gjgee wrote:
> You're welcome! The brown sugar helps caramelize the onions and brings
> out their sweetness.
Of all things we eat as vegetables, onions have the most sugar. If you
cook onions in a non-stick skillet - plain with *nothing* added - on low
heat for 45 minutes of so, they'll caramelize to a rich, dark brown and
have a wonderful, subtle onion sweetness. I did this for onion soup in
my restaurants and still do it at home.
Pastorio's Onion Soup
5 pounds yellow onions
2 quarts chicken stock
2 quarts beef stock
1/2 cup marsala wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Peel and slice the onions thinly and put into a non-stick skillet on low
heat. Stir occasionally until they become dark brown - not black - and
sticky-sweet, at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile combine hte two stocks and
slowly reduce by about 1/3. When the onons are dark brown, add them to
the stocks. The skillet will have bits of browned onion stuck to it. Use
the wine to deglaze the pan - pour the wine into it and stir it around
over medium heat to get the bits off the pan. When it's deglazed, dump
the wine glaze into the stocks. Add the Worcestershirte sauce and simmer
for 30 minutes. Pour into crocks, put a grilled or toasted piece of
French or Italian bread on top, cover with a slice of Swiss or Provolone
adn put under hte broiler to toast the cheese.
For a knockout variant, put a slice of bread in the bottom of hte crock,
break a raw egg into the crock, fill with hot onion soup and finish as
above. Serve quickly. To eat, break through the cheese and crouton and
stir the egg through the soup. It'll make it creamy and very rich. Good
wine, some fruit to finish and a nap.
> You could do the onions to accompany just about
> anything...pork chops are great!
The caramelized onions described above are wonderful as a stuffing. Cut
a pouch in a chop or cutlet or boneless chicken thigh, stuff it with a
tablespoon or two of the onions and saute. A cream sauce also benefits
from some onions added. And best of all is to put some of that sauce
over top.
Pastorio
> Another idea, if you're grilling, is the toss the onions with salt,
> pepper, brown sugar and drizzle with olive oil. Carefully grill the
> onion slices. If you have one of those grill baskets, all the better,
> so you don't lose any of the onions between the grates.