Onions for children

[gor]

i'm just after making another savoury pizza pie and my daughter is asking me to pick out the minute onions out of the tomato sauce, i'd love if there was some kinda of paste i could make, store and use to combat the texture of the onions that she and now my son are so adverse to!!my ideal recipe would be an onion mashed up in some way so that i could store it in glass jars in my fridge in batches of one or two onions, and i could whip them out instead of chopping onions and adding them to the recipe. maybe it's a tall order but all suggestions are very welcome.

 

[Andy M.]

Use a food processor to puree onions and freeze them in recipe portions.

 

[jabbur]

I have a mini chopper that works like a little food processor. I often use that to mince up onions if I want a smoother texture to a soup or sauce but want onion flavor. I have frozen it before but find that it gets very watery when thawed. I just pull it out and "mush" up the onion instead of chopping it when I'm cooking now instead of trying to freeze it.

 

[againuntodust]

I boil onions in water and then put it in a blender when they're soft, pour the mixture into ice cube trays, freeze it, then dump the cubes into plastic bags. When you need onion, just get a few cubes and throw them in whatever you're making. I use this technique mainly for curries.

 

[Andy M.]

I boil onions in water and then put it in a blender when they're soft,...

Why do you boil them first?

 

[againuntodust]

Since I use the onion cubes towards the end of cooking, having them already cooked before frozen prevents a raw onion flavor. Here's the exact recipe from natco that I adapted to fit my own needs, in its original form:

2 lge white onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic
3tbs vegetable oil
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of cinnamon

Place raw onion and garlic into blender. Add enough water to come about halfway up the side of the blender and blend until WELL smoothed.

Heat the oil in a pan on a high heat, adding the mixture (it will spit!!!)

Reduce this down until it gets dryer then add the spices and continue frying until it turns into what looks a bit like bread dough. This may take some time but is worth it for the final taste! Be careful not to burn this as it will be ruined.

 

[Dawgluver]

Since I use the onion cubes towards the end of cooking, having them already cooked before frozen prevents a raw onion flavor. Here's the exact recipe from natco that I adapted to fit my own needs, in its original form:

2 lge white onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic
3tbs vegetable oil
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of cinnamon

Place raw onion and garlic into blender. Add enough water to come about halfway up the side of the blender and blend until WELL smoothed.

Heat the oil in a pan on a high heat, adding the mixture (it will spit!!!)

Reduce this down until it gets dryer then add the spices and continue frying until it turns into what looks a bit like bread dough. This may take some time but is worth it for the final taste! Be careful not to burn this as it will be ruined.

This sounds really interesting, onion concentrate. Wonder if onion paste is available in a toothpaste tube, like the Amore tomato paste and garlic paste.

 

[Aunt Bea]

i'm just after making another savoury pizza pie and my daughter is asking me to pick out the minute onions out of the tomato sauce, i'd love if there was some kinda of paste i could make, store and use to combat the texture of the onions that she and now my son are so adverse to!!my ideal recipe would be an onion mashed up in some way so that i could store it in glass jars in my fridge in batches of one or two onions, and i could whip them out instead of chopping onions and adding them to the recipe. maybe it's a tall order but all suggestions are very welcome.

How about onion powder?

I don't have children so I can't really comprehend this problem but, why can't they pick the offending items out of the food?

I can only imagine what would have happened if I asked one of my parents to do this!

 

[chopper]

I have a mini chopper that works like a little food processor. I often use that to mince up onions if I want a smoother texture to a soup or sauce but want onion flavor. I have frozen it before but find that it gets very watery when thawed. I just pull it out and "mush" up the onion instead of chopping it when I'm cooking now instead of trying to freeze it.

I use my mini chopper in the same way. I even use it to mash up the onions and carrots to use in gravy. You don't need to thicken the gravy as much after adding the mushed up veggies. My hubby loves the flavor of my gravy, but hates onions and carrots!

 

[Andy M.]

For certain recipes, I use my mini processor to puree or almost puree onions, garlic and parsley so there finished product won't have any big chunks of veggie in it. Meatballs and meatloaf come to mind right away.

 

[larry_stewart]

i make a spinach pie calzone which my kids love. But sure enough, they complain about the onions. So the next time I made it, I didnt put the onions in, and they complained it didnt taste the same. So I made it again, this time mincing the onions. And sure enough, they complained again, saying they prefer the onions in bigger pieces so they are easier to pick out. Now I just make it the original way, and the hell with them I know this doesnt help you out much, but i just figured Id sahre the story.

 

[Andy M.]

Funny story and the right solution.

 

[Dawgluver]

Good one!

My younger sister was an onion detecting machine as a kid. Refused to eat anything with any discernable onion pieces. To this day, she can't boil water, make toast, or cook anything! Thankfully she's never married, and eats out for all her meals. Hope there's not a connection between allium refusal and cooking ability!

 

[gor]

just a quick word of thanks for all your ideas, good to know others have children with aversions to onions.
Aunt Bea, I wouldn't have asked my parents to pick out the onions but neither would i have asked them alot of things so i suppose for better or worse we live in different times with different parents and hence different children!!!

 

[RPCookin]

How about onion powder?

I don't have children so I can't really comprehend this problem but, why can't they pick the offending items out of the food?

I can only imagine what would have happened if I asked one of my parents to do this!

I was going to say something like this, but wasn't sure how it would be received. My mother would never have allowed us to be so picky, and if we were we'd have just been hungry that meal. I'd raise my kids the same way.

 

[familymeals]

Try finely grating the onions rather than chopping them. I find the children are more likely to eat vegetables such as carrots, zucchinis, onions, peppers if they are finely grated.

 

[Fabiabi]

It must be difficult when your kids dislike certain foods that are quite unavoidable. Liquidising is a good idea though if it's the texture that is the problem. My grandmother has hated onions her whole lifetime and it's very difficult to cook meals without onions when they add so much flavour.

 

[Andy M.]

It must be difficult when your kids dislike certain foods that are quite unavoidable...

It's even more difficult when an adult member of the family refuses to eat basic foods and ingredients.

 

[spork]

Depends on their age, but most kids, I think, are objecting to the name rather than the thing. It's the only way they know to react to the word "onion." They gradually get over it as they learn new names for it. "I hate onions, but I love Burger King Onion Rings dipped in ketchup."

I suggest adding veggies into desserts. Carrot cake, zucchini bread, etc. Try a sweetened, deeply caramelized and gelatinized onion chutney with a kid's favorite fruit for a baked tart. With whipped cream.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I can only imagine what would have happened if I asked one of my parents to do this!

Lol, I was probably one of THOSE kind of parents with my own daughter. Sorry, but I don't give in to children's complaints. My favorite line to use with her was "If you don't want to eat what I make, you know where to find the peanut butter and jelly."

She's of college age now and I'm happy to report that her finickiness is a thing of the past - except for one thing: she no longer likes peanut butter and jelly.