BROWN ONION

Alison has made this soup, successfully, many times over the last 20 years, always using stock powders. The fact remains that you can’t make onion soup without peeling and chopping onions. Still, what are a few tears? Makes 6-8 servings.

Ingredients 4-6 large onions, peeled

100g butter 2 teaspoons sugar ¼ cup plain flour 6 cups water 4 teaspoons beef stock powder 2 teaspoons chicken or vegetable stock powder 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce ¼ cup sherry salt and pepper, to taste chilli sauce (optional)

Halve the onions and cut into 5mm slices. Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot, add the onions and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, or until the onions have softened and browned. Do not hurry this step or the flavour will be spoilt.

Stir in the sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the mixture darkens, then stir in the flour and cook about a minute longer.

Add the water, 2 cups at a time, bringing the soup to the boil after each addition. Add the stock powders with the last quantity of water, then simmer over a very low heat for 30 minutes.

Add the Worcestershire sauce and sherry, taste, then add freshly ground black pepper, a little more sugar and salt. Add a few drops of chilli sauce, if you like.

Top each bowl with a freshly made Cheesy Croûton (below) before serving.

Cheesy Croûtons The traditional way to prepare these is to ladle the soup into individual bowls, cover the top of each with sliced bread and sprinkle generously with grated cheese. The bowls are then placed under the grill until the cheese is golden brown. However, to avoid having to get hot, soup-filled bowls in and out of the oven, you can make the croûtons separately. Ingredients 6-8 2cm slices of French bread, cut on the diagonal ½-1 cup grated Gruyère or tasty cheese

Grill or toast both sides of the sliced French bread until lightly browned. Pile the grated cheese on top and grill until the cheese melts.