Posts Tagged onions

Caramelized Onions

September 9, 2009 at 8:13 pm · Filed under Vegetable Recipes ·Tagged , , , , ,

caramelized onions 001How do I love thee?  Oh boy, I just love caramelized onions.  I know I’m not alone on this.  And, let me say this (just in case you’re not getting the gist already) that they are simply delicious in so many different recipes.  Not just for French onion soup or the classic pissaladiere, but delightful in a grilled sandwich (turkey and brie) or on crostini with fig jam and feta or even on a salad.  I promise your dinner guests will be quite impressed when they see these as part of the menu.

This is quite easy since there’s no stirring or hovering over your stove top.  Just plan to do some house cleaning or catching up on one of those novels on your nightstand since you’ll need about 2 hours (don’ be alarmed). 

Ingredients

3 lbs onions, skins removed

3 tbsp unsalted butter

Kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

caramelized onions 003

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Slice onions 1/2-inch thick, discarding ends.  When oven is ready, place butter into baking pan and place in oven.  Let butter melt, but not brown.  Remove baking dish, add onion, salt and pepper and baby leaf.  Turn to coat in melted butter.

At 30-minute intervals, remove pan and toss onions and redistribute evenly.  Bake in oven for 2 hours total.  Discard bay leaf and any onions that may have turned dark brown.  These are typically those that may have been on the edge of your pan.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

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Wrapping up Thanksgiving with homemade stock

December 3, 2008 at 11:32 pm · Filed under Soups and Stews, Stock ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Everything but the kitchen sink.

Everything but the kitchen sink.

Now that Thanksgiving is over and your leftovers have either become new meals, ie, a tasty casserole or other concoction, it’s great to boil down those turkey bones to make stock that can go into your freezer and be added to dinners down the road. 

Frankly, there’s nothing like a well-made stock to add flavor to any meal that calls for it.  Of course, most of us have little time to prepare homemade chicken, vegetable or fish stock but if you’ve got the leftover items why not give it a try?

I also think you’re truly geting your money’s worth when you can use every last bit of your Thanksgiving turkey.  And, you paid good money for it and of course cooked it to perfection.  Making stock is a great way to stretch your food dollar a bit more. I didn’t want to start my post by saying, “In these uncertain times (how depressing), but still…it’s always good to save a few bucks!

Many of you may already have a good recipe, but I’ll share my method just the same.  You can also find recipes for stock on www.epicurious.com or www.foodnetwork.com.  And, I’ll be using my containers of turkey stock to flavor all sorts of recipes during December, like soups, stews, and various vegetable side dishes.

Ingredients

3 parsnips, whole

4 carrots, whole

4 celery stalks, cut in half (with leaves left on)

3 onions, quartered and unpeeled

1 garlic bulb, top cut off

1 1/2 tbsp whole, black peppercorns

2 tbsp coarse salt

turkey parts with meat left on (I used both drumsticks and wings)

1/2 bunch of fresh, flat-leaf parsley

5 sprigs, fresh thyme

Method

Place ingredients into a 16-quart stock pot and add 7 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat.  Simmer for four hours, periodically skimming the top.  Drain pot and discard solids.  Place pot of stock into an ice-bath to cool temperature, stirring contstantly. 

Chill overnight in refrigerator.  Skim any fat off of top.  Divide stock equally amongst freezer containers and store in freezer for two months. Note:  label containers with contents and date.

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