sherry to the pot and mix well. When the alcohol is cooked off, add the beef broth 1 latte per time, keep stirring everything until all fluid is nicely distributed. The soup will keep getting smoother and liquid over time. Do this until you reach your desired thickness and amount.
13. Add the soy and fish sauce.
14. Let the soup simmer lightly for about 1 hour
15. For a better consistency,  let the soup cool down and reheat the next day

Finishing the soup:

16. Preheat the oven on 200 degrees celsius
17. Grate the Gruyere cheese and the parmesan and mix them together
18. Slice the banquette diagonal so you have nice slices of bread, put these in a tray and sprinkle some olive oil on top. Optional to spread the oil equally along the top with a brush. Then crack some salt and pepper over the bread and put them into the oven for 3-5 min until golden brown.
19. Change the oven into a broiler on max power.
20. Clean 3-4 cloves of garlic and slice them lengthwise, get the bread out of the oven and rub the garlic with the inner side on top of the bread. More brushing results in a stronger garlic taste.
21. Chop some chives very small pieces
22. Add the soup into an ovenproof bowl, add a tiny bit of cheese, then 2 slices of bread and more cheese on top (as much as possible). Place in the oven until melted, roughly 2-3 minutes.
23. Add some chives on top and place some more bread next to the bowl
24. Eat!