Shallot, shallot and more shallot

[liv4fud]

Love onions and in a family of 3 we go about 3 lbs in a week.

but never had the nerve to try shallots - mainly because of the price!

but today I got a nice 5lb bag for a reasonable price and have brought it home

and I feel like

I know how to use onions and wanted to know is there like a ratio if I need to substitute shallot for onions?

Can I just enjoy them with salt and pepper and squirts of lemon...

tips welcome!

[david coonce]

They're a little milder than some onions, a little sweeter than others. It sort of depends on what onions you normally use. I think shallots have a distinctive flavor that's different than onions, but can be used much the same way. Often they're used finely minced to enhance a vinaigrette, or melted in butter to start a soup/stew/sauce, etc. Certainly you can slice them thick, pan fry them in butter or olive oil and squirt 'em with lemon and they'll be great. You've got 5 pounds, go ahead and experiment! After all, that's what food is for. Generally, though, shallots will give you a milder flavor than most yellow or white onions. Warning though, if you're new to them: they're a pain to peel and cut, because there are generally two halves inside each shallot, and they're not as uniform inside as onions. They're misshapen more often than round. When you cut one open youll see what I'm trying (poorly) to explain.

[Jaymes]

I got this wonderful tip (over in the wine forum) from that nice Mr. Wozencroft: "Cut the heads and tails from the shallots then put in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 1 minute then the skins should come off real easy."

And that's exactly what I did. After the skins fell off, they were easy to chop.

My very favorite topping for steak is chopped shallots sauteed briefly in butter. Yum and double yum.

[PCL]

Amen to that Jaymes.

Sometimes I even finely chop the shallots and sprinkle them as is over skirt/hanger steak. Watering mouth right now I feel.

[Mottmott]

Make duxelles. Mushrooms and shallots are made to go together. And as a bonus, duxelles freeze well.

[Shalmanese]

To me, shallots are the tea sipping aristocrat while onions are the salt-of-the-earth farmer. Whenever I use onions, I use a LOT of onions to create a rich, deep base to a stew or soup. However, when I use shallots, I like to treat it delicately in a fine mince in a nice sauce or browned slowly to really support a fine sauce. The good thing about shallots is that they don't contain nearly as much of the acrid raw chemicals so they can be cooked much faster and retain more of their freshness. The bad thing is that they seem to loose their taste much more when cooked long and slow as in a stew.

If I had 5lb of shallots, then I would make Shallot Confit by just subbing onions for shallots. If I ever won the lottery, I would celebrate with a meal of Kobe Ribeye topped with shallot confit and french fries fried in Foie Gras fat.

[mrbigjas]

fried shallots. slice, toss them to coat in seasoned flour, corn starch or wondra and fry them at a lowish temp for a long time, until they're browned and crisp through. a great topping for anything--a salad, for instance, or good to mix in with mashed potatoes, or to sprinkle on a squash soup, on a steak with the pat of butter, really anything.

[liv4fud]

I tried it with some curried potatoes added 3 shallots to a whole 3.5 potatoes. I will agree very very delicate flavor...

I noticed more of an aroma (sweet oniony one) the moment it hit the oil.

But yes, one of the things I kept hearing (on ftv) that its a mix of onion and garlic was no where to be found.

[Kent Wang]

Finely mince and then carmelize. Since you can get the shallots to a much finer mince, it's easy to carmelize each morsel into a tasty crisp.

[petite tête de chou]

They're very good on a simple pizza (no red sauce) with shaved parmesan. Peel a good handful or so, drizzle with olive oil and basalmic vinegar, s/p and roast in a hot oven until caramelized. Use them to top your favorite pizza dough, bake and voila! After the pizza is done I really like to scatter fresh herbs and bitter greens on top, too.

[Toliver]

Adding them to something ordinary will raise it to another level.

For instance, I like to carmelize shallots in butter and then mix them into a good mac 'n' cheese. Quite tasty....

[Blanche Davidian]

Amanda Hesser has a recipe for "Shallot-Cassis Marmalade" in her book "Cooking for Mr. Latte." I served it with Charouce and crackers at a dinner party, and my friends ate so much of it there was no room for dinner! The plate was literally licked clean.

Confit is good used in the same way. ::drool::

[Megan Blocker]

One of my favorite salads is watercress, caramelized shallots, and a Champagne vinaigrette. Delicious.

Also really good to use in salad dressings...chop finely, soak in sherry vinegar for a while, then mix in some dijon, S&P, and whisk in some olive oil. Lovely.

Or, you could follow Mark Bittman's lead in yesterday's Times and make Steak Diane!

[dls]

Try 2 tbs minced shallot + 2 tbs balsamic + 1 tbs dijon mixed with 1 stick softened butter. Place in a small bowl and refrigerate. Good on veggies, fish, etc.

[MelissaH]

I like to use shallot in my salad dressing: mince a shallot, and let it sit in about a quarter cup of vinegar (I like sherry or champagne) for a bit. Add salt, pepper, and a blob of mustard. Whisk in about 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or buzz it in with a blender-on-a-stick to make the dressing really thick).

MelissaH

[mizducky]

Shallots are also very popular in Vietnamese cooking. A little more info on this page (scroll all the way to the bottom). I vaguely recall that some other southeast Asian cuisines use them as well, but right now I'm not remembering which.

In fact, if you decide you're hooked on shallots and need a steady cheap supply, I suggest you try an Asian food market. I have seen sizeable bags of shallots for very low prices at my favorite local 99 Ranch.

About FTV claiming shallots are somewhere between onions and garlic--I dunno, but I suspect they might have been more trying to convey something about the physical shape of shallots rather than their flavor. They do tend to look a little like huge garlic cloves, only with the characteristic onion layers within each "clove".

Edited February 9, 2006 by mizducky (log)

[annanstee]

Make a mignonette with good vinegar for oysters.

Use instead of onions to steam mussels...

In fact any kind of fish...

I LOVE shallots, and will generally use them in a one on one ratio with butter.

[snowangel]

The first thing that comes to mind is larb!

The second thing is a riff on a Michael Field Cooking School book recipe -- brown some chicken pieces. Remove. Toss in a mess (like 15-20) peeled, but not diced or sliced shallots, toss around until browned. Return chicken to pan. Put a lid on it, reduce heat to very low and let it cook until the chicken is done. Your house will smell heavenly. And, this is really, really simple. Two ingredients (OK, 4 because you should salt and pepper your chicken before browning).

[patti]

My very favorite topping for steak is chopped shallots sauteed briefly in butter.  Yum and double yum.

←

I agree, Jaymes. Shallots, a balsamic reduction, and butter also make a wonderful steak topping.

[Pan]

Shallots are also very popular in Vietnamese cooking. A little more info on this page (scroll all the way to the bottom). I vaguely recall that some other southeast Asian cuisines use them as well, but right now I'm not remembering which.[...]

←

Malaysian, Indonesian, and Thai, to name three. Shallots are part of the basic rempah (spicy paste) used for Malaysian curries.

[christine007]

We like to finely chop them, bake a Pizza crust using Philsbury dough cresent rolls we make a crust, four hundred degrees until nice and brown.

spread the crust with cream cheese, and add the chopped shallots, some shredded cheddar.

cut into squares for a first course, with some white wine.

Heaven!

[Restorer]

This thread motivated me to buy some shallots for the first time today. I used one in a mediocre noodle soup, but didn't really notice it in the broth. Once I get a chance, and the greens, I think I'll carmelize some shallots and saute them with some kale or collard greens. Also have to remember to use some in my next dressing.

[Syrah]

I caramalised some whole and make a balsamic vinegar type syrup. Placed on top of some french bread with melted cheese it was absolutely TDF. It was one of the Chef's recipes in an AGT (October I think)

[turkeybone]

My first shallot experience was eating them slow-roasted off a sheet pan with just olive oil salt n pepper. REALLY awesome.

I too am a big fan of the thin slice low fry (300ish or less), no flour necessary.

[liv4fud]

my second experiment with shallots didn't go so well = ended up burning the char out of them...

they were coming out perfectly - the whole apartment was filled with that pleasant smell and then before you know I got distracted

and as I went back, they were charred.

still tried to eat them but they were really really bitter

the good news is - I still have over 4 lbs to continue ;-)