Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Caramelized Onions


Red and yellow onions were taking over my kitchen counter last week, and something had to be done.

So I caramelized a big batch of them, and now I have lots of carmelized onion delicious-ness. Think about the possibilities here. Pizza. Pasta. Soup. Risotto. Quesadillas. Omelets. With goat cheese and herbs, baked into a savory tart!

The first necessary step was peeling and slicing all those onions into rings. Then pouring a few glugs of olive oil and piling those onion rings into a pan.



I don't know if you can tell, but that is a big pan of onions. It's a 12" wide deep-fry pan, so it has deep sides. Note the pot of white beans bubbling away on the back of the stove.

Now all that's necessary is long, slow, and gentle cooking over a low flame. No lid! We want the onions to caramelize, not steam. Poke at them and turn them around every so often with a wooden spoon or tongs, but find something else to do, too. These onions will take their sweet time, here.

The onions are done once they have turned a delicious caramel-ly brown color and are so sweet that they practically melt in your mouth. This might take 45 minutes to an hour, or more.

Remember the white beans on the back of the stove? They were delicious topped with the caramelized onions, along with oven-roasted tomatoes and fresh rosemary.



I wonder if onions can be caramelized in the slow cooker? The idea inspires the lazy cook inside me.

6 comments:

Beth said...

Wow, looks great. Especially for people who are to busy to cook a meal every night. Did you do anything special to the beans?

Julie Ann said...

The beans were cooked with simple seasonings - onion, garlic, some herbs. A ham bone would have been great, too. But actually, I think the best flavor in that dish came not only from the onions, but from the juices of the oven-roasted tomatoes. I poured some of that sticky tomato juice that had collected on the baking sheet in with the bowl of beans, and it was really, really tasty.

Anonymous said...

Yummy...those onions look great. I have bookmarked your blog. You are both so talented. I love all the new ideas. My family loves them also. David will love the Onions.

Beth said...

This looks like something mayeb worth trying out with your caramelized onions

http://ourkitchensink.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/lined-with-gruyere-and-spilling-over-with-caramelized-onions/

Julie Ann said...

Thanks, Marjorie! We're so glad to have you visit.

Beth, those sandwiches look AMAZING, and yes, now I'll be eating something similar for lunch tomorrow. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Those caramelized onions were great in the breakfast tacos this morning. Thanks honey (Julie)!

 

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