French onion soup with Guinness and mozzarella baguettes

In France - ´´French onions soup´´ is a standard bistro fare, in Ireland they do a version with Guinness and today I combine both recipe to do my own version of this classic soup were I will add a Italian twist. A classic soup perfect for winter, is packed with onion flavor and is delicious for those occasions when soul food is needed to raise the spirits. Make sure that you use a good beef stock and allow the onions to caramelize to get the maximum flavor in your onion soup. For vegetarians, the beef stock can be replaced with vegetable-based stock.
The trick for this great onion soup is starting with good stock. Another important step is to caramelize the onion. Caramelizing onions take at least thirty minutes of slow cooking the onions over medium heat. The browning, or caramelizing, of the onions brings out the sweetness of the onions.
Recipe below make enough for 4-6 portions.
Chopping onions note
Chopping onions is a nice 'crying' experience! The way to stop you from crying when chopping onions is tricky! Just use a very sharp knife, serrated knives are no good. When you chop an onion you break the walls of the cells, this allows the juices of the onions to go into the atmosphere. Sharper the knife is, the less cells are broken.

Ingredients
6 large Spanish onions peeled and thinly sliced.
olive oil
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ liter beef stock
1 of 500 ml can of Guinness
1-2 table spoon worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon of fresh chopped thyme
salt and pepper
12 slices from French baguettes
150 gr grated Gruyeres cheese
6 of 80 gr French baguettes with garlic butter
4 of 125gr Buffalo Mozzarella
pot of basil to garnish.

In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30 minutes.
Turn the onions every minute or so to ensure they are evenly cooked.
Add the minced garlic, sugar and thyme and continue cooking on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the onion is well browned, stirring frequently.

Stir in the Guinness,  worcestershire sauce and stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.Cook the onion until gets a light brown color so that is soft but not falling apart.
Put the French baguettes slices under the grill or into the oven, to toast them.

Rub each slice of toasted French bread with a garlic clove.
Top with grated cheese, and grill or oven backed for 3-4 minutes until cheese begins to melt and bubble. Put the cheese croutons on the top of the soup, garnish with fresh basil and served.

To make a meal on its own I served on the side with a mozzarella and garlic baguettes.

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