Onion Confit

[schneich]

i dont know what you guys are talking about....

24 hours, 2 hours... complete bullshit !!!!

my "world famous" refried onion confit can

be made in about 1h !!!!

ok here we go...

first peel a huge amount of onions.. escalotes are better, red onions too!

cut onions in half, then quarters then in coarse sclices.. not too fine, as you

want to "feel" some of the onions. then heat a good amount of oliveoil and

start to fry the onions. the onions NEED to slightly get black at this stage, so

dont stir until they are.. (not really black but very dark brown). if you did it right

you got now translucent onions with a black part... (sorry hard to describe)

only this way you will get the right taste to them. ok now continue frying until all

parts of the onions are slightly brown, add 1 - 2 heaped tbsp of honey to the pan

and continue stirring to avoid burn.. now deglace for the first time with a cup of dry whitewine, and reduce to medium heat. ok and here comes the trick : after deglacing let all the liquid evaporate until the onions start to fry again. now again deglace with stock (chicken) and again let the liquid evaporate... do this process a couple of times until the onions are thick like marmelade... the idea of the refryiing ist to give

the onions each time more aramel taste... in the end you are left with a nicely

sweet thick onion confit, that on every occasion runs out first :)

oh.. season with pepper and salt AFTER the confit is ready cause everytime

you deglace with stock you add a littgle bit of salt...

you can nicely add some fresh herbs, and garlic if you like...

the whole process should only take 30 min. or so...

the confit will be best if cool... and even better the next day... ;-) yum

yours

t.

[SobaAddict70]

Well schneich, they say that there IS more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case, to make onion confit.

I prefer the slow-cooked version as probably many folks here on eG, but to each his own.

The version I usually go by as given in St. Alice's cookbook, Chez Panisse Vegetables, takes about 90 minutes. She does, as I do, add a bit of cassis towards the end.

Fifi: Try using it as a topping for bruschetta, or with gnocchi.

Soba

[redfox]

I certainly wouldn't mind trying that quicker recipe for comparison on my next batch (I forsee many batches in my future...). The plan for cheese and confit was somewhat foiled by the fact that the cheese we bought wound up being not nearly as stinky as I'd have hoped. It failed to stand up to the onions and the flavors were all kind of lost. Maybe if we let it sit around for a while, stinkifying.

BUT! Today a couple of spoonsful of confit made a really superb addition to my lunchtime bowl of champ. Mmm.

[schneich]

Well schneich, they say that there IS more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case, to make onion confit.

I prefer the slow-cooked version as probably many folks here on eG, but to each his own.

The version I usually go by as given in St. Alice's cookbook, Chez Panisse Vegetables, takes about 90 minutes. She does, as I do, add a bit of cassis towards the end.

Fifi: Try using it as a topping for bruschetta, or with gnocchi.

Soba

try my version and you see.... ;-)

adding cassisjelly is nice, and i do so too sometimes...

but even better is the addition of my homemade red bellpepper jelly, which

is also great on steaks and lambchops.... ;-)

(post if you want the recipe)

YUM

t.

[davidkemp]

i usualy use shallots or pearl onions whole slowly simmer in rich chicken stock so they dont fall apart .could be topped with cooking liquid and touch of cream and butter.yummy.

[Mottmott]

Oh yes, lets see the recipe for the enticing red bell pepper jelly!

I'm making some onion confit in the next couple days. I use mine mostly on a pissaladiere which I make on a very flaky all butter pate brisee instead of a yeast dough. What more could I ask for in life, butter, sweet onions, and the salty slight brinynessof anchovies and olives on crisp buttery pastry. Ecstasy just thinking of it.

Sometimes I add either cassis, port, or madiera to the onions as they cook. Other times I add a touch of very good vinegar (banyuls, sherry, balsamic). I do like the touch of complexity the acid from the vinegar gives. Wonder what a touch of lemon zest would do....

And not only does it keep in the fridge, but I often make a double recipe to have some on hand for the next pissaladiere. I don't think it's quite as good once frozen, but still very good.

[Msk]

In an effort to partake in the most amount of eGullet threads possible, I made some Onion Confit and layered it on top of Fresh Focaccia from the Self Improvement through baking thread.

Drizzled (poorly mind you) some Goat Cheese on half.

My recipe for the confit?

6 onions chopped

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cub olive oil

Put in crock pot on low (kept the lid on the whole time)

Go to sleep

Wake up to confit!

Msk

[Suzanne F]

A word of warning: do NOT stay in the house while the onions are cooking; you will become so hungry you will eat everything in sight! Yesterday I sliced up 2 large white onions and threw them in the slow cooker with a half-stick of butter. It took great force of will to ignore the siren smell wafting through the place (I work at home, so going out was not an option).

[schneich]

here comes my recipe in detail:

these are 2 pound of onions ( 1000 gram)

peeled

cut in half, quarter then slice...

mix up some demiglace (in this case veal)

put 4 heaped tbsp. suger turn on heat to...

...caramelize, pour two tbsp. honey into caramel

deglace with stock, let dissolve caramel

readymade caramelstock

heat big skilet with 3 tbsp. oliveoil, not more or your confit

gets greasy... ;-)

start to fry ya onions..

let get very dark on the bottom, this step is important to

get lots of flavor

deglace with 1 1/2 cups dry white wine

let fry again, and deglace with the caramel-stock mixture

fry and deglace several times until your confit gets a rich

brown color and a marmelade like texture

when finished correct salt, pepper (malabar of course ;-)

and some aceto "balsamico tradizionale extra vecchio"

to add distinct acidicity and depth ;-) whoaa....

let cool...

there you got my perfect onion confit... the whole process

takes about 45 mins. to an hour!

guten appetit !

cheers

t.

Edited February 19, 2004 by schneich (log)

[fifi]

schneich... That is a masterful rendition of onion confit. And I can't wait to try the red peppers as soon as I win the lottery. BTW... When I do luck into some cheap peppers, your method is what I do to put up a bunch of roasted peppers. Works great. If I want more charring, sometimes I will quarter them to expose more skin to the sun.

Now all I have to do is get off my lazy butt and put that kind of work into an onion confit. Maybe when I get into a fit of wanting to do something the hard way (which happens fairly often) on a cold winter day. I have no doubt that that technique produces a superb confit. I am just wondering when I will want to do all of that instead of dump it all in the crock pot and go to bed.

I know this is off-topic but, what kind of camera are you using?

[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 February 26, 2004 by Marlene (log)

[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 February 26, 2004 by woodburner (log)

[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 February 26, 2004 by woodburner (log)

[fifi]

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