Cut the onions in half, remove the outer paper layer and then slice into thin slices.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook onions for 15 minutes over medium low heat, stirring frequently. If onions begin to burn, reduce the heat.
Add the salt, pepper and sugar, reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 30-45 minutes. The color of the onions should begin to turn deep brown. Stir occasionally to keep from burning.
Add the beer, broth, miso, thyme and bay leaves to the pot. Stir together, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the onion browned bits up. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar. Then taste and adjust the salt and pepper as desired.
Garlic Toasts
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Start when the soup is just about ready to serve.
Slice the baguette into half inch slices. Layout on a baking sheet. Combine the olive oil, parsley and garlic.
Spread on one side of the baguette slices. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to toast until lightly browned and crispy.
Serve up soup topped with slices of bread!
Notes
Tips for BEST Results:Use a thick bottomed pan to make the caramelized onions. The thickness helps to absorb the heat and distribute it more evenly which is important to keep the onions from burning.Be patient with your caramelized onions. You don’t need to watch and stir them constantly but they do need an occasional glance to make sure they aren’t burning or caramelizing unevenly.Be sure to use medium-low heat to cook the sliced onions. You can’t speed up the process of caramelizing onions and using a higher temperature may cause the onions to burn.Don’t slice the onions too thin or too thick. The goal is onion slices about ⅛ inch thick for the best results.Make sure the pot or pan you use to caramelize the onions is large enough to give the onions some space to cook. I made this mistake on my first try. The results were that the onions gave off tons of liquid and the caramelized onions took much longer to achieve a nice brown caramelized color.If cooked perfectly, your caramelized onions should be deep brown and soft. Cooking caramelized onions can be a little tricky and if you want to know more about some things to avoid I recommend you read this for more tips on troubleshooting cooking caramelized onions.