593 replies to this topic

[PCL]

I started a confit in a simple stainless steel pot, home from work today due to ankle injury, pork chops for dinner... saw this thread a couple days ago, and thought what the hell...

...going for a version in between an 'overnighter' and the Uber-Schnell Confit expounded by schneich...

...some streaky bacon for unctuousness... bay leaves, handful of herbs, shallots to umph it, but no demi-glaze in sight... sauteed it hard, deglazed with wine and slipped in a couple pinches of chicken stock cube... turned it down now to work on itself... will fire it up again soon...

but here's the question... thinking of glazing the chops in some honey and light soy then just leaving them under the overhead grill, turning once, so i don't have to get up too often...foot's all bloated ...anyone think I should add some wine to the pan the chops are sitting in?... musn't be thinking too straight, maybe it's the analgesics...

[bleudauvergne]

We're driving down to the midi (outside Toulon) tomorrow for my mother-in-law's 50th bash and I'm going to make a batch of onion confit (x btwn long and short version) to use in creating little feuillitee poppers during the day tomorrow - thank you for this thread.

[foodie3]

schneich, i counted 15 onoins in your picture (approx 5 lbs), how much stock and wine would you use for this recipe?

[schneich]

the onions may seem big, but they arent... its only
about 2 pound ( 1000 grams) i NEVER use the big
mild onions for confit cause they taste like cardboard...

my recipe needs aprox. 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
and about a litre of stock-caramel mixture


cheers

t.

[foodie3]

schneich, your recipe is fantastic - i highly recommend it, thank you, thank you!!!
just finished making it using 6 large onions (o no, no cardboard taste here), 1.5 cups wine, 3 cups homemade chicken stock, total cooking time was just over 1 hr.

[Priscilla]

Typical eGullet serendipity ... riffling through a stack of old Bon Appetits over the weekend that a friend passed on I tore out a Tom Colicchio recipe for portobello mushroom tarte tatin, one component of which is his onion confit, which has optional chopped anchovies added near the end.

And then, in Sunday's newspaper, in Parade mag, which of COURSE I never read except for Marilyn vos Savant's column NEVER Personality Parade, but there's Tom Colicchio and what he's now calling, at least for the Parade audience, caramelized mushroom tarts, with another take on his onion confit as well.

So all weekend I'm dogged by the half-baked thought, where else have I just now been seeing stuff about onion confit -- oh yeah, eGullet! Doy.

All the foregoing discussion has been so inspiring.

Another vote for this flavor profile: A favorite pizza topping in our house is caramelized onions, Gorgonzola or another blue cheese, and thyme. Confited onions could only make it even better, I think.

[bleudauvergne]

Tom Colicchio recipe for portobello mushroom tarte tatin, one component of which is his onion confit, which has optional chopped anchovies added near the end.

I recommend the anchovy / onion confit combination. This was what I did last weekend for the party (actually added home made anchovy tapenade to the confit before applying it to my pate) and it was a hit.

[Marlene]

Oh boy. I've become convinced that I have to try to make onion confit. Fortunately I have two crockpots. One that turns off automatically and one that doesn't. Now I knw why I wouldn't let hubby give the old one away. I just knew it would come in handy some day.

so before I begin a few questions:

Crockpot on high or low overnight

Lid on or off?

bacon precooked or thrown in uncooked?

Can the confit be used successfully in french onion soup?

I don't have any glass jars to store it in. Ziplock ok?

can it be frozen?

thank you confit masters

Edited by Marlene, 25 February 2004 - 06:26 PM.

[fifi]

I am certainly not a master but I will try...

Crockpot on high or low overnight

Mine was on low. I had so much water I left the lid off. I did check it in the middle of the night when I went to get water.

Lid on or off?

Off, as I said but I am not conficdent that that would always work.

bacon precooked or thrown in uncooked?

Dunno. I've never done bacon. I will await the answer from the bacon cookers.

Can the confit be used successfully in french onion soup?

I suppose you could but the time I tried it, it just wasn't the same. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't the same as caramelizing in a shorter period of time on top of the stove in a heavy pot.

I don't have any glass jars to store it in. Ziplock ok?

Why not. Just use the thicker freezer ones or the whole fridge will smell.

can it be frozen?

Up-thread, someone said that it changes the texture some but it will work and I would guess that it wouldn't make a lot of difference in some uses.

[Marlene]

Thanks fifi. I wonder if I leave it on high, if it will cook down better with the lid on.

I figured I'd try your basic recipe but add the bacon, if it works with the crockpot method.

I have those ziplock freezer bags with freezer guard so they should be heavy enough. This is exciting. I'm having company on Sat for dinner so there's lots of things I can serve the confit with. Perhaps crumbled with some bleu cheese as someone suggested with toast points for Hors' d'ouvres.

[beans]

schneich - fatnastic photos and thank you for your most generous sharing of those recipes.

I've made a three onion "marmalade" by caramelising them with a bit of brown sugar, an herb (I'm not sure, but I think it is thyme), perhaps a bay leaf, peppercorns and balsamic vinegar. Would this qualify as onion confit?

Hmmm, note to self: must relocate that recipe.

Anyway, I jarred it and gave them away as holiday gifts but saved one for myself. It looks quit similar to everyone's photos and is absolutely wonderful on a crusty baguette.

[woodburner]

My original recipe calls for the bacon to be unrendered, before adding.

This stuff is fabulous.

Never thought of onion soup, but it would be killer.

woodburner

looking back, Carolyn mentioned the onion soup, back on the first page, she agreed, it's good

Edited by woodburner, 25 February 2004 - 07:31 PM.

[Marlene]

All right. I've got my onions sliced and everything else ready to go. As soon as my crockpot container comes out of the dishwasher (never do by hand what my dishwasher will do for me is my motto ) I'm ready to go.

Here's another question. Do forgive me if this has been covered already, but I'm a confit virgin so bear with me please

Once the confit has been made and stored (I can just see me running out to by preserving jars in the morning ), when I serve it is is served:

warmed up? Room temp? Cold?

Thank you!

[woodburner]

All right. I've got my onions sliced and everything else ready to go.  As soon as my crockpot container comes out of the dishwasher (never do by hand what my dishwasher will do for me is my motto ) I'm ready to go.

Here's another question.  Do forgive me if this has been covered already, but I'm a confit virgin so bear with me please

Once the confit has been made and stored (I can just see me running out to by preserving jars in the morning ), when I serve it is is served:

warmed up?  Room temp?  Cold?

Thank you!

Marlene,
I have simply served it atop a french bread slice, of which has been liberally spread with boursin cheese, and then topped with about a tablespoon of confit.
All simply put into the toaster oven, and toasted until the bread is crunchy.

When removing the confit container from the ice box, I take about one half cup, from the container, and into a small bowl and just gently warm in the nuke machine, until slightly warmed, before adding it to the bread.

I think you will find, it best to be warmed before consumption.

woodburner

Edited by woodburner, 25 February 2004 - 07:51 PM.

[fifi]

I agree with woodburner. Nice and warm (not hot) makes for a luxurious texture. I don't care for it cold.

[Marlene]

. I shall report in the morning

[Marlene]

Hmm, woke up this morning and it's still pretty liquid. I put it on last night about 11:00, left it overnight on low with the lid on. It' s now 7:30 a.m. I've turned it to high, but I left the lid on.

[fifi]

I had to take my lid off or I would have never gotten there. But then, I had a failing stock pot.

[Marlene]

I may have to do that too. This particular crockpot is fairly old. It's got little flowers and stuff around the bottom ) How long should it take in a crockpot? 10 hours? 24 hours? I have to go to the gym in an hour. I'll put it back to low and leave the lid on while I'm gone (cats you know). Then I'll take the lid off when I get home if I need to.

[Msk]

Marlene,

I went out and bought a crockpot for just this reason.

I left it on overnight with the lid on and there was liquid, but not that much. Did your onions brown? I put my crockpot on low, but it didn't seem "that low."

I just drained the liquid and the onions were fantastic.

Msk

[Marlene]

Yes they are getting brown. I think there's more liquid than there should be, so I'm going to let it cook a bit longer and see what happens.

Smells wonderful though!

[Marlene]

Just to keep ya'll updated . Went to the gym for two hours. Left the confit in the the crockpot on high with the lid on. No real change. I've now taken the lid off and left it on high. Argghhh!

[schneich]

on high with lid off... ohhhhh... dont leave the house...
or youll might have a smokey surprise...




t.

[Marlene]

oh rats. ok, I'll turn it down to low.


edited to add: never mind, I'll leave it on high with the lid off. It's barely bubbling at that.

somebody help!

Edited by Marlene, 26 February 2004 - 09:42 AM.

[Marlene]

I've now put the back on[/I] and kept it on high. There was nary a bubble coming from it since I took the lid off. This stuff has now been simmering for 15 hours. Surely it should have reached marmalade consistency by now? At some point, I shall give up and just use this stuff for a french onion soup.

I think (sob) that I may be a confit failure

Edited by Marlene, 26 February 2004 - 11:49 AM.

[redfox]

Dump it into a big pot and cook it down quickly? I'm sure it's confit in there, just too wet.

[Marlene]

I'm sure you're right. But the question is, why is it too wet?

[Msk]

As a point of reference Marlene,

Mine was bubbling on low. I have one of those dumb crockpots that have 4 settings.



Msk

[Marlene]

Maybe I've got fifi's problem with the crockpot. It is an old one after all. I can drag out my new one and see if it's any better

[Dave the Cook]

I don't think you've done anything wrong, if that's what you're afraid of.

If the pot's not bubbling at all even on high, the thermostat on your crockpot has probably gone bye-bye. They're not worth fixing, so you're due for a new one.

But even on high with the lid off, onions often shed liquid faster than it can evaporate, and this is exacerbated by adding flavoring (salt, plus liquids like wine, vinegar, demiglace, etc.) at the beginning. It just takes a while, and that's why it's too wet. Your faulty pot is extending the process.

You've got three choices: 1) strain the onions and discard the liquid; 2) strain the onions and reduce the liquid, then add it back to the onions; 3) dump the whole mess into a pot and reduce the liquid with the onions still in it. Which one you should do depends on the texture of the onions. If they're done, choose (1) or (2), depending on whether you want the liquid as part of the finsished product. If they're not, go for (3).