Onions, anyone?

[thegrrrl2002]

Note to anyone who uses Peapod for their groceries: Those Vidalia onions on sale? They're sold by the three-pound bag, NOT individually.

Yes, I am now the proud owner of NINE pounds of Vidalia onions. Anyone know of any good recipes?

Aside from the fact that sometimes I do goofy things like while not paying attention to what I'm clicking on while ordering, I just adore Peapod. I love them so much that I want to pick up the phone and sing love songs to them. (Except that would really scare them because I'm a terrible singer.) They bring me food. Bags and bags of food. Lovely produce, great cuts of meat, and even better, great fish. So what if the bananas are a little bruised. I didn't have to go and get them. And that delivery fee? A small price to pay to indulge my laziness.

Now I'm going to hunt around on-line for onion recipes. Maybe onion pie?

Comments

[reedfem.livejournal.com]

Snerk! I ADORE Vidalia onions.

Salsa! Salad with onion in it. Steak with sauted onions & mushrooms. French onion soup. Onion gravy. Hamburgers with onion slices. Blooming onion. Liver & onions. Tomato, cucumber, onion & feta cheese salad. Onion casserole. Onion dip. Pizza w/onions & lots of other good stuff. Onion rings. Chicken fajitas with onion. Swiss steak w/onions.

Damn, now I'm hungry.

You know, if you write the word "onion" often enough, it doesn't make sense anymore. And I have this strange urge to watch a Shrek movie.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I'm hungry now, too. I have plans for some of that stuff, like the salad (mmmm, feta) and burgers but still, between the two of us, I don't think that will count for more than a single pound. Okay, maybe two. And what is an onion casserole? That sounds like it would use lots of onions!

And, you know, if you look at bags of onions long enough, they don't make sense anymore either.

[sef1029.livejournal.com]

I love onions! There's a great quiche recipe in (I think) the first volume of The Vegetarian Epicure. It has many onions, tomatoes, basil, and cheese. I love it. If it sounds good to you, let me know and I'll dig out the recipe.

-Sue

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oh! That sounds lovely. If it isn't too much trouble...I really love quiche, and I haven't made it in ages.

[sef1029.livejournal.com]

I'll dig it out when I get home. I love that recipe, but I once made the mistake of serving the dish to guests, one of whom did *not* like onions.

Believe it or not, there are such people!

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

My bestest friend in the world is allergic to onions. (Not in the anaphylactic shock kind of way, thank goodness.) Or else I'd be bestowing gifts of onions on her.

Poor thing, it makes eating out a bit of a challenge sometimes, depending on the cuisine.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I think that onion-aversion (let alone actual inability to eat them) would be even harder to live with than tomato-aversion. Because I think that onions are even more ubiquitous than tomatoes, if that's possible. I think that tomatoes are still considered an ingredient with an identity, whereas there are so very many things that treat onions like a staple base that people almost forget about. They're...they're like an herb, or a spice.

The recipe

[sef1029.livejournal.com]

It's not low-calorie, but it's wonderful with summer tomatoes.

Savory Cheese and Onion Pie

Pastry for one 10-inch pie
10 oz. cheese (Swiss or Gruyere)
2 T flour
2 large onions
4 T butter
1 tsp. basil (more if it's fresh basil)
2 large, firm tomatoes, sliced
2 eggs
3/4 c. cream

Line the pie dish with your crust, and chill it.

Grate the cheese and toss it with the flour.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet. Slice the onions and saute them very gently in the butter until they begin to turn golden, *about 1/2 hour.*

Spread 1/3 the cheese over the bottom of the pie crust, and then spread the onions over the cheese.

In the butter left in the onion pan, heat the tomato slices and the basil for a minute or two. Arrange the tomato slices over the onions and cover with the remaining cheese.

Beat the eggs and cream and pour over the cheese. If you like nutmeg (yum!), sprinkle a little on top.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes, until the top browns nicely.

Serves 6.

Re: The recipe

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oh my, that sounds absolutely delicious! Thank you so much! I will definitely give this a try.

[nicci-mac.livejournal.com]

Just eat them raw baby! Wont help you get laid, but might put off a few cheap vampyres!

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I'll eat them all raw, and then chase you down and give you a great big kiss! *g*

[nicci-mac.livejournal.com]

::twitches nervously::

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there is just No Bad to having a ton of onions. Plus, they keep longer than a similar bag of fruit would.

SAUTEED ONIONS IN *EVERYTHING*!!! MWAH-HAH-HAH!!!

I have a friend who can't stand onions. Doesn't like either the taste or the texture, either raw or cooked. And I feel sorry for her in the same way that everybody always feels sorry for me when they find out about my deep aversion to tomatoes. Because to me, onions are the Secret Ingredient That Makes Everything Better. (Which is how many people feel about tomatoes, and I could not disagree more, which causes many problems for me.)

It being summer, onion pies and quiches are a great idea. That'll use up a bunch of them.

I like to make big pot-messes (make a ton, eat off it for a week) that consist of rice or cous-cous and a few added ingredients to jazz them up: some kind of meat cut into tiny pieces; peppers or mushrooms or something; and a ton of sauteed onions.

Related to this is mujadara, which is great if you can find a good recipe for it (and which does pretty well as a cold dish later, too). It's basically rice, lentils, a ton of onions, appropriate spices, and ground meat if you want it.

I almost envy you, *needing* to get rid of that many onions!

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

I do like onions, too, especially these, they are so sweet. And they do last a long time. It's just a little scary having them take over my little tiny kitchen. Not to mention how annoying it is to have my husband get all snarky about it. Like he's never done anything equally silly.

I do like the idea of the mujadara, it sounds delicious. I found couple of recipes on line. And I have a big jar of lentils at home. Thank you! I think I'll make that tonight. And eat it for lunch all week.

As for the tomatoes, it's odd, I've never known anyone who really disliked them. But hey, more for me! Good ones, that is. Which are kind of hard to find.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

I think the secret to mujadara is the seasoning. Find a recipe with good suggestions for spices. Soak/boil the lentils and the rice in broth rather than just water. etc. Helps liven it up.

I cannot explain the tomato thing. It's like the Freaky Baby Corn thing: a visceral revulsive reaction. It's not that I hate the taste, per se. I happily eat any number of things that were once tomatoes or even sometimes that have tomatoes in them, so long as they have had the hell processed out of them. Tomato-sauce is fine, so pizza is fine (thank god). I have even eaten and enjoyed raqs' specially-made-for-me cilantro salsa (laborously constructed of deseeded, degooped, deskinned diced tomatoes).

But I think I was savaged by a raw tomato when I was very small (I'm mostly not joking; I have a vague, early memory of my tomato-loving mother and grandmother trying to get me to eat them). I particularly despise two things about them, with a third playing a factor. One, tomato goop icks me out. Two, I CANNOT STAND tomato seeds. And three, I'm not that wild about their texture, either raw (when they're okay, if they have been rigorously separated from their goop, their skins and their seeds), or cooked until falling apart.

The tomato seeds thing is the most irrational of all of it, and yet it's important. It ties in with a general aversion that I have to the texture of Little Seeds. If something has hard Little Seeds, that are likely to come upon me unawares, I don't like it. For this reason, I avoid strawberries and raspberries, too, which everybody also thinks is pretty freaky. And I know it's freaky, and I like the *taste* of the fruits fine, but I can't help it. Little Seeds make me nuts. (However, just to show how irrational this is: I'm fine with both poppyseeds and sesame seeds; I think it's because their texture is much softer, and they do not grate when chewed. But caraway seeds are a Big No.)

Tomato seeds are the worst (so are bell-pepper seeds, only you don't encounter them in food as often, mostly people try to clean them out first). There's something about their flat imperviability that sets my teeth on edge. My aversion to them may have crystalized when I had braces, and would on occasion, after having pizza for lunch, encounter a tomato seed lodged in them.

It's funny how people develop these irrational dislikes for what amounts to texture, rather than for taste.

And yes, the tomato-aversion is difficult to live with, just because it is so unexpected to most people. And because of that, they are extremely ubiquitous in American cuisine. There were times when I almost wished that I was actually allergic to them or something, because that is so much easier than trying to explain to people, "No, I just really, really, REALLY prefer not to eat them, because I get icked out". Because I have to do that, except then I also have to explain why it is that I can handle most pizza (but not the "rustic" kind with a lot of chunky tomatoes on it).

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

I think the secret to mujadara is the seasoning.

Yes, I've come across recipes from different regions with different seasonings, it's very interesting. Cumin definitely sounds like it would work, along with a touch a cinnamon. And lots of very caramelized onions. I've got a nice vegetable broth that should go nicely, too.

Huh, now I feel like cooking, rather than working.

I totally hear you about the seed thing. I'm a little squeamish when it comes to strawberries and raspberries. Not enough to avoid them completely, but ewww, I hate crunching on those icky little seeds. Tomato seeds don't bother me, but berry seeds definitely do.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

I also subscribe to the theory that you can never have too much cumin. Maybe you can, but it would be difficult. Coriander is also good. (I am thinking that cilantro might work as well, but in a different way.) Lemon juice can be a good addition, too. And some cayenne or some hot-sauce type stuff helps.

Plainer mujadara is okay, if you have a sauce to put on/in it when you serve it. There is this one middle eastern food truck that used to be in this area that made this sauce that I could never figure out the recipe to, I dunno, like a yoghurt/garlic/yummy-things sauce, that was so perfect on their mujadara that it was to die for. Clearly the Secret Ingredient of that sauce was, like, crack, or something. Man, now that the weather is nice, I should go see if that truck is still lurking anywhere.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Hey, I cooked some up last night, and it came out very, very good. Used cumin, coriander, and cinnamon (and salt and pepper, lots of pepper). I even managed to get the timing right, didn't have to overcook either one. (Boiled the lentils first, until they were almost tender). Didn't have any fancy sauce, so I used sour cream. Worked quite nicely.

And I have a big containerful here for lunch. Yum! I thought I'd have a ton left over, but the husband scarfed down a great deal of it.

Thanks for the suggestion! Between that and the burgers, I only have 8.8 lbs to go! *g*

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Man, now I'm all hungry for mujadara! And except for the truck, there isn't really a good middle-eastern restaurant around here where I could go and get some. Blah.

[raqs.livejournal.com]

to orca_girl: Bitch, you took my suggestion. And the key is to salt the lentils and the rice while they're cooking.

Also, let's hear a little sympathy for the poor freak who had to COOK for you and your tomato aversion for ten years and still made you good food. MOI, BABY, MOI.

Aren't you sad I'm on LJ? ;-)

to thegrrrl2002: just remember onions reduce a little in volume when they're cooked. you'll defeat them yet. also, what about stuffing them? core them out and fill them with a tasty meat filling and bake them?

i'm still trying to think of things that use onions up.

[raqs.livejournal.com]

oh, you did give me sympathy, over that salsa. thenk yew. man, that WAS a lot of work.

but just finding tomatoless recipes...

i should have a website on that.

how about fried apples 'n onions? i guess that's a side dish, not an entree.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Aren't you sad I'm on LJ? ;-)

Dude, I was fully anticipating that you were going to come across this and have something snarky to say about the tomato-aversion thing. Which is why I was extra-careful to mention the hard, hard work you did to make me tomato-things that I would like, such as your SPECTACULAR cilantro-salsa. *SMOOCH*

[raqs.livejournal.com]

awwwwww. you sweet.

you're right, my bad.

isn't thegrrrl sad she met us about now? :-)

i would have mentioned the salsa verde, but it doesn't involve enough ONIONS!

actually, there's a very good middle eastern salad that's just marinated onions and tomatoes. like, in some lemon juice and vinegar, with olive oil, and i would probably put sumac in it but you could do it instead with cumin.

there's got to be some southern italian pasta sauce that's just onions with some onions.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

isn't thegrrrl sad she met us about now?

Heck no! I adore you both. And I love talking food. I like the idea of the pasta sauce. Now that I think about it, I have recipe somewhere like that, calls for lots of roasted onions, and maybe balsamic vinegar? I'll have to go dig it up.

[lapislaz.livejournal.com]

Irish Pork Chops

Need: 4 pork loin chops (boneless are best), 1 large onion, salt, pepper, 1 cup water, 2 TBPS canola or sunflower oil

Prep: Chop onion coarsely, put in frying pan with oil, salt and pepper liberally to taste. Saute the onion until transparent. Remove the onion from the pan, leaving as much of the oil as possible. Toss the chops in - again, salt and pepper to taste. Brown the chops on one side, then flip. Shove the chops all together in the middle of the pan, then spread the cooked onions all over the top of the chops. Add the water, turn the heat down to simmer, and cover the pan. Cook for approximately 35-45 minutes - keep an eye on the water level and don't let them burn.

This will make some of the tastiest, moistest pork chops you have ever eaten. Slainte!

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that sounds very good! Thank you! And I don't even have to turn the oven on. (it's been wicked hot lately). I do love pork chops.

[reedfem.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm kinda seeing a fic here, Grrrl... The boys are busy, prime candidates for grocery delivery.

Daniel could be you, innocently mis-ordering a huge amount of onions or something, and Jack could be hubby, right there snarking at him. Until one of them figures out how to make something stupendous.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Hee! Although if these guys got their hands on a grocery delivery service, I think they'd end up with beer, coffee, fruit loops and candy bars.

I think we really need to find out if either of them can cook. I mean, Jack grills stuff, but other than that, we don't see him in the kitchen.

They never show us the important stuff on the show, do they?

[ane.livejournal.com]

Curry chicken with onions. When I order Chinese take-out, that's what I get half of the time. Very fond of it.

Of course you could just make a year's supply of onion rings. *g*

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, onion rings! I don't have a deep frier of any kind, and that's a good thing.

I've had the chinese curry chicken thing only once, years ago and it was icky. But so was the resturant, we discovered. I should try making it. I used to make a lot of indian curries from scratch, but now that I've discovered Patak's, I've gotten very lazy. *g*

Off to find a chinese curry recipe!