Gratinated onion soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 onions
• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 apple, sour, e.g. Boskoop
• ½ tsp caraway seeds, crushed in a mortar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 200 ml beer
• 800 ml beef broth or vegetable broth
• 1 pinch Thai curry powder, hot
• 4 slice(s) rye bread, toasted
• 2 egg yolks
• 100 g grated cheese, hearty, e.g. Gruyère, mountain cheese
• 1 pinch of nutmeg or mace powder

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 25 minutes; Total time approx. 35 minutes

Ideal for cold days

Cut the onions into eighths and into fairly small pieces. Sauté in the butter with the bay leaves for 5 minutes until translucent. Then add the caraway seeds and the peeled and finely chopped apple. Dust with flour and first deglaze with the beer. Then simmer in the broth for about 15 minutes at moderate heat. In the meantime, dry-roast or toast the bread slices and cut them to fit snugly into the soup bowls. Caution: The soup bowls must be ovenproof! Grate the cheese and mix with the egg yolks and nutmeg or mace. Preheat the oven to 225°C. Ladle the soup into the bowls, dip the bread in, and spread the cheese and egg mixture over the bread slices. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes and broil for another 3 minutes until the surface is nicely browned.