SIMPLE RECIPES Stop back from time-to-time for a favorite recipe. Some are old classics and others new inventions. One or two will come from Champagne Brunch: What to Do When You're over Forty and She's Still There in the Morning, a manuscript sacrificed on the altar of early word processors. Often, it will be one of many delicious recipes you’ll discover in The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook: Recipes simple enough they’re a joy to cook and tasty enough they’re a joy to serve. Buy it on line.

This time, something new: the first recipe developed for the second edition of the cookbook. Here’s a quick but delicious recipe for one of the world’s most popular dishes—French onion soup. This is the traditional soup. I’m working on a vegetarian version.

Watch this space for more recipes you won’t find anywhere else.

French Onion Soup

A restaurant’s pride and joy is its onion soup. Hot and dripping melted cheese, it sets the tone for a great meal to follow. Dazzle your guests at home with this restaurant-quality soup. You can make in an hour.

4 tbsp & 4 pats butter or margarine (divided use)

4 large onions

4 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic peeled

4 slices French bread

5 beef bouillon cubes

1 cup dry white wine

1 pinch of dried thyme

1 pinch of dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp cognac

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese or mixture of Parmesan and mozzarella

Melt 4 tbsp of butter or margarine over medium heat in a large saucepan or soup pot.

Peal the onions and slice them thin—the thinner the better. Use a mandolin if you have one. Add the onions to the melted butter in the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions get soft and begin to brown. This takes 30 to 45 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, make the croutons. Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and heat on medium low. Toss in the garlic cloves and cook stirring occasionally. While the garlic is cooking, butter the bread slices. When the garlic cloves are lightly browned all over, remove them. Add the bread slices, buttered side up, and cook them over medium heat until browned. Flip the bread over and brown the buttered side. Remove and set aside. Chop the toasted garlic cloves and toss them in with the onion.

When the onions have browned, add the bouillon cubes, the wine and 4 cups of water. Turn the heat up to medium high and bring to a boil. Add the thyme, the parsley, the salt and pepper and the cognac. Simmer 15 minutes or longer. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Ladle the soup into over-proof bowls. Lay the reserved croutons on top. Top with ¼ cup of grated cheese. Bake at 400°F until the cheese melts…about 10 minutes.

Not sure the bowls are going to survive the oven? Try Plan B. Put the croutons on a baking sheet, cover with the cheese, and bake them for 10 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and lay the cheese croutons on top.