Onion, 3 Ways

If you don't like onions, this post is not for you :)

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One day I found myself in possession of a big sack of onions. Not a big bag, but a big sack. Ten kilos of big brown onions, sold for around $3 for the lot. Who would not buy it?

So now I had to find some use for a big sack of onions. :)

Not that there is a scarcity of recipes for onions. There's always onion rings, onion bhaji, french onion soup...and I can go on and on like that guy Bubba in Forrest Gump describing how shrimp can be cooked...

I started with onion jam. I once made a batch and it can be slathered on to almost anything like steak, burgers, sandwiches... and it can surely make something very simple a lot more tasty. Then when I started chopping... I just didn't stop, and ended up with onion and potato soup and stuffed onions as well!

My onion jam was made of around 5 large onions, chopped and cooked slowly over medium low heat until wilted and almost caramelized, then a teaspoon of hot mustard, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a slosh of balsamic vinegar, a teaspoon or so of honey, 2 bay leaves and salt and freshly cracked black pepper went into the mix and proceeded to cook, still slowly. I used a wide cast iron pan and kept my eye on it, stirring until the desired consistency was reached. It eventually found its way into a clean jar.



While letting the onion jam simmer slowly, I found a recipe from Larousse Gastronomique about stuffed onions. 'Well that's a first!", I thought, and proceeded to read. I did not have all the ingredients required but had sufficient alternatives. Stuffing onions required a bit of fussy preparation, I later realized - scooping the insides wasn't as straightforward as I thought.

The recipe called for large onions to be peeled gently so as not to break the outer shell, stalks cut off so that the onion is  reduced to 2/3 of its size. The onions are to be boiled in water for around 10 minutes, then the insides scooped, minced and mixed with the desired filling. In this case it was cooked rice fried in oil where pancetta was rendered, and finely minced garlic. (Anything with pancetta is always tasty!). This was spooned back into the onion shells, some gravy** spooned on top, and baked in a 200C oven for around 20 minutes.

onions the size of my hand

 peeled ever so carefully, the top chopped off. i also trimmed the bottom to stabilize them a bit

boil for around 10 minutes or until slightly softened

 scoop the insides out and mince

fry some bacon (or salami and pancetta in this case), saute the minced onions and add cooked rice

season to taste 

stuff rice mixture back into onion shells, baste with some sauce and bake for around 20minutes on 200C

Now - the "gravy" was actually part of the potato and onion soup that I was also making.

I saved some of the water where the onion was boiled ("onion water"), and in a separate pan I heated some extra virgin olive oil and threw in around 4 chopped onions, and cooked them in high heat until caramelized. I let some pieces get a darker color than usual, then I added 4 cloves of finely minced garlic, and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (from the garden of course), minced. I let them all cook together for a couple more minutes, then tipped the contents into around 2 cups of "onion water". I deglazed the pan with cooking sherry, and the tasty bits also went to the pot. Four medium sized potatoes (cubed) also went in, and about 2 cups of homemade chicken stock, and 2 bay leaves. This was brought to a boil, the heat lowered, and then simmered gently until the potatoes were cooked thoroughly. I wanted a slightly thick soup, so after some of the liquid was reduced, the mixture was blitzed in a food processor. It is ready to serve!

So, the soup was then ladled on to soup bowls. I had some old homemade focaccia (remnants of a get together with the neighbors!). I sliced the crust off and cut them into squares and drizzled with olive oil to make some sort of croutons. Into a 200C oven it went for around 10 minutes. (At this same instant, the stuffed onions also went into the oven). When the croutons are golden and toasted, sprinkle on top of the soup and add a tablespoon of the onion jam. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and get ready to get your mind blown away.

another use for stale bread

Meanwhile, serve the stuffed onions with some greens (in this case, rocket and young silverbeet from the garden). They were moist inside and the natural sugars very obvious to the palate...the pungency is gone and all that's left is the flavor of a tasty lunch.

I hope to be able to replicate this again, especially the soup, as it had received rave reviews! (I had forgotten what I used for the chicken stock as I tend to use whatever is in the kitchen at that very instant, so the taste might vary the next time!)