Tuesday, June 1, 2010

CARAMELIZED ONIONS


Come on Brain ......work....think?..... Nope. It's as empty as a gaping sea shell on the sea shore.  Brain says .."Dumm dee dummmm......."

Please Brain..... don't go on vacation. I've just yanked the refrigerator door open. Tell me.... what is it that I need. Quick. The stove's on fire. Look I promise not to have too many passwords. Now help me. Shoot.

This also happens when I have just taken the last step down the stairs or the last step up the stairs only to stand there, brainless, with wondering eyeballs. Brains take a complete vacation at the most crucial of moments.

What has all this got to do with caramelized onions? Nothing. It's not a brain food but apparently there is great hope that onions may be key in producing long term health benefits. The sulphur and quecertin in onions have been known to neutralize the free radicals in the body. It helps prevent thrombosis and reduce hypertension, prevent cancer and infections. And the juice of one white or yellow onion a day can raise HDL cholesterol ( the good stuff)......etc etc etc.

And once past the stinkiness, and tears, caramelized onions have the most marvelous aroma, are sweetly delicious and are the perfect condiment piled inside a burger sandwich amongst other things.Three cheers for onions.


I spent a good hour caramelizing these onions but I know I'm going to have a good burger sandwich soon. Tomorrow to be exact. I have these limp strands of gold stored in a sterilized jar in the refrigerator. Six large yellow onions, sliced and sauteed made one heaped bowl of limp and sweet, golden ones. And if you promise to be good I'll share the burger with you.


The recipe is a no-brainer ~


6 large yellow/brown onions, sliced finely
4-5 T vegetable oil/grapeseed oil/olive oil I used grapeseed)
4 T balsamic vinegar
2-3 T brown sugar
2 knobs of butter
salt to taste

Heat up the oil in a heavy based pan or pot. A wok is not ideal as the onions can't be spread out evenly in the oil and will not cook at the same time unless you're stirring the whole time.

Once hot throw in the sliced onions and toss it about a little until each slice is coated with the oil. Put the flame on small and let the onions cook slowly. Stir once in a while to make sure the onions brown evenly. This will take a while. I spent a little over an hour. 

When the onions just begin to turn pale gold pour in the balsamic vinegar, butter and sugar and a good pinch of salt. Mix well and let the onions brown further. The sugar, butter and vinegar will help darken and caramelize the onions. As it begins to get darker make sure you stir more often to prevent burning and even browning. When a dark golden brown the onions are done and ready.

Store in a sterilized jar in the refrigerator.



24 comments:

MaryMoh said...

Beautiful! I love onions. I will love this. Thanks for sharing. I would love to try.

Quinn said...

Sayang Zu, guess what???? I've just made patties and burger buns today! Thinking of pan frying the patties tomorrow and grill the buns for a quickie lunch since we're both busy. I must make these good looking caramelized onion for my burgers tomorrow!!! Question, when do you add in the butter? Seems like you left that out...

Zurin said...

Oh Quinn ur such a dear. Thanks for pointing that out. Ive fixed it. Add the butter when u add the vinegar n sugar. Enjoy ur burgers tomorrow... both of u!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Yum! Hehe I had no idea about the health benefits of caramelised onions but the taste great! The only thing is that cutting them makes me cry but it's all worth it in the end when you get that bowl of prized caramelised onion :).

Cool Chic Style Fashion said...

un cipolla molto gustosa ! :)

3 hungry tummies said...

Oh this is great for so many things I can think off!

Trendsetters said...

looks lovely

Girl Foodie said...

I think that onions were created just for this type of thing. YUM!

Kitchen Butterfly said...

Are you really back????????? You gave me courage, do you know? You made me stop and think and realise what was important. Thank you Zurin. Love caramelised onions so.....this evening I made a french onion soup!

Nadette said...

oh thank you for this recipe! i just tried to caramalize onions yesterday foolishly thinking it would take 20 minutes...guess what i'll be making tomm nite and eating with pasta??

Federica Simoni said...

ciao!!!

mmmmmm...mi piace molto questa preparazione!!!! ciao!!*_^

Unknown said...

Love the idea of adding butter in mid-way through. There are countless variations for carmelized onions, and one that I like is to use whiskey or bourbon instead of the balsamic vinegar. Bring on the burgers... !

Fevzarov said...

Aaaaah! A sign of recession in Msia ... or is it the onion season in Msia?
Onions ... afar by cost but getting closer by fragrance ... to Durian!
Vive le Roi!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Oh Zu, so great to find comments back! Indeed, this looks perfect with burgers... you now have me craving for burgers. As for brains going on vacation - I take it as the body's signal that it is time to chill out!

Zurin said...

Thanks everyone for ur comments :)))

Its great to hear form u !

Unknown said...

this looks great. do you by chance know how long the onions will keep in a refrigerator after cooking them up? thanks.

Zurin said...

Im not sure Michael. I'll c how long this lasts n i'll tell. :)) tq for asking.

WendyinKK said...

Oh, these look so good.
1 hour??? It's just like making pineapple jam!!!

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi Zurin,
You finally opened up your blog for comments! I'm so happy. I've been waiting and waiting to leave my thoughts in it.
I love caramelised onions. Thanks for sharing this. There was a recipe on caramelised onions tart on our newspaper sometimes back. I've been waiting to make it, but have not done it yet. If you like, I can try to send you a copy.
Just want to let you know I've been constantly following your posts. :)

Zurin said...

Hi Jane! awww ur so sweet.N that recipe sounds delicous...why not...m a collector of recipes...never say no, thats what i always say. :))tq so much.

Marysol said...

Oh, but I love the stinkies an onion generates during its transformation from dull to delightfully-sweet.

They enhance everything! Well, except maybe for chocolate, but I'll have to work on that ;-)

pigpigscorner said...

I loooove caramelised onions! I can eat it with anything!

Nishant said...

I think that onions were created just for this type of thing.
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Mrsblocko said...

I posted your recipe on my blog here: http://tomatoesforapples.blogspot.com/2010/06/caramelized-onions-of-awesomeness.html

These onions were so tasty it's gotta be a crime to not make them! Thank you for the recipe. :)

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