Sunday, April 12, 2009

caramelized onions

After reading Tea's post on caramelized onions, I had to try it for myself since I had never caramelized onions before. (You should know that most adventures in my kitchen are "first times" for me.)

The "new" or spring onions are in season now, these onions are tender and sweet, great for roasting...great for caramelizing.

Tea suggests a heavy pan but I didn't have one, only a non-stick one.

I sliced 2 onions and used a tablespoon of olive oil. And then I let it cook down. I added a total of 4 tablespoons of oil and 30 minutes later....

I got this...sweet caramelized onions.

So what to do with them?...

You could try making the "Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions and Arugula Pizza" by Ellie Krieger. I did it with feta and flour tortillas, but it was still delicious.

You could make Shepard's Pie. I actually saw Su-Lin's photo and wanted to make some. I added some caramelized onions to fresh peas and carrots and bell pepper, some ground beef seasoned with garlic and a little onion then topped it with the mashed potato. I cooked the peas, and the carrots and bell pepper I "heated" up with the water from boiling the potatoes. The mashed potato, I added some plain yogurt and a little skim milk. Then I baked it. I liked this but want to try her version with a tomato based sauce.

You could try Tea's recipe for curried oatmeal. I have to tell you a little story...When Satoshi and I were first married, I would make his breakfast then go off to work. (I would usually make a bowl of oatmeal and he would eat it when he awoke.)

One day, when we were eating breakfast together, I noticed that he put furikake onto his oatmeal. At first I thought...ewww. I guess because I grew up with oatmeal being a sweet dish rather than savory. He said the consistency was more like o-kayu (rice gruel), which is why he would add furikake.

I didn't have the madras curry powder that Tea used, so I used the curry powder that I had. Her recipe is for one, but I made half the recipe and split it between Satoshi and I.

Satoshi liked it. He said it wasn't "oatmeal-like", though he wished it could have been spicier. Maybe he'll eat more oatmeal if I cook it this way. I liked it and served it with some sausage for breakfast.

What do you use caramelized onions for?

p.s. Happy Easter!

16 comments:

  1. I love carmelize onions (or camelized anything, for that matter) on its own but we also put it on top of our salmon burgers and it's an amazingly delicious combination.

    I'm intrigued by the curry oatmeal! Like you, I always thought of it as a sweet, not savory, type of food, but when you think about it, why not curry? I'll have to try that, too.

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  2. on salmon burgers sounds delicious Jenster, I'll have to give that a try :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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  3. Yum--great combinations, it all looks so good!

    I love carmelized onions on good toasted bread for the perfect comfort food.

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  4. ooh on toasted bread, that does sound delicious Deb :) I hope to try that too!

    Take care.
    Kat

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  5. It looks tasty but I can't eat onions or it will kill my stomach.

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  6. Hi Kat - I make my caramelized onions with mirin, and use it in salads, on top of toasted bageutte with roasted garlic, and even just put it on rice! My favorite thing is to use it on roast beef, or beef tenderloin sandwiches.....

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  7. So sorry to hear that Lynne!

    All of your uses sounds yummy Kirkk :)

    Take care you two.
    Kat

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  8. ooooh..I really do not like onions..even though I tried to train myself to like them.. but sometimes I find how certain food eaten different really amazing.. like I'd never understand sweet porridge..coz porridge is always savory and tasty to me!!

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  9. That is really amazing Julia :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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  10. I love caramelized onions. I always make 2 or 3 batches that I keep in the freezer because you can never get enough lol

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  11. Ohh I love caramalised onions and cooked like a tarte tartine.

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  12. Ooh you freeze them that is a wonderful idea Jackie :)

    Mmm as a tarte tartine sounds delicious too Barbara :)

    Take care you two.
    Kat

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  13. Two recipes from my 2 favorite cooking sites. I tried the first one and loved it, and have tried the second, but with a different filling.

    http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/caramelized-onion-dip-recipe.html

    http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/butternut-squash-and-caramelized-onion-galette/

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  14. both sound delicious LJ :) I'll have to make more caramelized onions!

    Take care.
    Kat

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  15. Your shepherd's pie looks fantastic! I like all the veggies in it...makes it somewhat healthier! And the caramelised onions...mmmmmm....

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  16. Thank you Su-Lin, I would love to try your recipe for it :) It looked so delicious!

    Take care.
    Kat

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