Carmelizing Onions

[suziquzie]

Toss the onions (I use red usually for this) with cooked pasta, feta cheese, a splash of lemon juice. Oh yeah and throw in a little garlic at the end of the onion browning.
Save a bit of the pasta water in case it needs some loosening up.
Yummy! I saw something like it on Everyday Italian once.

 

[Bilby]

Glad you liked it, Clienta!! There are dozens of recipes for the cranberry version, I am yet to decide which one to try to make cos I found a British company, Baxters, that does a nice Cranberry version.

 

[Bilby]

Yea, I did a Google search and came up with Kitchen Hoods. So I guess its purpose is just to vent the steam and odor?

yeah, all the same. The smell of the cooking vinegar in that quanitity can permeate the house and linger if you don't think ahead, I've found! And cos it is only in a saucepan, the smell can just creep up on you if you don't switch the thing on!! The Easterlies around here can get to storm conditions in summer and they couldn't even clear the smell out quickly when I first made it. I have duly learnt my lesson!!

 

[tdiprincess]

so...for french onion soup...do you just add the onions to the broth after carmelizing? And then add the bread and cheese?
I'm going to have to start carmelizing onions more often. I'm not a fan of onions raw. I like blooming onions...those are...mmmm...yummy!!

 

[ErikC]

Three tips I learned about carmelizing onions from TV shows, and I have tried them all and they work:

1. Add a bit of water at the start. The steam will warm the onions through and get their moisture released more quickly.
2. Salt will also help draw out the moisture. Moisture prevents carmelization, since evaporation cools the onions to a point below the temp where carmelization starts (around 350 degrees F).
3. Add a sprinkle of sugar to the onions once they have reduced in size (which means the moisture is gone and the internal temperature is rising). The sugar will start to carmelize, and this somehow gets the carmelization started more quickly in the onions. I don't really know how, I only know it does seem to the speed things up a bit.

The big thing is patience. You can start at medium while cooking the onions down, but then the temp has to go down. And stir every now and then.

If you carmelize onions with a bit of star anise, and add them to any meat dish, you will get an amazing flavor enhancement of the meat. I learned that one from Heston Blumenthal.

 

[LadyCook61]

I like carmelized onions in my beef gravy.

 

[Wart]

3. Add a sprinkle of sugar to the onions once they have reduced in size .... The sugar will start to carmelize, and this somehow gets the carmelization started more quickly in the onions. I don't really know how

I'm guessing the sugar acts as a seed crystal.

If you carmelize onions with a bit of star anise, and add them to any meat dish, you will get an amazing flavor enhancement of the meat. I learned that one from Heston Blumenthal.

Thanks for the tips.