Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Onions!


SethG

Recommended Posts

I love onions.

Yellow onions, Spanish onions, white onions, green onions, red onions, shallots, leeks (God, I love leeks!), you name it.

I love onions in the springtime. I love onions in the fall. I love onions in the winter, when they're sizzled. I love onions in the summer, when they're drizzled.

I love onions raw, on a burger or a bagel with lox. In addition, I love onions cooked. I love hot dogs with sauteed onions on top. I love French onion soup. I love smothered onion sauce. I recently made a Nicoise tart with red onions, olives and anchovies. Loved it. Just last night, I made Indian chicken with an onion-based sauce. Loved that too.

Onions are great in these starring roles, but they're also essential as a supporting ingredient in, hell, just about everything. I love onions' ubiquity.

I love the smell of onions raw. I love the smell of onions as they cook. Onions with garlic in a pan, isn't that heaven to you? It is to me.

I love the way onions make you cry. People always talk about tricks they use to render the chopping of onions painless, and I always wonder why. I love that feeling. There is no sweeter pain in all of cooking.

I couldn't do without onions, and I can't say that about any other ingredient.

Don't you agree?

(Baconistas, please note-- your opinion has been heard elsewhere. No need to think that every thread has to be about bacon. So let's keep any onion-bacon debates to a minimum.)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

they're so wonderful.

i sometimes make pasta sauce with onions. and then i add more onions. it's so oniony, that we usually say, as we're eating it with pasta, that you don't even need the pasta. just onions in sauce.

mrs. tommy eats those little pickled white onions right out of the jar for a snack.

another thing about onions is, when you mix them with some vinegar, they smell like BO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I don't have such a good attitude about the tear factor. But then again, I tear when chopping scallions.

I like onions with my tuna. And onions carmelized are wonderful. Think kasha varnishkes. Onions are requirement for a burger. And a bowl of onion soup would be perfect on a rainy day such as this.

You're right, they are a perfect food. :wub:

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to sautee diced onions in butter till they start to carmelize, then add them to mashed potatoes

Edited by =Mark (log)

=Mark

Give a man a fish, he eats for a Day.

Teach a man to fish, he eats for Life.

Teach a man to sell fish, he eats Steak

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All of the above. I will add... Paper thin onion slices marinated in lime juice, s&p. Great on sandwiches and with anything rolled in a tortilla.

Years ago, my dad came back from a business trip to the Rio Grande valley with a 50 pound sack of Crystal City Sweets. These were about golf ball size and very sweet and mild. We ate onions on everything, in everything, every day for a couple of weeks. Funny thng happened... Nobody had trouble with BO even though working in the garden at the country place could defeat the best deodorant on the market at the time.

And... let us not forget... onions provided the fuel that built the pyramids.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such poetry!

I love onions because they're the foundation (usually the second thing put into any pan, after olive oil or butter or bacon) and they're often the top note for garnish and crunch, too.

There's a place near me that makes a five onion pizza - red, yellow, green, shallots and leeks! Pretty damn good.

~Tad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mmmmm....I love onions in all forms as well. I couldn't cook without them (well, I could, but I wouldn't want to).

Kathy

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. - Harriet Van Horne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And... let us not forget... onions provided the fuel that built the pyramids.

Please explain, fifi.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recent acheological research on the workers' dwelling areas indicate that the primary food was onions. Indeed, workers were paid in onions.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a place near me that makes a five onion pizza - red, yellow, green, shallots and leeks!  Pretty damn good.

I'll be right over!

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onions, and their family members, are among my favorite foods. I eat spring onions fresh from the garden, sprinkled with a little salt. Carmelized onions in french onion soup, fried onions on steak & cheese, raw onions on sandwiches and salads. Real onion rings, cut thick and fried in beer batter. Stuffed onions baked in the oven. Roasted leeks, chives on baked potatoes. Carmelized scallion and potato tarts. I especially love the onions that come with the Honey Roasted Duck w/ Basil & Chili we get from our favorite Thai restaurant. I always ask for extra onions there.

My kids however have to be tricked into eating onions most times.

Today is going to be one of those days.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onions,

Food from the gods! :biggrin:

The only time I actually panic is when I realize I am out of onions.

I am going to try Fifi's lime juice on onion slices it sounds soooo wonderful, it seems similar to an onion "relish" I make whenever I cook Indian, sprinkling thinly sliced onions with lemon juice, salt and a mix of paprika and cayenne.

Actually I could probably make a meal just out of that! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Working with onions is the best thing about cooking. When in doubt, substitute an onion. See the table below:

If the recipe calls for / Substitute

===========================

Potato / onion

celery / green onion

peach / shallot

beef / onion

foie gras / onion

salt / onion

Matthew Amster-Burton, aka "mamster"

Author, Hungry Monkey, coming in May

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just saw on a Japanese show that if you place small dishes of sliced onions around a room it will make children fall asleep! :blink:

They showed an experiment of it in a day care center and the entire room of 20 some kids was asleep in less then 5 minutes compared to a different day when about 10 of them never went to sleep.

Now if that isn't a miracle food then I don't know what is! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just saw on a Japanese show that if you place small dishes of sliced onions around a room it will make children fall asleep! :blink:

They showed an experiment of it in a day care center and the entire room of 20 some kids was asleep in less then 5 minutes compared to a different day when about 10 of them never went to sleep.

Now if that isn't a miracle food then I don't know what is! :biggrin:

That is interesting. When the 1015s are in, a favorite lunch is an onion sandwich... thinly sliced onion, piled on good bread with mayonaise, salt and seasoning to taste. Jane's Crazy Salt is a current favorite. Drink one, or two, very cold beers. You WILL snooze, more so than with beer alone.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quite agree, quite agree.

Take some red onions, top and tail but leave the skin on. Douse in cheap "balsamic" vinegar. Roast at 300 for two hours.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just saw on a Japanese show that if you place small dishes of sliced onions around a room it will make children fall asleep! :blink:

It's a good thing onions don't have that effect on adults, or the pyramids never would've been finished!! :huh:

Many good oniony ideas here! But I'm a little surprised at the total agreement among us. I expected some garlic or tomato partisans to enter the fray.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...