Onion Lovers, Come Forth!

[Jester]

I LOVE onions. How much do I love onions? Well, I am one of those guys that when he's chopping up onions for a recipe (which is damn often), I will much on the onions. A lot. Onions are YUMMY! Raw, cooked, whatever. Gimme gimme gimme!

Now, I prefer the white or red onions to the Vidalias, but Vidalia onions are still better than no onions at all!

Freezing onions: not so sure about this, as I have had at least one chef tell me that freezing veggies is an iffy proposition; since veggies are made mostly of water, freezing and thawing them makes things a bit odd. But on this I am hardly an expert, and could be quite wrong.

Recipes: You can use them raw in salads, as I often do. Obviously they are great as part of a base for stews, soups, and OF COURSE you have to know I am going to say chili! Chopped roughly they work great for stir fry, which is easy and fun to make. And let's not forget our friend jambalaya. If you are really daring, you might try to make onion ice cream. While I have never made it, I am sure there is a recipe out there for it. And a quick google search tells me that, yes, there are PLENTY of onion ice cream recipes out there!

And here's a pretty easy and brilliant recipe my older sister gave me for a great dip: you take an onion and quarter it, and a bulb of garlic (not a clove, the whole damn bulb) and chop one end off to expose the end of the cloves. Put all this on a foiled sheet pan, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and oven roast it for several minutes. (Don't remember the temp or time, but probably around 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Once they are done roasting, squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb into a food processor, toss in the roasted onion quarters, and add any drippings from the process left on the sheet pan. Pulse this a few times in the processor, and you have yourself one hell of an onion and garlic lover's dip!

[Amusement Gal]

Quoth AnaKhouri

So jealous. Have you tried an onion tart or an onion pie? Those would be amazing with something sweet like Vidalias.

I have not, but that sounds delicious. We only have two people in our family that hate onions, so it's pretty easy to make something with just onions in it as a main ingredient.

Quoth MoonCat

I loooooove Vidalias.

Definitely caramelize some. If you have a crock pot, you can put them in at night and let them slowly cook all night. In the morning the house will smell like onions...and then you freeze them and use them up a little at a time.

You could make onion soup, too.

I had forgotten about the soup! My mother makes an awesome French Onion soup, and she puts a big hunk of farm-made hard cheese in it before serving. *drool* As for the onion flavor throughout the house, my boyfriend would pass out from holding his breath! He's about the only person in the house who doesn't like them.

Quoth RecoveringKinkoid

Get a big brisket and roll it up with onions before you cook it.

Onion sandwiches. I'm not even joking.

Bet if you figured out how to deep fry those suckers, they'd be awesome.

Raw onion sandwiches, or are they cooked? Because even if these suckers are sweet, just the idea of raw onions makes me .

And we're intending to make beer battered onion rings this year. Can't waitttttttt.... Wanted to do blooming onions, but the calorie count had my mother an inch from smacking me.

Quoth FuzzyKitten99

Make onion jam, which is really just caramelized onions cooked down to where they're more mush than firm.

It works so nicely in many recipes and adds flavor so well, plus it can be frozen.

Then thaw & use as needed. Stews, soups, add to eggs or mashed potatoes, green beans, various other savory dishes, you name it.

I hadn't thought about the jam bit. I've seen it in stores, but with it being homemade and all, I could do it however I wanted! With lots and lots of garlic, probably. I wouldn't get many complaints!

Quoth Jester

And here's a pretty easy and brilliant recipe my older sister gave me for a great dip: you take an onion and quarter it, and a bulb of garlic (not a clove, the whole damn bulb) and chop one end off to expose the end of the cloves. Put all this on a foiled sheet pan, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and oven roast it for several minutes. (Don't remember the temp or time, but probably around 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Once they are done roasting, squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb into a food processor, toss in the roasted onion quarters, and add any drippings from the process left on the sheet pan. Pulse this a few times in the processor, and you have yourself one hell of an onion and garlic lover's dip!

I think I'll pass on the ice cream, but that dip sounds amazing! We all love garlic in this house, and even if I get (two) nay-says from it, the rest of the house will fix the garlic and onion surplus with no problem.

Thanks for the ideas guys! My mother will be using most of them up, but if she ever runs out of ideas, I'll look like I know what I'm doing for once!

[kpzra]

If you chop them and freeze them the texture is fine for being cooked in stuff, but they get a bit mushy when thawed so I wouldn't use them raw. I buy bags of chopped frozen onions all the time.

[Merriweather]

Freezing them works well, they won't have "fresh" consistency, so I wouldn't use the frozen ones on, say, fajitas. But they'll work great for soups, stews, etc. I find it nice to have a few half or quarter onions in a ziplock freezer bag, maybe even some already diced ones, too, on hand for when I realize I don't have a fresh one in the middle of cooking something.

[Food Lady]

Since Vidalias are sweet, try them in a salad with orange sections and a sweet vinaigrette. Or make the dressing out of them. This is especially good with a slightly bitter lettuce like arugula. *goes to kitchen to get salad with Vidalia dressing*

[Mytical]

Not sure this has been mentioned, nor do I have a recipe..but Onion Rings. Lightly breaded onion rings can be yummy.

[DeltaSierra]

Onion Pie!!!

TEXAS SWEET ONION PIE
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, sliced thin, 5 1/2 ounces
8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder (regular and chipotle are both good)

Sauté the onion in butter until tender and slightly caramelized. Place the cheese in a greased pie plate; top with onions. Beat eggs, cream and seasonings. Pour over all. Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Makes 6-8 servings
Can be frozen
Recipe can be doubled/tripled

[PhiSigGirl1988]

I don't like onions except when they're cooked, but a couple of ideas would be Philly cheese steak subs (onions, green pepper, steak, Swiss cheese) and this chicken cacciatore stuff my mom makes. The way she makes it is that she takes a bunch of peppers (red, orange, yellow, and green) and onions and slices them up into strips. Mix those up with some mushrooms, chicken that has been cut into cubes and cooked, can of tomatoes, garlic for seasoning, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer and serve over rice. Delicious.

[Dave1982]

French Onion Soup.....and there's no reason why you can't add more onions than the recipe calls for.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yes, I mean raw onion sandwiches. I admit, it's a bit much, but with a sweet enough onion, they're not overpowering. Toast on good bread, butter (real butter) and a slice of onion.

I've been pretty poor in my life. A farmer across the road from where I used to live gave me permission to glean from his field, so things were very, very fresh. I think that's the trick to eating them straight. So, nothing much in cupboard and a field full of fresh produce just outside, you get creative.

The texture of the crunchy onion, with the creamy butter and savory toast is very nice!