Fabulous French Onion Soup

My mother in law is visiting with us and I really think when she goes I'll be going through compliment withdrawl. See, she loves my cooking and hearing someone rave about your cooking everyday not only makes it even better to cook but it makes your overall day a little bit better. I guess I'm going to have to get used to the void.

I was cooking up a storm for the last couple weeks but having been blessed with some fantastic sunshine the last couple of days has meant we've pretty much concentrated on grilling. Today however brought us some rain, am I a terrible person for actually welcoming the break from the sun? Perhaps, but seeing as my boyfriend does most of the BBQing around here, I wanted to get back into the kitchen.

I haven't made french onion soup since last winter and I had no idea it was my mother in law's favorite. This is a fail safe recipe I got from one of the best recipe blogs around, elise.com but as usual, I have made some changes. I've made this recipe many times and it always turns out awesome. I still have a couple of days left to knock her socks off in hopes of stroking my ego a few more times.

RECIPE:
6 large sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
Olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups each of beef stock and chicken stock
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon of dry thyme
Salt and pepper
8 slices of toasted French bread
1 1/2 cups of grated Swiss Gruyere with a little grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30 minutes. Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf. To serve you can either use individual oven-proof soup bowls or one large casserole dish. Ladle the soup into the bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprink with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.