3 lbs. heavy beef of a cheap cut (chuck, etc.), plus a sm. soup bone
8 lg. white onions, sliced
1/4 lb. butter or shortening
French bread, toasted
Grated cheese (half Mozzarella, half Romano)
Carrots, celery, etc. for soup pot

Cut up beef, and put it with the bone in a big (6 to 8 quart) kettle. Add a couple of carrots, celery tops, an onion or two, a couple of bay leaves and a tablespoonful of salt and about 3 quarts of cold water. Bring this mess to a boil, and then skim it and simmer it covered for about 4 hours. You are after making a very rich stock, and you can beef it up with such things as Lipton's dehydrated soups (onion yet!) or Franco American Beef Gravy if you have to, so don't worry about it. The stock can be made a day ahead.

When you get all the onions sliced and stop crying, begin browning them, not too many at a time, in the butter or shortening. This takes a while, but nicely browned onions taste a lot of different from poorly done ones. They must be brown, but not burnt, and in rings or strips.

When the stock is done, strain it; add the browned onions to it, and either a bit of a brown roux or a can of the aforesaid beef gravy to give it body. Simmer the stock and the onions together very gently for 1 hour.

You don't throw the meat away, by any means. The French call this the "bouilli", and the Creole people of New Orleans serve it cold, mixed with hard boiled eggs and dressed as a salad on lettuce. Me, I like to mince about a cupful very fine and throw it into the onion soup. It seems to give great strength to same, and makes it of the "one dish meal" class.

To serve your onion soup, you need BIG flat bowls. Cover your slices of toasted French bread with the grated cheese, run same under the broiler to melt. Put a slice in the soup bowl and ladle the soup over it. If you put the minced bouilli back into the soup (you can put a lot if you like), this plus say a salad of grapefruits and avocado is a fine supper or lunch.