While Turkish delight would not make me break, if I traveled to Narnia and the White Witch presented me with French onion soup, I would betray my entire family.

Last week, I walked into Kitchen Kapers on Germantown Avenue looking for those cheap oven-safe ramekins, an item missing from my kitchen. The employee tried to talk me into getting French onion soup bowls. Thinking I knew better, I continued searching for the right size ramekin. I walked out of there with French onion soup bowls. 

Suddenly finding myself with the means to make my favorite soup, I looked up the basic ingredients and decided to make it myself. Watching several videos on how to make it, I disregarded all of them for my own recipe. 

Ingredients:

• Four to five medium-sized yellow onions (Frankly, you can't go wrong with more onions.)
• Beef broth (or broth of choice), five cups
• Garlic, 4-5 cloves
• Butter, 4 tablespoons (Salted or unsalted works, just be mindful of how much salt you add.)
• Bourbon, splash
• White wine, 1 cup
• Snips of fresh thyme, parsley, dill, green onions, and 2 or more dried bay leaves
• Block of gruyère cheese, shredded
• Baguette
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive oil, enough for tossing with bread

Here is how I made it: 

• Cut up four to five yellow onions. Depending on how much you’re making, it’s an easy recipe to adjust without changing the flavor too much. 
• Into a large pot add half a stick of butter on medium-low heat and stir every four to five minutes. This process will take 45 minutes to an hour; do not rush it. 
• Toward the last 10 minutes of the onion caramelizing process, add about four to five cloves of garlic, diced. Add a sprinkle of pepper at this time. 
• At the end of the caramelizing process, deglaze with a cup of white wine and a splash of bourbon (for a little extra flavor, you can add a tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon and mix)
• After deglazing and letting simmer for a few minutes, add five cups of beef (or any) broth, a few bay leaves, some fresh thyme, parsley and a couple pinches of salt. (You can always add more salt at the end of the process.) 
• Reduce heat to low and let simmer for an hour. 
• During this time, cut a baguette into cubes, toss with olive oil and place in the oven at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. 
• After simmering for an hour, taste the broth and add more salt accordingly. 

Assembly

• Place a handful of your toasted baguette croutons into an oven-safe bowl and ladle soup on top till it nearly fills the bowl. (Be sure to scoop up a good amount of onions with it.) 
• Place a healthy amount of shredded gruyère cheese on top of the soup and place in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. 
• Carefully take the soup out and sprinkle some chopped dill and green onions on top.
• Let cool down slightly before enjoying.

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@chestnuthilllocal.com.