French onion soup

This is an absolutely delicious French onion soup.  The key is carmelizing the onions properly.  As listed, the recipe serves 8 and costs approximately $2 per serving.  This recipe works equally well when halved to 4 servings.  French onion soup is typically finished in individual bowls - I don't have the proper bowls so I just put mine in a small casserole dish to complete the final step and let everyone serve themselves.

Here's your ingredient list:

• 6 tblsp butter
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 3 lbs sweet onions peeled and sliced thinly (you can use yellow if you prefer)
• salt
• 1 tblsp flour
• 8 cups beef stock
• 2 cups white wine (whatever wine you prefer to cook with - I use a cheap one that costs $3 a bottle)
• black pepper
• Some sort of bread slices (I prefer a thickly sliced baguette but you can use dinner rolls, burger buns, or whatever you happen to have in the pantry)..
• 8 slices provolone cheese (gruyere cheese is preferred but is expensive - provolone works just as well).

As I mentioned above, carmelizing correctly is the key to this delicious soup.  I have read many different recipes that claim you can carmelize onions in 15 minutes (you can't unless you use sugar to speed up the process and use a higher heat that will wind up drying out or burning your onions).

Heat a stockpot on medium heat and melt your butter then add the olive oil.
Add the sliced onions, reduce the heat to low and cook stirring occasionally for 45-60 minutes.  They are done when they are very soft and a deep brown.
Raise heat to medium, sprinkle in the flour, and cook for 2-3 minutes while constantly stirring
Add 2 cups of the beef stock and stir to blend, then add the remaining stock and wine.
Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Brush your bread with the remaining butter and place the bread in the oven for a couple of minutes to brown.
Pour 1/2 of the soup in the casserole dish, add the bread, then pour in the remaining soup.  Top each slice of bread with a slice of cheese and place in the oven until the cheese has toasted.
Serve and enjoy.