St. Patrick's Day 2011 Recipes - Irish Onion Soup with an Irish Cheddar Crouton

Yesterday in honor of St. Pat's day - which I really have no connection to since I'm more Scottish than Irish - I decided to slave again in the kitchen and make a nice Irish meal. Of course the typical Corned Beef and Cabbage was on the menu which yet again it still lacks in flavor like most Irish food. But I threw in something different for the appetizer - Irish Onion Soup with an Irish Cheddar Crouton. And let me tell you, it was better than an Irish Car Bomb. So I'm not going to bore you with the Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe since it did taste like every corned beef and cabbage I've ever had - you're going to get the soup.

Irish Onion Soup with an Irish Cheddar Crouton
The full recipe will feed six people - I suggest making the whole soup recipe and storing the rest and making the croutons when you reheat the soup. And be ready as this recipe packs a serious punch of flavor compared to your traditional Panera French Onion Soup. Also it's important to get the good Irish cheddar - it packs the nice cheddar punch you want when serving!

2 Tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves minced garlic
8 cups thinly sliced onions - about 6 medium onions
Sea salt or Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (or a little more if you prefer)
1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
2 large cans Guinness or other dark stout
6 cups beef stock (equals 1 1/2 packages of store-bought stock)
6 slices country bread, 1/2" cut, toasted
1/2 lb Irish Cheddar (like Kerrygold), sliced thin

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook briefly to release aroma but be careful not to burn it. Add onions, season with salt, and cook until caramelized, about 15 minutes, stirring often.

A note on cutting onions - it sucks. I don't just cry when cutting them, I weep. Only thing that really helps is to have a lit candle next to you and that will cut through some of the burn. It also is difficult to know the best way to cut an onion. For this recipe, after I cut the roots off and peeled the onion, I sliced the onion in half from top to bottom and then laying it cut side down I began slicing thinly from the top to the bottom. I don't know if this is the best way - I'm not a trained chef - but it worked pretty well.

Add the thyme, vinegar, and one can of beer. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the beer is almost reduced to nothing. Repeat with the second can and reduce it down to almost nothing. Add the beef stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes more.
Preheat the broiler. Transfer the soup to either an ovenproof serving dish or individual ovenproof soup bowls. Top with a toasted piece of bread and sliced cheddar. Broil until the cheese melts and starts to brown slightly.