French Onion Soup

I stole this idea from a colleague at work. He was putting on a dinner party and asked me if I had a particular recipe I used. I didn't. So I looked around and found a few to see what the general deal was... I (we) ended up buying some beef bones from a butcher in Manchester one lunchtime, the plan was to put them to good use by making beef stock. I don't make by own stocks generally, not beef anyway.

I dumped the bones into a large saucepan and emptied in some water and salt. Boiled them for about 3-4 hours, skimming the top every 15-20 mins. I left it in the fridge over night so I could get the rest in the morning (it solidifies on top...).

For the soup I used 2 large white onions, half moon type cut and fried in a little butter and oil for around 20 mins. Til they got all nice and brown. Towards the end I put a little golden caster sugar in, just to add that little more caramel flavour. Plus a finely sliced clove of garlic.

A glass of white wine was used to deglaze the pan, and left to boil off until half the amount was left. Then in when a little smoked paprika, beef and chicken (bottled bouillon) stock. 30 mins simmer later it was ready.

To top it off I used some grilled ciabatta gran padano cheese on toast :-)