Creamed onions

[Toasted]

Creamed onions used to mean defrosted boiling onions cooked in cream and dumped on the table like an after thought. I never ate them, never made them. This year my sister's creamed onion's were so simple and yet over the top, that we'll never have a holiday without them. Seriously simple recipe: fresh boiling onions, scallions, small regular onions- all pealed and whole- cook in a sauce pan with heavy cream, butter, fresh thyme, a little fresh nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Cook until cream is reduced and onions are tender. If I could have taken the pot and eaten them all by myself in the pantry I would have. Unfortunately there were too many people around. Is this an outdated dish or do people still make it?

[SuzySushi]

Our friend makes them every year for our three-family Thanksgiving dinner. She and my husband are the only ones who eat them. She also starts from scratch with fresh pearl onions.

[zoe b]

oh, i make them every year--I do the veggies for Thanksgiving and there'd be a rebellion if i didn't make them.

Although I use bird's eye frozen pearl onions, cooked fast in lots of boiling water and drained and patted dry.

and i do a bechamel, with nutmeg and sage and lots of pepper.

maybe someday I'll do the fresh ones--I'm sure they are wonderful--I just quail at the thought of peeling them all--but i peel the brussels sprouts, so what's the difference, really?

and if you have leftovers and are sick of eating them--puree them with some spinach--instant creamed spinach! and you can do shirred eggs on a bed of creamed spinach with cream on top----mmmmmm.

[pax]

My Aunt Mary Margaret has made them every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. I avoid them although I am a big onion lover. We all do. It never occured to me to try to make them palatable.

I think I might have to try it, but at home for myself. I can't supplant a beloved tradition like hiding Auntie Peggy's cream of soup frozen pearl onions under other stuff.

[saucée]

I'm sure they are wonderful--I just quail at the thought of peeling them all--

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They're pretty easy to peel if you boil them for ten seconds. The skins slip right off.

Your bechamel version does sound good. I might have to try it.

[Jaymes]

I made them every Thanksgiving when I had my kids at home. But last few years, got lazy.

My favorite recipe:

20-30 small white boiling onions

1/3 c. butter, margarine or oil

3 T flour

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1 C shredded American cheese

Chopped peanuts

Peel onions and cook in a large amount of boiling salted water until tender. Set aside to drain well. Put oil or butter in large saucepan. Over medium heat, add flour and make a light brown roux. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly until all milk is added and mixture thickens. Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy. Carefully fold in onions. When onions are heated through, turn into serving dish, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and serve immediately.

Edited to add - these are delicious and I often make them to serve with steak, roasts, ham, etc. Too good to have just at Thanksgiving. In fact, at Thanksgiving they seemed to get a little "lost" what with all the other good food on the table.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Jaymes (log)

[Fat Guy]

They're always at my mother's Thanksgiving table, and were at my grandmother's table before that. My uncle is now custodian of the recipe and usually brings them. He's very particular about having the exact right type of onion, though I can't remember what type he said that was.

[slkinsey]

I've done creamed onions a few times, loosely following a Julia Child recipe for glazed pearl onions where the onions are cooked in stock until the stock evaporates away and glazes the onions. Finish with a little white sauce*, cream and grated nutmeg and it's a done deal. Works very well in hash as leftovers, too.

I wonder if this dish is less commonly made these days due to (1) bad memories of bland, mushy 1950's influenced "white food" and, (2) the hassle of peeling so many tiny little onions.

* Extra-thick thick béchamel freezes well, and only needs to be whisked into a little hot milk or cream for situations where you only want a little bit of it and might otherwise be disinclined to make such a small amount from scratch.

[Lilija]

I like 'em, therefore I make a small bowl, every Thanksgiving. They're also good with a roast.

I use the Birds Eye pearl onions, because they're the perfect tiny size, and easy. I cream them a little differently, though. I simmer the onions in chicken stock till they're soft, then thicken the reduced stock, combined with some half and half to make a sauce. For seasoning, a little garlic simmered with the onions, salt, pepper, as well as some thyme and a small dollop of dijon mustard.

[David Ross]

My Mother ONLY makes creamed onions for Christmas dinner-NEVER for Thanksgiving. She says that "the Pilgrims didn't eat creamed onions" and that is why she doesn't serve them on Thanksgiving. I don't know what history book told her that Pilgrims didn't eat creamed onions, but she's made them for around 55 years for Christmas dinner. She still makes them and they are delicious and taste exactly the same every year.

While I use small pearl onions when I make creamed onions, Mother only uses medium size yellow onions. I actually prefer the bigger onions because I think they have more taste than the pearl onions. She peels the onions and then boils them a short time.

She makes a basic white sauce with butter, flour and whole milk. She's always seasoned the onions with salt and nutmeg and in recent years she got a bit chi-chi and started adding white pepper-not something housewives used in the 1950's. She doesn't add any cheese.

She combines the onions with the white sauce and puts it in a glass bowl and bakes the onions until the sauce is hot and bubbling.

The glass bowl fits in a silver outer serving bowl and when the onions are ready, they are brought to the table in that glorious serving dish.

[birder53]

My grandmother always made creamed onions. I don't know who ate them besides her, maybe my grandfather liked them. None of the kids would eat them!

The first time I tried them was at a steakhouse. They looked much tastier than anything grandma put on the table. They were actually very good. There was nutmeg in them too!

Even though I finally tried and liked them I've never thought of actually cooking them. Off hand I don't remember ever seeing a recipe for them in my seven years of subscribing to Fine Cooking.

[andiesenji]

I make a version of creamed onions but mine are signifcantly different to not really count as "creamed" per se.

I use a combination of baby white, yellow and red onions (I steam them separately so the red ones do not turn the others pink) and sometime cippolini if I can find them.

I toss them with a small amount of peppery cream sauce so they are just coated, transfer them to a shallow casserole dish, then I prepare buttered, toasted-in-a-skillet bread crumbs which are spread over the top and then the dish is run under the broiler for a minute or so.

and here's a version if you think the traditional recipe is too bland.

Edited November 25, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[hjshorter]

I love creamed onions.

I've done creamed onions a few times, loosely following a Julia Child recipe for glazed pearl onions where the onions are cooked in stock until the stock evaporates away and glazes the onions. Finish with a little white sauce*, cream and grated nutmeg and it's a done deal.  Works very well in hash as leftovers, too.

I either do this version, or cook the onions very slowly in butter until caramelized, then add bechamel, cream and nutmeg.

[janeer]

Creamed onions are one of the must-haves in our family at Thanksgiving, for as long as I can remember, which is back to the '50s: white boiling onions, bechamel made with milk and light cream, nutmeg, salt, white pepper. We all still love them, but I do find we are each eating fewer every year--they are rich! I used to figure three or four per person, now two. I boil them in their skins, then peel, and thin the bechamel if needed with some of the onion stock.

[pax]

So, Jaymes, I made these. And like your salsa recipe, it will now be a staple in my kitchen.

Do you have a recipe blog? Maybe a cookbook or two?

I made them every Thanksgiving when I had my kids at home.  But last few years, got lazy.

My favorite recipe:

20-30 small white boiling onions

1/3 c. butter, margarine or oil

3 T flour

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1 C shredded American cheese

Chopped peanuts

Peel onions and cook in a large amount of boiling salted water until tender.  Set aside to drain well.  Put oil or butter in large saucepan.  Over medium heat, add flour and make a light brown roux.  Add milk slowly, stirring constantly until all milk is added and mixture thickens.  Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.  Carefully fold in onions.  When onions are heated through, turn into serving dish, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and serve immediately.

Edited to add - these are delicious and I often make them to serve with steak, roasts, ham, etc.  Too good to have just at Thanksgiving.  In fact, at Thanksgiving they seemed to get a little "lost" what with all the other good food on the table.

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[Jaymes]

So, Jaymes, I made these. And like your salsa recipe, it will now be a staple in my kitchen.

Do you have a recipe blog? Maybe a cookbook or two? 

I made them every Thanksgiving when I had my kids at home.  But last few years, got lazy.

My favorite recipe:

20-30 small white boiling onions

1/3 c. butter, margarine or oil

3 T flour

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1 C shredded American cheese

Chopped peanuts

Peel onions and cook in a large amount of boiling salted water until tender.  Set aside to drain well.  Put oil or butter in large saucepan.  Over medium heat, add flour and make a light brown roux.  Add milk slowly, stirring constantly until all milk is added and mixture thickens.  Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.  Carefully fold in onions.  When onions are heated through, turn into serving dish, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and serve immediately.

Edited to add - these are delicious and I often make them to serve with steak, roasts, ham, etc.  Too good to have just at Thanksgiving.  In fact, at Thanksgiving they seemed to get a little "lost" what with all the other good food on the table.

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Already? Wow. Impressive!

Actually, I did write a cookbook (really more of a recipe collection) years ago. Never went into a second printing because I spent all the profits from the first printing!

[ludja]

My mom always has creamed onions for Thanksgiving and I've continued the tradition when I cook the dinner. Her standard version uses frozen or jarred onions which are just heat in cream, butter, salt and pepper with a little flour to thicken. I've made them with fresh pearl onions a few times and I do think it is worth the effort. You can peel the onions the day before.

I may try the bechamel sauce and some of the other ideas here as well.

We also have creamed onions with the rib roast and Yorkshire pudding on Christmas Day. The creamed onions would be missed in both meals by everyone in our family!

[zoe b]

I think lilija &slkinsey's variations sound delicious--I will try them out..... this time next year.....

and I'm laughing at David Ross's mom--she obviously has the inside info on the whole Pilgrim thing!

[pax]

I think lilija &slkinsey's variations sound delicious--I will try them out..... this time next year.....

and I'm laughing at David Ross's mom--she obviously has the inside info on the whole Pilgrim thing!

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I have some serious PMS. Onions and peanuts sounded right up my alley. I ate them off the fork and drank beer. MY husband asked me to sleep on the couch.

Also, I had some peeled onion I had to use up then never got made into stuffing.

[suzilightning]

They're always at my mother's Thanksgiving table, and were at my grandmother's table before that. My uncle is now custodian of the recipe and usually brings them. He's very particular about having the exact right type of onion, though I can't remember what type he said that was.

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cippolini perhaps?

i've been using red and white pearl onions to make this for a few years as well as in my grownup green bean casserole. also have started to make the creamed onions - though i'm waiting for stephanie's dad's girlfriends recipe since it looked soooo good - for christmas at my nother-in-law's house. bechamel sauce with nutmed, white pepper and grated white cheddar. and a touch of worchestershire sauce.

[Toasted]

Can't wait to try all the new recipes. I bought all of the ingredients to the original recipe I posted but I'm waiting until everybody goes to bed before I make it. Shhhh- I don't want to share!

[faine]

Yep, we definitely do them! My aunt's husband demanded we add them to the menu a few years back and we've enjoyed them since. He claims they're a Southern thing, although we're all Southern too....that's regionalism for you. I haven't made them myself, but as I recall, it's pretty simple: throw together pearl onions and lots and lots and lots of cream and cheese. Bam.

I was too intimidated by their appearance of viscous gloppiness to try them until this year, but I'm glad I did: the little suckers are delicious. Although crouching in the refrigerator the next day, their appearance can be kinda..offputting.

[BarbaraY]

These were made in my family long before the 50s. They go back a long way as my grandmother made them when my dad was a kid.

One of the few things the kids were allowed to pass up. I once asked Mom why she made them and she said, "Gotta make them for The Old Lady."

After Grandma died they were no longer served.

I tried to make them a couple of years ago and they didn't taste quite right. Maybe no nutmeg.

[Jim Dixon]

Creamed onions have always been part of our Thanksgiving. My general approach (details here) is to make a cheese sauce using some kind of sharp cheddar, something blue, parmiggiano, and, this year, some farmstead Brindisi from a local cheesemaker. I also add a shot of Bourbon and top with buttered, toasted bread crumbs.

It used to be easy to find canned pearl onions from a local canner (Diamond), but not so anymore. I may switch to the frozen onions, but having boiled and peeled fresh before, I don't think I'll go that route.

Jim

[ludja]

...

I tried to make them a couple of years ago and they didn't taste quite right. Maybe no nutmeg.

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I forgot about the nutmeg-- just a hint!