Nothing beats the smell of onions cooking in the kitchen. The savory, soulful scent of earth’s most flavorful vegetable can be found in homes across the world, no matter the cuisine. We picked a few of our favorite recipies where onions were the star ingredient. Let’s dig in!
Green Onion Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup warm water
Oil for the pancakes, such as vegetable, sesame, or shortening
Coarse kosher salt
1 bunch scallions
Vegetable, canola, or peanut oil
Instructions:
1. Make the dough and let it rest: Mix 2 1/2 cups flour with 1 cup water until it forms a smooth dough. Knead by doubling the dough over and pressing it down repeatedly, until the dough is even more smooth and very elastic. Coat this ball of dough lightly in oil and put it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Roll out the dough: Cut the dough into 4 equal parts. Lightly oil the back of a large metal baking sheet (or a smooth stone countertop or pastry board). Roll out one part of the dough on the back of the baking sheet. Roll until it is a thin rectangle at least 12 x 9 inches.
3. Chop the scallions: Finely chop the bunch of scallions. (I usually use the green tops and just the very top of the white parts.) Set them on your work surface along with a small bowl of kosher salt.
4. Top the dough: Lightly brush the top of the dough with oil, then sprinkle it evenly with chopped scallions and kosher salt.
5. Roll up the dough: Starting from the long end, roll the dough up tightly, creating one long snake of rolled-up dough.
6. Cut in half: Cut the dough snake in two equal parts.
7. Coil the dough and let it rest: Take one of these halves and coil into a round dough bundle. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes and ideally longer, while you repeat this process with the rest of the dough.
8. Roll out the coil: Pat a coiled dough bundle into a flat, smooth, round pancake. You can do this with a rolling pin or with your hands.
9. Cook the pancake for 2 minutes: Heat a 10-inch heavy skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, and oil it with a drizzle of canola, vegetable, or peanut oil. When the oil shimmers, pick up the pancake dough and lay it gently in the pan. It should sizzle, but not burn. Cook for 2 minutes on one side.
10. Flip and cook for an additional 2 minutes: Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook for an additional 2 minutes on the other side, or until golden brown. Repeat steps 9-11 with the rest of the pancake dough coils.
Recipe & Image Provided by Kitchn
French Onion Soup
The key to great onion soup is to cook the onions until they are completely caramelized:sweet, soft and dark golden brown. Traditional recipes call for beef or chicken stock, but you can make an excellent onion soup using well-seasoned vegetable broth (if using cubes, use 6 cubes with 6 cups water).
Ingredients:
3 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
7 to 8 cups halved and thinly sliced onions (about 5 large)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
⅓ cup dry sherry
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or ½ tsp. dried
Instructions:
1. In large, heavy pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter with oil over medium heat. Stir in onions, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Reduce heat, cover and cook 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add remaining butter to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and very soft, about 15 minutes.
2. Stir in flour and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in broth, sherry, thyme, salt to taste and pepper. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, adding more salt if needed.
3. Preheat broiler. Lightly toast bread slices. Ladle soup into 6 ovenproof bowls or crocks and arrange on baking sheet. Put enough bread on top of each serving—cutting and fitting if necessary—to cover soup. Sprinkle bread with shredded cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden. Serve hot. Recipe provided by Vegetarian Times.
Baked Onion Pakodas (Fritters)
Ingredients:
3 Onions large , spiralized or sliced thinly
1/2 cup Chickpea Flour (Besan)
1/4 cup Rice Flour
2 tablespoons Oil + Extra for brushing
2 Green Chillies , finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 + 1 cup tablespoon Water
to taste Salt
Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 400º.. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or greased parchment paper.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl till there are no lumps. The batter might be slightly runny which is okay. It should just about coat the onions.
Take a tablespoonful of onion batter at a time, shaking off any dripping batter and place them on the sheet at equal distance.
Bake in the oven for 22 minutes till cooked through and the top is golden brown. Half way through, at about 15 minutes, brush the pakodas with oil and continue baking.
Serve immediately with ketchup and coriander chutney. Storing these onion pakodas for later makes them soggy so eat immediately. Recipe & Image Provided by My Food Story.
Roasted Red Onion with Balsamic & Honey
Ingredients:
3 red onions, peeled, halved lengthwise
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup honey
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Put the onions on a sheet pan, cut side up, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and honey. Season with salt and pepper then top each with a pat of butter and fresh thyme. Bake for 40 minutes, until the onions are soft and caramelized around the edges.
Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence | Image Provided by In My Bowl
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/red-onions-roasted-with-balsamic-and-honey-recipe.html?oc=linkback
Spicy Beer Battered Onion Rings (Gluten-Free!)
Ingredients:
1 large Yellow Onion, peeled, cut into ½ inch rings
1 cup Gluten-Free Flour mix (I used Pamela’s Gluten-Free Artisan Blend Flour)
6-12 ounces Gluten-Free Beer (I used Bard’s Gold sorghum beer; any gluten-free beer that is not fruit flavored can be used)
2 teaspoon Cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper, freshly ground
½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Sunflower Oil (or other low flavor oil that is high heat tolerant)
Instructions:
1. Pour 2-3 inches of oil into a large size heavy pan or pot. Position a cooking thermometer in the oil but not touching the bottom of the pan. Over medium to medium-high heat, heat the oil to 375 degrees.
Set paper towels on a baking sheet to drain the fried onion rings.
Place ½ cups of the flour in a large mixing bowl. This will be used to toss the onion rings before battering them.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the remaining 1 cup gluten-free flour and all the other dry ingredients. Slowly pour in 6 ounces of the beer and whisk to combine allowing the foam to subside. The batter will be thin but not watery. If the batter is too thick to easily dip and coat the onion rings, add 3 ounces more beer; whisk and allow to sit for a few minutes. If it’s still too thick, add the remainder of the beer, whisk to fully combine.
3. Toss a few onion rings in the flour. Note: the onion rings need room when frying so do not process more at a time than can easily move around when in the hot oil.
Using heatproof tongs, dip onion rings individually into the batter, allowing them to be coated fully. Lift coated rings above the batter and allow to drain slightly.
4. Place battered onion rings into the heated oil and cook for a few minutes until they begin to turn golden brown. Remove with tongs or a metal straining tool meant for deep frying and place on prepared paper towels. Repeat for all onion rings. Serve immediately.
