Onion Confit

[fifi]

I used two large spanish onions, about a quarter cup of Dow's Port, four tablespoons of butter, some salt, and some pepper.

I tossed it all into my large crock pot last night at 10, on high, turned it to low this morning at 6, and came home at about 5 in the evening to find the charred mess.

In total then it was in for 19 hours.

fifi is baaaack! Sorry guys... I was schlepping around the Netherlands for a couple of weeks without a good connection. I was also away from my jar of confit. That was the first thing I grabbed with some crackers when I got home. It was so good to get back to real food.

NulloModo, I think I know what the problem was. You didn't put enough "stuff" into the crock pot. Two onions in a large pot is barely enough to sneeze at. If a crockpot is under full, it will run hot. You need the mass to temper the heat and keep it even. That is also a lot of port for two onions. That would add a lot of sugar to the mix and make for more "charcoal". Note how many onions we have all used. My crockpot is just about full to the top when I begin.

I vote for Marlene's recipe for RecipeGullet. If the recipe puts options (like port or sherry or not, bay and thyme or not) and maybe a range for the fat component (I have been using a stick of butter and a half cup of olive oil for a pot full of onions. Less would be fine but I like fat. ) we will have something that should work for just about anyone. I also think Marlene has the timing down pretty pat and it is very convenient to start on high, turn to low for overnight, then finish on high. Might also mention that onions vary as to water content.

[Mabelline]

Have used up mine; tomorrow is market day, and there are some onions with my name on 'em. I am done with my 'health' resrictions and ready to rock. I am also intending to buy some first-class camembert and a Frenchloaf. YEEHAH!

Gonna do Marlene's...

Got to figure out my camera!

[Marlene]

aw shucks fifi. Tell you what. I'll put mine in the archive with special credits to you and woodburner who started the whole thing.

Now I gotta make some more confit!

[Marlene]

Ok. Here's what I put in the archive. Onion Confit

Feel free to make suggestions or changes and I'll make them.

Thanks everyone

[mags]

I agree about both the too few onions and the too much port. Also, after having made two batches, I've found that timing is very much related to how thin I slice them. For my first batch, I sliced my onions by hand, and that batch took a lot longer than the second batch, for which I used the mandoline (meaning that the slices were a lot thinner). Actually, I lost a fair amount of the second batch to char, because I had assumed the timing would be the same, and in fact, in less than the time that the first batch had needed, about 1/3 of the second batch had turned to charcoal.

For what it's worth, the confit was fabulous cold (room temp). I used it as a garnish on some sliced-steak canapes, and it rocked.

[s'kat]

Upon returning home - Disaster!

My onion confit had turned into a blackened mass of charred carmelized onion scented coal. Absolutely no moisture, just lots of crunchy black ash....

*holding hat in hand*

Good sir or madam, I beseech you to give it another try.

2 onions definately weren't enough.... when I made mine, they were practically touching the top. Go ahead.. it's worth it.

[Suzanne F]

Oh, yeah: load that pot up to the top with sliced onions and try it again. After all, 2 onions will collapse to less than one small serving and the stuff keeps a long, long time in the fridge. If it lasts once you smell and taste the finished product

[NulloModo]

I plan on buying a large bag of onions and trying again beginning this evening. My crockpot is of the large oval variety, and the two large onions barely covered the bottom of the unit, thinking back, I can now see why it failed. I will try to fill it to the tippity top for this next batch.

[NulloModo]

Success!

Batch #2, which consisted of the recipe posted to recipe gullet minus the sugar, was a total success!

The onions have a distinctly natural sweet flavor, a rich dark caramel color, a wonderful silky softness of texture, and are just wonderful all around.

I just had a scoop of them spread over some rare london broil slices with some wonderful bleu cheese crumbles over top, delicious.

Tonight I feel I may make a bourbon pork, bacon, onion confit, and gorgonzola pizza.

[Marlene]

Success!

Batch #2, which consisted of the recipe posted to recipe gullet minus the sugar, was a total success!

The onions have a distinctly natural sweet flavor, a rich dark caramel color, a wonderful silky softness of texture, and are just wonderful all around.

I just had a scoop of them spread over some rare london broil slices with some wonderful bleu cheese crumbles over top, delicious.

Tonight I feel I may make a bourbon pork, bacon, onion confit, and gorgonzola pizza.

Bravo! I must confess, I don't always add the sugar either. It depends on what I might want to use the confit for.

[snowangel]

Marlene, I just put a batch together into the crock pot. Went to look at it after an hour, and realized the most important part of all. Remember to plug in the crock pot!

All systems go here now.

[Marlene]

Marlene, I just put a batch together into the crock pot. Went to look at it after an hour, and realized the most important part of all. Remember to plug in the crock pot!

All systems go here now.

[snowangel]

Two onions is not enough. I filled mine to the brim, and I'd guess that after just over an hour (once plugged in), it has reduced by almost 25%. More is better, I've always said, when it comes to onions or garlic .

[andiesenji]

I make large batches of onion confit or carmelized onions.

I also make fairly large batches of duxelles, not to use in beef Wellington, which I rarely fix.

I use it in combination with the onion confit and shredded meat to make a filled bread roll.

I buy the round mini boules (Costco has them), cut out a "lid" on the top, about half the diameter of the roll. I dig out all the interior of the bread, leaving at least a 1/2 inch shell.

I fill the hollow with a layer of the duxelles, layer of finely shredded beef or pork (cooked) then a layer of the onion confit. Replace the top of the roll.

Wrap this in foil and place in a 300 degree oven for 20 -25 minutes just to heat through.

Serve with a salad.

*DUXELLES (Recipe from Melinda Lee, host of Food News KNX 1070 Radio Los Angeles)

1/2 pound, mushrooms – finely minced

3 tablespoons, butter

2 tablespoons, shallots – minced

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon, dried tarragon

2 tablespoons, flour

1/4 cup, Port wine

2-4 tablespoons, heavy cream

Using a towel, squeeze the liquid out of the minced mushrooms. Heat the butter in a skillet. Add the shallots and sauté briefly. Add mushrooms and stir until mushrooms begin to separate. Add salt, pepper and tarragon. Blend in flour. Stir for 2 minutes. Blend in wine, then cream. Simmer to reduce cream and thicken to a thick, paste-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Flavor will be intense!

Enjoy!

Andie

[Marlene]

Two onions is not enough. I filled mine to the brim, and I'd guess that after just over an hour (once plugged in), it has reduced by almost 25%. More is better, I've always said, when it comes to onions or garlic .

Now that you've got your crockpot plugged in, how's it going?

[NulloModo]

Two onions is not enough. I filled mine to the brim, and I'd guess that after just over an hour (once plugged in), it has reduced by almost 25%. More is better, I've always said, when it comes to onions or garlic .

Hmmm speaking of which, I wonder how this dish would translate into an Italian or Southwestern theme....

Perhaps combine the onions with loads of garlic (perhaps up to several heads) and several crushed and chopped tomatoes... could take on a very nice garlicky oniony saucy texture...

Or perhaps the onions, garlic, some cayenne, and maybe an assortment of fresh and dried chiles?

[fifi]

Oh dear... This could require another 5 pages of thread.

Those are good questions, though. I wonder how that would work out? Someone needs to try it. Dried tomatoes might be an idea so that you aren't adding even more water to get rid of. Or... Maybe not. You just cook it longer.

[NulloModo]

Well my crock pot is very efficient at getting rid of water... just leave the lid a bit cocked and it will all evporate off instead of collecting on the lid and dropping back down.

I might like it a little wetter if I was trying it Italian style however.

I would love to try either option, but first I need to work through my first batch ;). The flavor is much stronger and more intense than I had anticipated, a little goes a long way.

[SRRBBB]

Ok, I'm happy to show my ignorance here. What's an onion confit and what do you use it for?

An answer to the fit over confit...

Confit: This is a preparation for meat to preserve it for long periods of time when fresh meat would be scarce. The meat is first salted to remove moisture. It is then cooked at the barest of simmers, submerged in fat, until the meat is buttery tender. After the meat is cooled, it is stored in crocks and covered with the fat to prevent exposure to air. The whole crock is stored to help age the meat. During this ageing period the meat develops a new flavour, completely different from its original state. When ready to eat, the meat is fried in a skillet or grilled until the skin is crisp and the meat is warmed through. Duck confit was once served with potatoes fried in the same duck fat as the confit. This practice is less popular now, but good companions to the confit are lentils or bitter green salads to balance the richness of the meat. Fatty meats such as duck, goose, and pork work best in confit. Confit is an indispensable component in cassoulet.

Confiture: The term for fruit preserves. This term is used loosely now to encompass vegetables which are cooked long and slowly to produce a sweetened flavour.

—Tallyrand's Culinary Fare: Food Glossary.

Consider the two definitions above. The one answers the question, “What is a confit.” The second explains what a “confit” has become, in this “Hurry up, I want it right now yesterday,” world we now live in. A confit is still a confit, and a confiture is still a confiture, but today’s nueveau cuisine chefs, like so many others of the rapid-living and liberally liberated set, see no reason for adhering to the proper names of things, and throw words around like they do the garbage in their kitchens. Rather haphazard at best. Perhaps that explains why they are popular today and gone tomorrow. The attention span is very closely related to the stomach, don’t you know? So...in answer to the general running question here, “What is a confit?” It is a “confiture” without the “-ure,” which is to say that it is a slowly cooked fruit preserve which is then used as a base seasoning in many meat recipes, especially slow roasted meats such as briskets.

In today’s cooking atmosphere, the confit is usually written as a part of the entire recipe, such as “Broiled Lamb Chops With Onion Confit,” or “Roast Pork Tenderloin With Cherry And Shallot Confit.” Using the search engine www.searchalot.com, submit “confit recipes,” and you will find over 6,000 entries. Of course there are a lot of duplications, but you will still, if you persevere, find recipes for hundreds of different confits that may be used with hundreds of more recipes. One of my own recipes, which is over forty years old now, is very similar to the recipe “Red Snapper with Rosemary-Scented Shallot Confit,” which you will find on the first page of that particular search. I use my recipe with any of the baked white fishes, but find that it does not sit well with most people if used with the red fishes. My recipe for just the confit follows:

Rosemary Shallot Confit ©1965. SRRBBB.

12 medium shallot cloves, peeled

1 cup unsalted chicken broth

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1½ tsp. fresh rosemary, very finely chopped

Place the shallots in a small covered casserole with the broth, oil, and rosemary. Bake in a 300º F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the shallots are tender but still retain their shape. .

Use as an underbase for any of the baked white fishes. Not so good with the red fishes. For the red fishes, substitute 3 tbsp. finely snipped fresh dill for the rosemary.

© 1965 SRRBBB.

Perhaps now, the confit fits? Does that help?

SRRBBB

[SobaAddict70]

I guess fifi's inspired me to make some onion confit this weekend for use on Turkey Day.

I was thinking it might do wonders in mashed potatoes amongst other things.

Soba

[Marlene]

You will quickly become addicted to this Soba in all it's many uses.

[reesek]

i made mine a little differently (since i don't have a crock pot) i used 5 massive yellow (spanish) onions, a good pinch of salt, a stick of butter, a splash of sherry and black pepper. cooked in my bit le creuset dutch oven for 14 hours at 275 (250 when i was asleep!) it could have gone longer, but was divine as is. i made "old fashioned" onion dip with it (celery salt, sour cream and chopped herbs) and served it with ruffles and veggies. amazingly good.

any know how long (extra) confit keeps? assume it's covered - lightly in my fridge...for 2 weeks. is it time to toss it, or can i keep it to add to thanksgiving stuffing?

[bloviatrix]

I've made onion confit several times over the last 2 months. We love it. I'm intent on always having a jar of it in the fridge for any occasion.

[fifi]

any know how long (extra) confit keeps? assume it's covered - lightly in my fridge...for 2 weeks. is it time to toss it, or can i keep it to add to thanksgiving stuffing?

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I really don't know how long it will keep. I have a jar that got pushed to the back of the shelf in this fridge-from-hell for... oh, I don't know... two months? It still smells good. It still tastes good. I tasted it two days ago and I am not dead yet.

[reesek]

any know how long (extra) confit keeps? assume it's covered - lightly in my fridge...for 2 weeks. is it time to toss it, or can i keep it to add to thanksgiving stuffing?

←

I really don't know how long it will keep. I have a jar that got pushed to the back of the shelf in this fridge-from-hell for... oh, I don't know... two months? It still smells good. It still tastes good. I tasted it two days ago and I am not dead yet.

←

thanks for being my guinea pig, fifi!