onions

[juldea]

(First off: I really like this icon, but it really DOES need to be even fatter.)

A couple months ago when contradictacat and I started getting our farm share vegetables, the lettuces were the most difficult to keep up with. Those have tapered off, but now I find myself drowning in onions. This is very strange because I LOVE onion and use it in almost everything, but I just am not cooking enough to use them up. Luckily, they last. But does anyone have any tasty onion-specific recipes or ideas for me going through these faster? (Putting them in my morning oatmeal is NOT an option.)

Comments

[diego001.livejournal.com]

4 onions, sliced into half-moon shapes
2 tbsp butter
olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt
1 oz cognac (preferably the VS kind)
2 cups white wine
3 10-ounce cans of beef stock
1 cup Gruyere, Fontina, or Emmenthaler cheese
A 1-inch-thickness sliced baguette
A sprig of thyme
A sprig of parsley
A sprig of bay leaf
Ground black pepper (to taste)

Serving: on soup crocks or oven-safe bowls.

Set a heavy pan or skillet on a pan on the lowest possible heat, add the butter and olive oil, wait until butter melts, then add the onions in layers, with a pinch of salt in between the layers, until the skillet is filled or there's no more onions. Do not stir for 15-20 minutes. Sautee until onions are heavily caramelized (a dark mahogany brown color is what we're looking for), stirring occasionally. This should take 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Once this is done, turn the heat to high, add wine to deglaze the pan, wait for a reduction (it should have the consistency of syrup) and add the beef broth and the herbs. Reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes. Once this has been simmered, taste the broth and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. Add the cognac as the broth cools.

Turn oven to broiler setting, and prepare the soup crocks or oven-safe soup bowls. Remove the herbs from the broth and ladle the soup onto the bowls or crocks, cover these with the sliced bread so that the bread covers most of the broth. Sprinkle with the cheese to taste, then broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, about 1-2 minutes.

[wombatbanana.livejournal.com]

We caramelized and freeze them when we had this problem. We just separated the caramelized onion into little zip-lock baggies.

[outlander.livejournal.com]

You can also do the same with raw onion--chop, put into baggies, & freeze.

But when you get here tonight, take a look at my Black Bean Soup recipe--it uses at least three onions at a time.

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

You could always slice them thin and deep fry/bake them until they're crispy to use as toppings/seasonings for other things.

[anitra.livejournal.com]

You could try your hand at making onion rings - that would probably use them up quick. :)

try this icon

[cthulhia]

that icon always bothered me, since it shows the curves of a fairly thin woman who happens to have boobs.

my fat girl curves aren't nearly as perfect in silhouette as those, so here's my attempt at a more honest icon.

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

I am sure someone has said this already--but french onion soup is easy to make, freezes well, and uses up a lot of onions!

[diego001.livejournal.com]

Yep. I provided my very own French Onion Soup recipe upthread!

[baronbrian.livejournal.com]

Pickle it!

The Natural Pickle (From Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn)

here is the basic method for pickling by fermentation. It's a simple process that requires no special tools other than the right-sized container. The precise salt-to-water ratio is 50 grams per liter, for a 5-percent salt solution.

Basic Recipe
50 grams ( 1 3/4 ounces) kosher salt (has to be kosher)
1 liter (4 1/4 cups) water
225 grams (8 ounces) trimmed, cleaned and peeled vegetables (onions in this case)
Optional (but highly suggested) seasonings: aromatics such as garlic, ginger, chilies, peppercorns, thyme, tarragon (whatever you want... but not all at once)

1) Combine salt, seasonings and water in a saucepan and bring to simmer to disolve the salt. Remove and let cool to room temp.
2) Place the veggies in a clean jar that will hold them comfortably. Pour brine over veggies to cover. Fill a small bag with more brine and press down to keep them submerged or press a piece of plastic wrap down on top of veggies and then pour more brine over it. They MUST stay completely submerged.
3) Place in a cool spot and let ferment for 7 days (don't let it go over 75 degrees F)
4) After seven days, taste. They should be crunchy still and have a salty-sour taste (not sour like vinegar). If you want a stronger flavor, let them sit for three more days (or longer if you want really sour).
5) To store, remove the pickled veggies from the jar and place in a new, clean jar. Strain the brine into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Let it cool down again to room temp.
6) Pour the cooled brine over the veggies, cover and refrigerate. They should keep indefinitely in the fridge.

That's it! If you're interested, I've got a pickling spice recipe that the book also gives.