Onion Confit

[Wolfert]

The duck jelly is a wonderful substitute for demi-glace. Just be sure to reduce the salt in the rest of the dish.

I recently combined yellow raisins soaked in vin de noix to make a sauce for a salty duck confit. I used a spoonful of the duck jelly diluted in a glass of water in place of duck stock and it was wonderful.

See http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=66056&hl= for an egullet forum on vin de noix.

Edited April 20, 2006 by Wolfert (log)

[Terrasanct]

After reading (most) of this thread I had to try it, too. I used the slow cooker and about four pounds of onions. Cooked most of the day and overnight with demiglace, white wine, water, butter and olive oil and not much else. It turned out really well--I've already finished off one of the pints. I'll have to make it again this weekend when my husband is out of town--he doesn't like the smell, but to me, it just smells like dinner cooking. Yum.

Edited April 25, 2006 by Terrasanct (log)

[lperry]

Costco had ten pound bags of the huge Spanish yellow onions, so my first batch of onion confit came out of the crock pot this afternoon. My only question is, how have I lived without onion confit? Now I need to go back through the thread and get some more ideas for using it. That is assuming that I don't eat it all just on toast.

-L

[JasonZ]

I'ts a snowy day here and my first ever batch is on the stove in my Le crueset pan.

I'm making this to share with my mother who is a vegetarian, so instead of stock, I'm going with balsamic vinegar, so far so good.

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You can also use a vegetable stock or a mushroom stock ... adds another layer of flavor and intensity to the finished product. I use Deborah Madison's Fancy Mushroom Stock recipe from her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone book ...

Regards,

Jason

[little ms foodie]

we recently mixed up some confit with cooked and sliced hot sausages all sauteed in a bit of white wine until thick then used this as a pizza topper with mozz and fontina cheeses- big hit!

[Brasco66]

Okay...I didn't read all 19 pages of this thread, however if you want to try something killer....mix 1 cup of ketchup with 1 cup onion confit and 1-2 tbsp of red wine vinegar or balsamic syrup together in a food processor and pulse for 5 seconds.....you'll never use plain ketchup again!

Vinegar Syrup

1/2 cup good red wine or Balsamic Syrup

1/2 cup sugar

Combine in sauce pan and simmer until reduced to a syrup consistency

Enjoy!!

[shellfishfiend]

After seeing this thread for the first time today, I suddenly had a use for the two bags of pearl onions my mother sent me home with a couple of weeks ago.

I don't know how successful the recipe will be with pearl onions, but they are currently simmering away in the crockpot.

I did not add any sugar since I figure pearl onions are sweeter than white onions (I used 1 bag of yellow and 1 of red). Should I add sugar?

[little ms foodie]

I never add any sugar to my yellow onions even, the cooking brings out all the sweetness on it's own IMO

[shellfishfiend]

I am so glad I found this thread. My pearl onion slow-cooker confit turned out great. The house smelled divine. I never added sugar, but added a touch of balsamic at the end. my husband ate some on his bbq sadwich for lunch and loved the hint of sweetness they added. I was amazed at how beefy they smelled.

I froze two bags of the strained onions and froze the butter/oil seperate. I think the flavored oil will be great the next time i make an omelet or pan-fry a steak. Or saute mushrooms. This list good get long.

[joancassell]

I've found that if it turns out too sweet, some good-quality red wine vinegar (tablespoon to 1/4 cup to taste) improves it. It's also delicious with a little Dijon mustard added. Great with steak!

[JasonZ]

I'm using this recipe/technique as my starting point..

Foie Gras and Onion Confit

woodburner

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The link woodburner quoted in his post (#16 in this topic) is no longer available at this URL -- it's been moved to THIS LOCATION, info courtesy of woodburner.

BTW, did my first batch of onion confit -- vegan, using olive oil (no butter), champagne, apple cider vinegar, and an herb mix characteristic of Tuscany (thyme, majormam, basil, oregano, savory, and sage).

20 hours in a slow cooker, with a large amount of liquid released by the onions. I simply poured that off into a saucepan, reduced it separately, then added it back to the confit. Appearance similar to everyone else's -- fabulous intense flavor!

Regards,

JasonZ

[JoyBugaloo]

Well, I'm obviously a little late to the onions confit party, but better late than never, eh? I found myself reading all (gulp!) 19 pages and some 600 posts about the magical condiment until 4am this morning, but before I finally turned in, I had my inaugural batch in the crock pot. It turned out GREAT, and we enjoyed it atop ribeyes with melted Danish bleu tonight for dinner with about a pint leftover. I just posted about it on my blog (link below), including the recipe and pictures if anyone is interested in the savory details. Basically, I swapped out balsamic vinegar for the sherry and replaced some of the onions with shallots. Delish! Thanks, everyone, for all the tips and advice.

--Gina

Lindsey's Luscious

[JoyBugaloo]

Ok, now I'm a woman OBSESSED! I have made a second batch of oignons confits, and this time, it was a very different version. Whereas the first one was rich and beefy, this one was lighter, much sweeter and tangier. It's also a beautiful ruby-red color! It's made by cooking the onions down in red wine, red wine vinegar, and grenadine (pomegranate syrup). If anyone is interested in trying it, here's the recipe. You can also check out my blog (link below) for a bad, blurry picture of the new confit.

--Gina

Lindsey's Luscious

Sweet-and-Tangy Oignons Confits

(Source: adapted from endlessbanquet.blogspot.com)

about 2 1/2 pounds onions, peeled and finely minced (I prefer mine finely sliced for more texture)

2 cups grenadine syrup*

2 cups red wine

1 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cook the minced onions in a non-stick saucepan for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat.

Add vinegar and red wine to the onions and reduce over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Lower the heat and add sugar and grenadine syrup*. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and simmer over medium heat for about an hour. The mixture will reduce considerably until it thickens and takes on the consistency of a proper confiture (like jam). Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place in jars and refrigerate. Yield will be between 1 1/2 to 2 pints.

[annecros]

Ok, now I'm a woman OBSESSED!  I have made a second batch of oignons confits, and this time, it was a very different version.  Whereas the first one was rich and beefy, this one was lighter, much sweeter and tangier.  It's also a beautiful ruby-red color!

Place in jars and refrigerate. Yield will be between 1 1/2 to 2 pints.

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Hi Gina,

Beautiful confit, and those turkey wraps on your blog sound yummy. This second version sounds like just the ticket for lighter spring food. I burned out a little on the confit over the winter holidays.

[Henry dV]

Just finished mine and it turned out just fine, and on reflection this isn`t strictly the first time I have done this as I use it as a base for a gravy/sauce with chicken !

I will give a try to a few of the ideas above for using it and many thanks to those who inspired me to give it a whirl

[andiesenji]

I'm bumping up this topic as I felt like revisiting it as it is a good time for a project like this.

I have a huge bag of onions from Sam's Club and have my big electric roaster out and ready to go.

At the same time I am braising a shoulder clod so you can guess that onion soup is in my future!

Anyone have anything else new to add to this topic?

[Anna N]

I'm bumping up this topic as I felt like revisiting it as it is a good time for a project like this.

I have a huge bag of onions from Sam's Club and have my big electric roaster out and ready to go.

At the same time I am braising a shoulder clod so you can guess that onion soup is in my future!

Anyone have anything else new to add to this topic?

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Nothing new to add but you have persuaded me to make a batch using the slow cooker. This is something I have never tried before. Thanks for reviving this topic.

[prasantrin]

I recently did a crock pot version of caramelized onions using yellow onions and a big chunk of butter. Used high heat for maybe 2 hours, then turned it down to low. It ended up taking more than 24 hours to get decent colour them, and there was a lot of liquid. I was going to use the liquid to "punch up" my onion soup, but I never got around to using it (and I neded up throwing it out for fear of spoilage).

As for the onions, the flavour was OK, but the onions never got as soft as I would have liked. I could have let it go for another 24 hours (or however long it would have taken), but I didn't want to leave the crock pot on all day while I was at work. I'm a little disappointed with the method, and I don't know if I'd do it again.

[Anna N]

I recently did a crock pot version of caramelized onions using yellow onions and a big chunk of butter.  Used high heat for maybe 2 hours, then turned it down to low.  It ended up taking more than 24 hours to get decent colour them, and there was a lot of liquid.  I was going to use the liquid to "punch up" my onion soup, but I never got around to using it (and I neded up throwing it out for fear of spoilage).

As for the onions, the flavour was OK, but the onions never got as soft as I would have liked.  I could have let it go for another 24 hours (or however long it would have taken), but I didn't want to leave the crock pot on all day while I was at work.  I'm a little disappointed with the method, and I don't know if I'd do it again.

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I am trying the method linked to a little higher on this page (Lindsey's Luscious) - they will be cooked on high for 8 hours. I will see how it goes and report back.

[andiesenji]

I cooked 20 pounds in the old electric roaster but as I mentioned in a much earlier post, I used duck fat. I had the temp control set at 250 and while I did have the cover on for most of the time, I did have the vents in the lid open fully to keep a lot of steam from building up.

It took about 8 hours to get them to the color and taste I wanted but there was still quite a bit of moisture so I removed the lid, turned the temp up to 300 and continued cooking (stirring fairly often) for 30 minutes until the liquid had reduced and the consistency was the way I like.

I just bought one of the big bags of very large onions at Sam's Club (same as Costco's) although I have bought similar onions at Smart & Final in the past. I also sometimes go to a local grower who sells occasionally at a farm stand. (you sometimes see these in net bags with an antelope on the label for Antelope Valley). I have found that the super sweet onions, Vidalia, etc., do not really produce an end product that justifies the extra cost. Plain yellow or brown onions, no matter how strong they may be when cutting, produce an end product that is very sweet because all onions have about the same sugar content - it is the other natural chemicals that cause them to be strong but as these are very aromatic, they are expelled during the long, slow cooking.

Edited February 9, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[Eden]

I am considering using the crockpot technique on some leeks - I want to see if they behave similarly...

Edited February 9, 2009 by Eden (log)

[Beebs]

I cheat by throwing in a couple dashes of Japanese soy sauce and half a beef boullion cube. The soy gives it a nice rich colour, and I like how they both impart savouriness without being overly salty.

How long does it last in the fridge, if it's in an airtight glass jar?

[Anna N]

Well I cooked my onions on High for at least 12 hours and then took the lid off for a further 2 hours and the result is excellent. I had some doubts last night but couldn't stay awake much longer so I moved the onions to the fridge overnight and that seems to have done the trick as they are now silky and delicious. I could not imagine doing them on Low as it would surely take days and days. I used a very old Rival crock pot with just OFF/HIGH/LOW controls.

[Reignking]

On high, I'd be afraid to burn them -- which I've done, even on low.

I've tried many variations on the recipe (different fats, spices). I replaced some butter with olive oil, and it wasn't remotely as good. Also, I've thrown in whole peppercorns, which adds a nice flavor, but not as much when you accidentally eat an entire one.

I keep my onion confit for many months, in the fridge...

[andiesenji]

On high, I'd be afraid to burn them -- which I've done, even on low.

I've tried many variations on the recipe (different fats, spices).  I replaced some butter with olive oil, and it wasn't remotely as good.  Also, I've thrown in whole peppercorns, which adds a nice flavor, but not as much when you accidentally eat an entire one.

I keep my onion confit for many months, in the fridge...

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You have to really know the temps of your slow cooker at the various settings as they can vary widely.

I have a Cuisinart slow cooker that even on low will boil everything so I only use it for foods that need to cook quickly and I watch it.

I have some older ones made by Rival that have the high and low settings and they are pretty close to correct. The "programmable" one did not work as it was supposed to so I passed it along to someone who didn't care and only wanted it for holding already cooked things at serving temp for an hour or so.

My ancient electric roasters - Westinghouse, Nesco and GE, all have temp controls that are as accurate as I need and have a wider range of temp settings.

If I didn't have them, I would probably be cooking the larger batches in the oven.

I can my large batches and process them in a pressure canner using the technique for low acid foods.

It keeps in the freezer too and in the fridge for a couple of months.