The Mighty Onion
You can do a lot with onions. The use of onions is so expansive, they not only serve as a flavouring agent, but also as dishes in which they are the star of the cooking show. And they should be because they are delicious. The ability to transform the layered balls of pent up sulphur into sweet caramel tasting goodness makes it possible.
An Onion Memory
One of my earliest food memories is watching my grandfather eat an onion raw while enjoying a nice can of sardines. Sure, a great flavor pair. He would peel and cut the onions like you would with an apple slicer, nice and thick . A fork in one hand for the sardines, a free hand to deliver the chunks of onion to his mouth. The crunch of satisfaction and a face that seemed to indicate enjoyment. But on that particular day though, there seemed to be something up with the onion. Yep, they can run hot. The one he was eating did. It pretty much stopped the whole eating process in its tracks. Hell being of fire and brimstone, and brimstone being sulphur, I think grandpa pretty much got a taste of hell. It was a lesson for all. No, it didn’t stop him from eating raw onions (neither did our complaints about his breath), but that onion was one we always remembered. It did clear up why cooking onions is a good idea. Even more so, imagine my delight when I learned about sweet onions. They are my first choice now when cooking.
An Onion Tart Recipe
A tart is an excellent way of delivering the sweetness of onions. A typical onion tart is essentially a flaky pie crust filled with caramelised onions baked in custard – very easy to do and very much like a quiche. We can change this up a little bit by getting some inspiration further away from quiche. For my onion tart, I take my inspiration from cheesecake – a crumb crust of panko or water cracker, a cream cheese based custard for richness but also a little tang that goes well with the caramelized onions, and a spring form pan for higher sides, although a 9 inch tart pan will do the trick, too.
An Onion Soup Recipe
The most famous of onion soups is the one that comes with bread and cheese on top. In its classic form, called a panade, bread is spread with cooked onion. The bread and onion are layered in a large pot with cheese sprinkled between each layer with the top layer being bread and cheese. Broth or water is then poured around it. It is then cooked on the stove and finally baked. This is a great dish when you have leftover bread! The gratinated style with bread and cheese just on top, as we see most often, is a very simplified version, but a delicious soup nonetheless that still whistles the panade tune. It is nice to have something a little different. But I admit, whenever I consider making something different from classic gratinated french onion soup, I think of that crouton and gruyere cheese and it makes if difficult to change. A simple variation is to make the soup a bit more luxurious by thickening it with some flour, cream and egg yolk. The egg and cream trick is an old school liaison that makes a great thickener and is the reason that the word sumptuous was created. It is a good trick to have in you repertoire. You will have to decide which soup to make, but I will give you both recipes.
- 2 lbs of sweet onions like vidalia
- 3 tbsp of butter
- salt
- 1 box of water crackers (like Carr’s) about 50 crackers – enough to make 1-1/2 cups of cracker meal or 1-1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 2 eggs
- 16 oz of cream cheese, softened
- salt and pepper
- Peel and thinly slice the onion. Slice them as thin as possible.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions to the pot, season with salt.
- Stir the onions well. Lower the heat, and cook slowly until very soft, stirring ocassionally- 30-35 minutes.
- When the onions are soft, increase the heat to medium and cook until caramelized.
- In a food processor or with a rolling pin, grind the water crackers into a fine meal. If you are using panko bread crumbs, move to the next step.
- Melt the butter.
- In a large bowl, mix the butter, cracker meal and a few grinds of black pepper.
- Press the mixture onto the bottom of a springform pan or a 9 inch tart pan.
- Place the crust in the refrigerator to get firm.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time and blend until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the cooled onions.
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Close the spring form pan with the crust bottom. Pour the custard mixture into the springform pan or into the tart pan.
- Bake until it is just set, 40-45 minutes.
- If using a spring form pan, loosen from the springform and let cool. Serve just warm or room temperature. Don’t attempt to serve it too hot or it may ooze.
- Using a crumb crust will save the time of blind baking.
- You cannot serve the tart too hot as it will not be fully set until is it cooler. if you cut the tart when it is too hot it could ooze.
- It does take some time to caramelise onions and reach the perfect onion sweetness. You don’t have to fully caramelize them, but it will make the richest, most flavorful tart possible if you do. Using sweet onions can help reduce the need for full caramelization. To shorten the time, just cook the onions over medium heat until golden. It is important to taste as you go. If the onions have gotten sweet but not fully golden, move forward.
- Want to Cheat? Purchase an already made pie crust in the freezer section. In a 9 inch tart pan, blind bake it lined with parchment and weighted with dried beans at 400F for about 10 minutes.
- 1 lb sweet onions like vidalia
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1/2 cup of port or white wine
- 4 cups of beef stock, chicken stock or water
- 1/2 a baguette
- 1/2 lb Gruyere, Emmental or Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven 400F.
- Peel and thinly slice the onion.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the onions to the pot, season with salt.
- Stir the onions well. Lower the heat and cook slowly until very soft, stirring ocassionally- 30-35 minutes.
- When the onions are soft, increase the heat to medium and cook until caramelized.
- Add the port or wine and reduce until it is a syrup.
- Add the stock or water. Simmer 10-15 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper
- Slice the baguette into rounds. Top with cheese. Bake on a baking tray until the cheese is melted and browned.
- Ladle the soup in a warm bowl. Place a crouton on top.
- Vegetable, beef or chicken stock can be used with this classic french onion soup recipe as can plain water. The classic recipes certainly used water. The stocks just give the soup extra oomph! Using water gives you a real feel for what these soups were like back in the day when the focus of onion soup was solely on the onion.
- It does take some time to caramelise onions and reach the perfect onion sweetness. You don’t have to fully caramelize them, but it will make the richest, most flavorful tart possible if you do. Using sweet onions can help reduce the need for full caramelization. To shorten the time, just cook the onions over medium heat until golden. It is important to taste as you go. If the onions have gotten sweet but not fully golden, move forward.
- Want to Cheat? Buy the stock or broth.
- 1 lb sweet onions like vidalia
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of flour
- 1/2 cup of port or white wine
- 2 cups of beef stock, chicken stock or milk
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup of cream
- 1/2 a baguette
- butter (optional)
- salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven 400F.
- Peel and thinly slice the onion.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the onions to the pot, season with salt.
- Stir the onions well. Lower the heat and cook slowly until very soft, stirring ocassionally- 30-35 minutes.
- When the onions are soft, increase the heat to medium and cook until caramelized.
- Add the flour and stir. Cook 3-4 minutes.
- Add the port or wine and mix well to remove anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Allow the wine to simmer and thicken.
- Add the stock, water or milk and the 2 cups of milk. Simmer 10-15 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from the heat.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the cream and egg yolks. Slowly ladle in 1/2 cup of the liquid from the hot soup to temper the yolk and cream. Add the soup/egg/cream mixture to the soup while whisking. Do not bring this to a boil or it will break. The soup will be thickened immediately and be ready to serve.
- Slice the baguette into rounds. Bake on a baking tray until golden. Spread butter on the crouton.
- Ladle the soup in a warm bowl. Place a crouton or 2 on top.
- Vegetable, beef or chicken stock can be used, as can plain water. If you are going vegan, replace the milk with an appropriate substitution - soy, rice or almond milk.
- The classic recipes certainly used water. The stocks just give the soup extra oomph! Using water gives you a real feel for what these soups were like back in the day when the focus of onion soup was solely on the onion.
- This soup a’la creme uses milk as part of its base. This is a good reminder that milk should not be overlooked as a stock.
- It does take some time to caramelise onions and reach the perfect onion sweetness. You don’t have to fully caramelize them, but it will make the richest, most flavorful tart possible if you do. Using sweet onions can help reduce the need for full caramelization. To shorten the time, just cook the onions over medium heat until golden. It is important to taste as you go. If the onions have gotten sweet but not fully golden, move forward.
- Want to Cheat? Buy the stock or broth.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
Are you an onion lover? How do you make your onion tart or soup? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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