Onion Lovers, Come Forth!

[Amusement Gal]

We have a 60 pound bag of Vidalia onions (note: yum! ) and want to make sure to use them all up. We almost always use them as an ingredient or on the side of things, but every single year, at least ten of them end up rotten before we can get to them. So we need some good recipes for some onion spending! Already have Kebabs and onion rings in mind, but that's about it. Feel free to be jealous, I don't mind.

[dragon_wings]

First off *drool*
Secondly, my favorite recipe my mom made was to quarter the onions, put a bit of butter in the middle, wrap it up in aluminum foil, and put it on the grill. Soon enough the onions are melt in your mouth delicious.
Note: I hate onions execpt for vidalias.

[Lachrymose]

I have seriously eaten Vidalias like an apple before.

Now, I don't know how many you can realistically get through like that.

[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.

Make a large amount and then freeze in small quantities.

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

[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.

[AnaKhouri]

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

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I got a great big bag of them myself, and I've just been putting them on everything.

I probably smell awful.

Only thing better than Vidalias is Baby Vidalias.

[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.

Also you could just chop or slice a bunch of them and freeze them raw. Then you'll have onions for quite a while to throw in everything.

You could make onion soup, too.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

So, you can freeze them? I never tried that, I always thought they'd be all mushy. How well does that work out?

[Food Lady]

After you caramelize the onions in the crockpot, add stock and make french onion soup.

[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]

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.

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.

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.

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!

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*