Receta Ode to the Odiferous Onion.
Memories of the meals
we’ve made before. Misty, watering,
burning eyes. While dicing onions from
the store. If Barbra Streisand sees what
I’ve done with her The Way We Were song lyrics, I am a dead woman.
Whether a home cook or
restaurant prep cook, we all know the pain of dicing and slicing onions. As a sharp knife begins the cutting process,
the friction warms the onion, releasing its juice and sulfurous fumes. Even though the fumes can be stemmed off for
a very short time, by getting the onions cold in the refrigerator, as they warm
up, they fight back with a skunk’s vengeance.
Alright kids, time for a little geeky science: Onions (Allium cepa)
contain Amino acid sulfoxides that form
sulfenic acids when the onion is cut into. These isolate enzymes are now free
to mix with sulfenic acids to produce Syn-propanethial-S-oxide, a volatile
sulfur compound gas. This gas reacts with the water in your tears to form
sulfuric acid, and there’s the burn.
Now for some nutritional
facts to round out our education on the onion: 3.5 ounces of raw onion are 40
calories, 1.7 grams of fiber, contain Vitamins B6, B9, C and the mineral
potassium. They are beneficial in blood
sugar and pressure control, immunity boosting, cell growth and metabolism. The benefits far outweigh a bit of temporary
irritation to the eyes.
All onions are definitely
not the same. While yellow are strong
flavored, white are milder and clear in color; purple and Vidalia do not
release strong fumes like the yellow variety and are milder in flavor as
well. Shallots (eshallot) are a French
variety mainly used in sauces or salad dressings; as with garlic, they can be
roasted to a perfect candy-like sweetness.
Leeks are long onions with a good portion of the body growing underground;
perfect for soups or a side dish all their own.
When I was teaching
Adult-Ed cooking classes back east, I learned quickly that many of my students
were clueless on onion cutting techniques.
While I could write it all out here, this is one of those cooking lessons
that is best done visually. Can’t do
that in a written article though, so I’ve included photos of the lesson sheets
I handed out to my class. While my
diagrams are crudely drawn, they do the job of teaching and that is what
matters most. This is also one of those,
“Hey, this is how we made drawings before computers and Photoshop!” moments.
So class, I’m going to
give two homework assignments, the first is how to Caramelize Onions; the
second is how to create Sweet Onion Relish.
There will be a taste test and I expect you all to pass with deliciously
flying colors!
By the way, I would like
to dedicate this article to Rick Meyer of Blanding, Utah; San Juan County
Health Inspector; loving husband to Jonna Lancaster Meyer, and he knows why.
*wink*
How to Caramelize Onions
Caramelizing onions is
simply giving long (one hour) cooked onions a deep brown color; and bringing
out the sweetness of the onion itself. Using
medium and low heat temperatures ensures that the onions will attain a brown
coloring from the caramelizing of their natural sugar. Higher heat temperatures
will brown the onions, perhaps even burn them; however they may remain bitter
from not releasing and utilizing the sugar. They can be used as an added
ingredient (for example: quiche, frittata, macaroni and cheese) or
accompaniment for meat, pork, poultry or seafood; and are the main ingredient
for French Onion Soup.
There is no one particular
type of onion that should be used when caramelizing; white, yellow, red; even
sweeter onions such as Vidalia and Spanish work just fine. Remember, we're letting the natural sugar of
the onion do most of our work for us, so the sweeter the onion, the richer the
caramelizing will be. Also, while I
prefer simply to use olive oil for the initial cooking process, some like to
use butter, or a combination of oil and butter.
I don't personally like to add a dairy product into my caramelizing
process; I don't believe it truly adds anything, but a greasy texture to
it. I've seen some recipes add brown sugar;
I'm not sure why since brown sugar is caramelized sugar, and that's what we're
trying to achieve with the onion's own sugar.
Confusing, isn't it? I do,
however, add a little balsamic vinegar for an extra richness, and it enhances
the aroma of the onions. Play around
with the techniques and see what suits your tastes the best.
Caramelized Onions
Ingredients: 3 Tbsp. olive oil
5 large onions, peeled and
julienned
½ tsp salt 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Preparation: Slice the top and root off
the onions. Cut the onions in half from top to bottom; remove peels and
discard. Place half of an onion, flat side down, on a clean, flat cutting
surface. Angle the knife towards the center to make ¼ inch slices from stem to
root end. This method of slicing onions is called “Frenched onions”,
French-cut, or Julienned.
Heat oil on medium heat in
a large skillet; spread onions in skillet and sprinkle salt over them. Cook the onions until soft
and translucent (10 minutes); stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 40
minutes; stir after 20 minutes only.
This will make the onions sweat, drawing out the natural sugars that
will coat the onion pieces and cause them to turn brown as the sugar itself
begins to cook.
Do not keep removing the
lid to check on the onions, or stir them; the heat will lower and you'll lose
the accumulated moisture. After 40
minutes, mix in the vinegar, cover and cook additional 10 minutes. Makes 2 cups. Note: if you want the
onions to be darker colored than what is in my accompanying photo, let them
cook down longer on the low heat. For
us, after one hour, the intoxicating scent throughout the home is just too much
to bear, so we gobble them up. How to Make Sweet Onion Relish
Types of sweet onion which
have a mild sulfuric, and higher water, content than regular onions are Vidalia from Georgia, Walla Walla from
Washington state, Sunbero from Nevada and Maui from the Hawaiian island of
Maui; to name a few. Red onions, also called purple onions, are also mild and
sweet; their coloring brightens up any dish.
One way to use sweet
onions is to make a relish which can be spread on toasted bread, used as a
condiment on sandwiches, or an enhancement for beef, pork or poultry.
Sweet Onion Relish
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. canola oil
6 cups chopped sweet
onions
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt ½ tsp. celery seeds
1/8 tsp. ground black
pepper
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup water
¼ cup diced roasted red
peppers
Preparation:
In a large skillet, heat
oil on medium heat; add onions and celery; sauté until tender. Mix in remaining
ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30
minutes, stirring often. Let cool. Spoon into a bowl; cover and chill for 8
hours. Makes 4 cups.
Have fun on the onion
journey and don’t be ashamed to shed a few tears of joy.
Mary Cokenour