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Caramelized onions are one of those magic ingredients. They add amazing flavor to the most simple of meals, require very little energy to prepare and make other people think that you are an extraordinary cook. All it takes is a nice, big skillet (I use a 12 inch cast iron one), five or six large onions cut into thin rings and some time.
Pre-heat the skillet for a few minutes before adding a small amount of olive oil (around a tablespoon). When the oil coats the bottom of the pan and shimmers, add your mountain of sliced onion (at the beginning of cooking, that pan was filled to the brim with onions) and immediately turn the temperature down to low. The secret to making gorgeous caramelized onions is that you want to cook them on the lowest temp your stove can manage while still producing heat. Then, every 10 or 15 minutes, move them around the pan with some tongs. You want them to darken but not blacken. The goal is to cultivate and enhance the sugars in the onions without creating an acrid flavor. You know they are done when you take a taste and they are soft and sweet, with no crunch at all.
Caramelized onions are great for a vast number of dishes. They make an amazing appetizer on a toasted baguette with brie, they're fabulous on homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella, they can serve as the base for french onion soup and they elevate a regular sandwich from basic to amazing. And they keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
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8-07-2007 @3:38PM yumdcblog said... Thank you! I always mess up caramelized onions. They're my faaaavorite.
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8-07-2007 @4:14PM alosha7777 said... ditto and thanks!
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8-07-2007 @5:03PM Sam said... I love them. And you're right. I made pierogi's for the neighbors and they asked about the onions that I caramelized to go along with them.
And there's great quiche recipe from the website Simpy Recipes.
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004232caramelized_onion_quiche.php
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8-08-2007 @12:31AM Brad said... So I'm curious:
I've always done caramelized onions this way. But I know a few people who throw some sugar in with the onions (usually brown sugar), and insist that's the proper way to do it. My guess is that the added sugar just speeds up the process.
Anyone else do it the other way, or have a take on this?
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8-08-2007 @12:46AM Albert Bui said... have you tried them over a skinned knee or as salad toppins??
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8-08-2007 @12:48AM Marisa McClellan said... Brad, I've never done them with the addition of sugar. They get so sweet when you let them do their own thing naturally, that it seems like it would be overkill.
Albert, I've certainly had caramelized onions on a salad, but you sort of lost me when you brought skinned knees into the equation. Do they have some medicinal property I'm missing out on?
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8-09-2007 @12:41PM MJ said... Im always making camelized onions, especially this summer! Love them on hot dogs, philly steak sands, fried calfs liver and so many other dishes. Really dont like to eat raw onions except on a medium rare burger!
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8-11-2007 @2:56AM R said... I also love caramelized onions, but I prepare them slightly differently.
I happen to like mine a little blackened.
I start out just like you instructed, but for the first couple of minutes I turn the heat under my 12" cast iron skillet to MAX, while constantly checking and moving the onions so that they don't burn.
THEN I lower the heat and cook them as you described.
They are soooo tasty, and so simple to prepare.
AWESOME on homemade burgers by the way!
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8-11-2007 @10:59AM EF said... Who need to put them _on_ something? I eat them by themselves as a side. I'm with R though, I like them a little more "well done".
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