It might seem like a losing battle, but there are ways that you can beat the stink of onions and garlic.
Posts with tag onions
Removing the Onion and Garlic Stink - Tip of the Day
Continue reading Removing the Onion and Garlic Stink - Tip of the Day
Onions to Make Us Weep for Joy - Feast Your Eyes
Slicing onions makes us cry hot burning tears of pain (which is why we now cut them while wearing goggles), but this photo reminded us yet again that, where onions are concerned, "no pain, no gain." This is particularly true when the results are these gorgeous white onion and pecorino tarts.
Baked by Madalene, the mastermind behind The British Larder, the tarts contrast the lush sweetness of caramelized onions with the sharp bite of pecorino, providing delectable proof that opposites do indeed attract. They are stunning in their simplicity: Rather than (ahem) tart them up, Madalene opts to showcase the onion's whorled, earthy beauty. These look less like tarts than some sort of exotic blossoms, and right now we're plotting ways to make them bloom in our own kitchen.
[Via The British Larder]
Time Lapse Video of Caramelizing Onions From Simply Recipes
Caramelizing Onions from Simply Recipes on Vimeo.
There are few meals I make that don't in some way involve onions. I add red or sweet ones to salads for crunch. When I saute greens, I almost always start by softening slivered yellow onion in some olive oil, in order to give the chard or kale a flavor partner. They go in all my soups, stews, braises and roasts. And, when I want a real treat, I'll caramelize them down to a puddle of dark, sweet onion jam that goes amazingly well on sandwiches, pizzas or even just on top of a cracker.
Elise at Simply Recipes posted a tutorial yesterday on how to make caramelized onions that is helpful for the beginnger and a good reminder for those of us who have let caramelized onions slip off our mental food map. What's more, she created a time lapse video of the caramelization process that I've now watched four times, just for the pleasure of seeing those crispy raw onions melt down into a rich and mellow spread.
Angry Whopper
Well, it's a great name for a burger, regardless. In the case of Burger King's new variation, "angry" stands for spicy. Spicy means a whopper topped with pepper jack cheese, spicy fried onions, jalapenos, bacon, the usual lettucetomatomayonnaise and something called "angry sauce." How spicy is it? Well, depends on where you are in the angry whopper. While eating mine, I found the edges to be only mildly peevish but when I got toward the center of the sandwich, where all the jalapenos lay in wait, it became rather furious. While I wish the Angry Whopper has more variety in texture (like most fast-food burgers), the spicy additions do create something tastier than what you usually pull out of a Burger King bag.
Lobiani, Georgian bean bread
This weekend I got it into my head that I really wanted to try some bread from my Georgian cookbook. Up til now I've pretty much stuck to vegetables and sweets, but it was high time that I made one of the delicious looking bread options. I chose the Lobiani, which is a simple bread with a kidney bean filling, because I had most of the ingredients. I only had to get sour cream.
The Lobiani was very simple to make, you'll just need plenty of space to roll the dough out (which can be a problem in my tiny kitchen). I have an extra large cutting board that I use for rolling out bread doughs. The dough is made from sour cream, eggs, butter and flour, and it's leavened by working baking soda into the dough after it's mixed. The filling is made with lots of onions and kidney beans, plus seasoning and coriander.
Let me just tell you, I will make Lobiani again! It is so good, with the mild kidney beans mixing quite nicely with the sweet onion flavor and coriander. I took a loaf over to share with my Georgian friend and he told me more than once how delicious the Lobiani was.
I did change a few things. First off, the recipe said not to leave the dough out for more than 8 hours or it'll turn sour. Of course I did (just FYI, don't fall asleep on the couch at about the time you're supposed to be starting a baking project), but I just threw the dough in the fridge overnight and let it warm up the next morning and everything was fine. I actually liked the sour taste. Also, I used canned white kidney beans because I had them. Other than that, I did everything the recipe told me to do, and everything was great. The recipe after the jump.
Gallery: Lobiani
The first batch of salsa fresca
I remember the first time someone clued me in that it was possible to make salsa at home, I was agog (I was 13). It took me a few minutes to wrap my head around the fact that it didn't need to come from the grocery store in a jar or a tub. Even more amazing was that the ingredients were fairly basic and easy to come by. Fast forward about fifteen years and homemade salsa fresca is one of my favorite summer treats. Here's what you do.
Pull out a mixing bowl. Take 1 huge tomato to two medium-sized ones and cube them into 1/2 inch square (no need to be perfect). Mince up an onion, seed and dice a jalepeno (if you don't want your fingertips to burn for the rest of the day, wear gloves), crush two or three cloves of garlic and top it off with a handful of chopped cilantro. Hit the veggies with the juice of one lime and a generous pinch of salt. Stir it and let it sit for a while (I recommend at least an hour before eating). I make it in a lidded bowl, so that I can mix and store it easily. Eat it with tortilla chips, over scrambled eggs, on top of beans and rice or simply with a spoon, straight out of the bowl.
Common herbs with medicinal properties
I know we're hearing a lot about this kind of thing lately. I, for one, think that isn't a bad thing. This post from Remedicated about 20 common cooking herbs with medicinal properties collects a lot of disparate information and puts it in one place.
Some of the herbs are well known to have medicinal uses, like turmeric and cloves, but did you know that onions (and other vegetables related to onions) have been used for centuries as medicines? Apparently they have anti-inflammatory properties. Also, rosemary, cinnamon, and parsley (great for detoxifying carcinogens from cigarette smoke) are just some of the surprising (to me) herbs on the list.
There is no way this list can be complete, though. If you study a natural product long enough, you're sure to find lots of healthy qualities. Does anyone have any herbs they'd like to add? If you disagree with this list, I'd love to read about that, too.
The beautiful onion
I'm typically too busy crying to stop and appreciate just how pretty an onion is. This amazing photo by The Barefoot Kitchen Witch makes the onion looks like a piece of crystal in a museum, the rings of a tree trunk, or a sky at sunset. Don't stop with this photo, though. To complete your onion appreciation class, be sure to view The Barefoot Kitchen Witch's other onion photos as well. Each is equally stunning and features different angles of this familiar food.
Next time I cut up an onion, I'm going to hold it under the light and take a closer look.
What does this onion look like to you? Have you stopped before to appreciate the onion's attractiveness?
Ingredient Spotlight: Calçots
These fine specimins above are called calçots, a type of scallion grown in the Tarragona province of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. In spring, locals eat calçots at community feats called calçotadas - essentially barbecues, but with onions instead of cheeseburgers. Calçots are roasted on a grate over coals, leaving them charred on the outside but creamy on the inside. They're served on a terracotta roof tile or wrapped in newspaper to keep them warm, then peeled at the table and eaten dipped in pungent red romesco sauce, made with tomatoes, garlic, ground almonds and peppers. The local version is called salbitxada - see a recipe for it here. If you're not living in calçot country use it on leeks or roasted sweet onions.
Onions cause emergency landing
A Milan to Miami flight made an emergency landing in Boston's Logan International Airport last week after crew members were overcome with noxious fumes. The crew donned oxygen masks after smelling a foul odor, fearing it was a toxic gas. Boston firefighters and emergency workers in hazmat suits boarded the plane only to find...five tons of minced onions. The onions were unloaded from the plane and shipped by truck to their final destination. Here at Slashfood we've devoted several posts to the onion-crying phenomenon. But I don't believe we've ever dealt with what to do when you've got 10,000 pounds of onion in your cargo hold...
Tip of the Day: Don't let onions make you cry
I posted a couple weeks back about an scientist who is working on genetically modifying onions so that they don't make your tear ducts go crazy. I believe I said in the post I hate that part about onions. Well that's true, but it has been a long time since an onion has made me cry. Here's my secret.Someone told me a few years ago to breath through my mouth when cutting onions. They said it was because the irritant in onions actually affects the nasal passage, and that results in tears.
The trick totally works. If I remember to breath through my mouth (which is the hard part, but it gets easier to remember), then I don't cry. I'm starting to doubt the reason I was told though. I just read a great explanation over at How Stuff Works. The article confirmed my trick, but not the reason why. I'll let you read for yourself, as the explanation is kind of long. Just try it: pretty soon you'll be whizzing your way through a sack of onions with absolutely no tears.
An onion that won't make you cry? Maybe.
I love onions. I love the look of them, the way they smell when you cook them, and the way they taste. There is one thing about onions I don't like, though. I'm sure that a lot of people will agree with me on this one. I hate the way onions make you tear up when they are cut.But I heard a great report on All Things Considered the other day about an onion that won't make you cry. The reporter spoke to a New Zealand plant geneticist who's been working on these onions. Collin Eady, from the Crop and Food Research institute, has found a way to block the gene in the onion cells which cause a person to tear up.
That mechanism is a natural defense for the onion. It's caused by the combination of the tearing gene and natural levels of sulfur in the cells of the bulb. Those components are separate in the whole cell, but its blinding power is unleashed when cut.
It will be a while before you'll see them in your local super market. The genetic modification would have to be proven safe for human consumption first. Or Mr. Eady could try and breed that quality into his onions, but that would take at least ten years anyway. Ah well. Stay tuned for some tips on how to avoid the tears when doing battle against those delicious bulbs.
Store onions in your pantry - oops we mean panty - hose
This might be something that everyone else and their mothers (and likely, grandmothers) already knows, but since there has been all of about three occasions in my entire lifetime that I've ever worn pantyhose, I didn't know that you can use them to store onions.
Apparently, onions will stay fresh for six months if you store them in this way:
- Take a pair of new pantyhose (they say you can use washed used pantyhose, but that sounds kind of gross to me -- even if they're washed, they still had someone's feet in them!)
- Place the onions into the feet.
- Tie a knot in the pantyhose between the onions.
- Repeat this process. I have never seen it, but I am guessing it looks like a big old chain of onions.
- Hang the onions in a cool, dry, and dark place
- Cut an onion off the hose from the bottom each time you need an onion.
[via: Lifehacker]
Slow Cooker Chili - Add vegetables
Adding Vegetables to the Chili
To the oil that's left in the pan you used to brown the meat, add 2 chopped medium onions, ½ to 1 whole head of smashed garlic cloves (depending on how much garlic you like), and 5-7 chopped fresh jalapenos. If you are adding other chopped vegetables, add them here, too. Cook for about 10 minutes to soften, then add to the beef in the crock.
Add 1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes with the juice, crushing the tomatoes with your hands as you add them to the pot. Also add 3 cups of beef stock.
Tex-Mex and Turin: New York Times Dining & Wine section in 60 seconds
The feature article is about Tex-Mex cuisine, with recipes for: Lime Soup (Sopa De Lima) and Chiles Rellenos. Other recipes this week are for Veal and Eggplant Gratinate from a cookbook by Judith Jones, Onion Pie and Creamy Pine Island Onion Soup from a story about the fertile onion fields of Orange County, and a video demo of Monkfish on Mashed Potatoes from Mark Bittman.
On the dining scene, Frank Bruni tries out Korean restaurant Moim and Turin's Eataly will open in mid-town Manhattan.
In drinks, Eric Asimov tries unpasteurized, unfiltered beer, called "cask conditioned."
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