Freaking Awesome French Onion Soup

For the soup:
Slice onions and mince garlic and brown in a large frying pan with butter until onions are soft. Add bay leaves and red wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer to reduce the wine. Once the wine has mostly evaporated, remove the bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the beef broth into the crock pot and add onions and thyme. Combine and cook for 6 hours.

For the croutons:
Preheat broiler (for my oven I did it on the medium setting). Slice bread, then toast it on oven racks for a few minutes to get bread crispy. Shred cheese.

Ladle soup into bowls and place toasted bread on top and sprinkle with cheese then place soup bowls on a baking sheet and melt cheese under broiler 2-5 minutes then remove and serve.

Tip: Do not shred with a microplaner; use a cheese grater. The cheese has a high moisture content and the microplane shreds the cheese too finely. A cheese grater works much better.