- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 8 meaty beef short ribs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup butter
- 8 sweet onions (such as Vidalia®), sliced and separated into rings
- 2 quarts beef broth
- 1/2 cup sherry
- 12 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, thinly sliced
- 2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
- Mix flour, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder in a bowl. Dredge beef short ribs in the seasoned flour mixture. Reserve 3 tablespoons of leftover seasoned flour.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and pan-fry the beef ribs until browned on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove ribs and set aside. Turn heat down to medium and melt butter in the pot; cook and stir sweet onions in the butter until soft and slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Stir constantly and reduce heat if onions begin to burn.
- Stir 3 tablespoons of reserved seasoned flour mixture into the onions and cook and stir for 10 minutes; pour in beef broth and sherry. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until soup is slightly thickened; season with more salt and black pepper, if desired.
- Strip leaves from thyme sprigs and add leaves to the soup. Gently return short ribs to the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer soup until ribs are tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Stir soup every hour or so.
- Preheat the oven's broiler.
- Ladle soup into oven-safe soup crocks, placing a short rib into each bowl. Top soup with 2 slices of French bread per bowl and sprinkle about 1/4 cup of Gruyere cheese over each crock.
- Place crocks under broiler until cheese is browned and bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes.