Arsip Tag: onion

kale and caramelized onion stuffing – smitten kitchen

I have very strong feelings about stuffing, which, for once, I can express succinctly: GIMME. Well, that and a little bit of righteous indignation. Why do we limit our consumption of it to Thanksgiving? Why do we feign interest in all sorts of uninteresting things (dry turkey, thin gravy, occasionally awkward conversations with tipsy distant relatives) just to eat stuffing? Separated into components — croutons, broth, sautéed vegetables — we’d never reject them during all of the months that are not November, but together, for whatever reason, together in a casserole dish, it’s the fourth Thursday of the month or bust. I demand answers.

what you'll need
removing the crust

There are a lot of really excellent stuffing recipes out there, and I would enjoy — possibly with someone else’s metabolism — chomping my way through all of them. But when it actually comes down to picking The One, I get daunted because the best ones have so much going on: homemade cornbread and five herbs, crumbled sausage, plumped dried fruit, toasted nuts — 14 ingredients is totally the norm — plus braising and blanching and frying and simmering, and given that it’s tradition to prepare this along with three other vegetables, dinner rolls, three types of pie and a turkey that’s half the size of a refrigerator, gravy, salad and cocktails, it’s really no wonder that most of us find the prospect of making Thanksgiving dinner overwhelming-slash-excruciating.

croutons
a lot of onions
elements
to mix

My solution this year was to simplify by honing in on the two things I most wanted with my torn-up bread and give them enough flavor that nothing else is needed: onions cooked in butter and olive oil until deeply caramelized, then nudged into the tart-sweet zone with sherry vinegar — these alone would make the meal for me. Then, a heap of kale, slumped in olive oil with salt, pepper flakes and garlic — which are also delicious alone. But together! The onions are sour and a little jammy, the kale is faintly bitter and kicky, the sourdough bread is a crouton dream and they tangle together into something so phenomenal, it would be an undeserved cruelty to keep it from yourself for another 22 days. Not when it’s so good with a crispy egg on top, or a bowl of soup on the side, or even roasted sausages. Not when it’s your right as the cook to pick the best craggy bit off the top before sharing it with anyone else.

kale and caramelized onion stuffing
kale and caramelized onion stuffing

More Thanksgiving: Loads of savory recipes here, loads of sweet stuff here, and for those of you just in it for the pumpkin, something for you, too.

One year ago: Smoked Whitefish Dip with Horseradish
Two years ago: Spinach and Egg Pizzette
Three years ago: Granola-Crusted Nuts
Four years ago: Homesick Texan Carnitas
Five years ago: Spaghetti with Chickpeas
Six years ago: Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats
Seven years ago: Peanut Butter Crispy Bars and Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Garlic Chips
Eight years ago: Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic
Nine years ago: Bretzel Rolls and Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes

And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Not Derby Pie Bars
1.5 Years Ago: Blue Sky Bran Muffins
2.5 Years Ago: Essential Raised Waffles
3.5 Years Ago: Bacon Egg and Leek Risotto
4.5 Years Ago: Ribboned Asparagus Salad

Kale and Caramelized Onion Stuffing

Technically, this is dressing. Stuffing is cooked inside the bird, dressing, on the outside.

Serves 8

1 1/4-pound (20 ounce) round of sourdough or dense country-style white bread
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced in half-moons
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 pound (large bundle) curly kale, center ribs and stems removed, chopped or torn into large chunks
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups vegetable, chicken or turkey broth, divided
Red pepper flakes, to taste
2 tablespoons sherry

Heat oven to 400°F. Slice crusts off bread (you can save them for breadcrumbs) and tear loaf into rough 1-ish-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with 4 tablespoons olive oil and toss well. Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven, tossing once or twice for even color, until golden brown and crisp on the outside but still a little tender inside, about 20 minutes. Let cool on sheet, then tip back into that large bowl.

Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter in 2 tablespoons oil in the bottom of a large saute pan over low heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in oil and cover the pan and with the stove on the lowest heat possible, let them cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. (The steaming and wilting will help them caramelize much faster, yay.) Remove lid, raise heat to medium/medium-high, add sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and cook onions, stirring frequently, for another 15 to 20 minutes, until they’re a deep golden brown. Add 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar and use to scrape any stuck bits off bottom of pan, then cook off. Taste onions. If desired, add a second tablespoon of sherry vinegar and cook off in the same method. (I prefer them with 2 tablespoons.) Add onions to bowl with croutons.

Add 2 more tablespoons olive oil to pan and heat garlic for half a minute, before adding kale. Get kale coated with garlicky oil, then add 2 tablespoons broth. Cook kale until wilted and somewhat tender, seasoning well with salt and pepper, about 6 minutes. Add sherry to pan and cook until it almost disappears. Add remaining broth and last two tablespoons of butter and bring mixture to a simmer.

Pour kale-broth mixture over croutons and caramelized onions. Toss well to combine. Pour mixture into a 3-quart casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove foil, and bake for another 15 to 20, until golden and crisp on top.

Do ahead: Each part of this (the croutons, the onions and the kale) can prepared up to 3 days in advance, and assembled and baked when needed. Keep the croutons at room temperature in a container or bag. Keep the onions in the fridge, as well as the kale and broth mixture.

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essential french onion soup – smitten kitchen

Because this is rich, I use 12-ounce (or 1.5-cup) ramekins/baking dishes (from BIA Cordon Bleu I cannot find online but here’s something kind of close. Some people prefer it in more of a 16-ounce or 2-cup bowl, in which case, you might only get 6 servings.

Tip: I always start with an onion or two more than I need, because due to the vagaries of buying onions from grocery stores in the middle of winter, I never know when I’ll get one kind of banged up inside, except reliably any time I don’t buy extras.

  • 3 pounds thinly sliced yellow onions (see Tip)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Fine sea salt
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry, vermouth, or white wine (optional)
  • 1 bay leaf or a few sprigs of thyme (optional, and honestly, I rarely bother)
  • 2 quarts (8 cups) beef, chicken, or vegetable (mushroom is excellent here) stock, the more robust the better
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 garlic clove
  • One (3/4- to 1-inch) thick slice of bread for each bowl of soup
  • 1/4 cup grated gruyere, comte, or a mix of gruyere and parmesan per toast
Caramelize your onions: Melt butter in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in butter and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let them slowly steep for 15 minutes. They don’t need your attention.

Uncover the pot, raise the heat slightly and stir in salt — I start with between 1 and 2 teaspoons of fine sea salt, or twice as much kosher salt. Cook onions, stirring every 5 minutes (you might be fine checking in less often in the beginning, until the point when the water in the onions has cooked off) for about 40 to 90 minutes longer.

[What? That range is crazy. Stoves vary so much, even my own. If your onions are browning before 40 minutes are up, reduce the heat to low, and if that’s still cooking too fast, try a smaller burner. The longer you cook the onions, the more complex the flavor, but when you’re happy with it, you can stop — the ghost of Julia Child will not haunt you, the Shame Wizard will not taunt you or anything.]

Make the soup: Onions are caramelized when they’re an even, deep golden brown, sweet and tender. Add sherry or vermouth, if using, and scrape up any onions stuck to pan. Cook until it disappears. Add stock, herbs (if using), and a lot of freshly ground black pepper and bring soup to a simmer. Partially cover pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed; discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf if you used them.

While soup is finishing, heat your broiler, and if you don’t have a broiler, heat your oven as hot as it goes. If your bread is not already stale (i.e. you did not leave the slices out last night to harden, probably because nobody told you to), toast them lightly, until firm. Rub lightly with a raw garlic clove. Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange soup bowls/vessels on top.

To finish: Ladle soup into bowls. Fit a piece of toast (trimming if needed) onto each. Sprinkle with cheese. Run under broiler until cheese is melted and brown at edges. Garnish with herbs. You can eat it right away but it’s going to stay hot for a good 10 minutes or so, if you need more time.

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short rib onion soup – smitten kitchen

There are three components here: 1. Oven-braised short ribs, cooking the meat and creating the dreamiest broth. 2. Caramelized onions on the stove, building the soup’s base. 3. Cheese croutons to sink into the final soup bowls. Because this is rich, I like to serve it on the smaller side, in 12-ounce (or 1.5-cup) bowls. It’s definitely closer to a stew in consistency, but if you’d like it more soup-like, you can add more broth to thin it. You can also, if you wish, broil the cheese toasts on top of the soup, as onion soup is more traditionally served. I used this short rib onion soup as guidance here, but ended up needing more short ribs and using my own, preferred, onion soup method.
Braise the short ribs: Heat oven to 325°F. Generously season the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. In a large (5 to 6-quart) Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown half of short ribs on all sides; don’t skimp on the color. Set aside and repeat with the second half of ribs, then set them aside too.

If there’s a lot of fat in the pot, pour it off until you have 2 tablespoons left. Add carrot, onion, leek (if using) and cook on medium-high heat until lightly browned at edges, about 5 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes; it will get a little darker. Add the red wine and cook until it has reduced to just a puddle, about 3 minutes. Return the short ribs and any juices that have collected to the pot. Add garlic, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf, then pour broth over ribs and vegetables. Cover with lid, transfer to the oven, and braise until the short ribs are falling off the bone and everyone in your home is falling over from how good it smells, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the onions: [If you have another large Dutch oven (fancy!) you can use it here. A large soup or stock pot will do, too. Or, you can use a large, deep frying pan for just the onions and finish the soup in the short rib’s pot later.]

Melt butter over medium heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in butter and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let them slowly steep for 15 minutes. They don’t need your attention.

Uncover the pot, raise the heat slightly and stir in salt — I start with 2 to 3 teaspoons of kosher salt. Cook onions, stirring every 5 minutes (you might be fine checking in less often in the beginning, until the point when the water in the onions has cooked off) for about 40 to 90 minutes longer. Onions are caramelized when they’re an even, deep golden brown, sweet and tender. Add sherry and scrape up any onions stuck to the pan, then simmer it until it disappears and you’re swatting strangers who crept in, enticed by the aroma, out of your kitchen.

Finish the short ribs: When the short ribs are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the broth and transfer to a plate to cool slightly. Strain the broth, discarding the vegetables. If the broth looks fattier than you prefer, you can use a fat separator to remove it, or carefully spoon it off the surface. Discard the short rib bones and pull the meat into large bite-sized chunks. You can de-fat the ribs a bit here, too, if there are easily-removed pieces.

Place the caramelized onions in the final soup pot, if they’re not already there, and rewarm over medium-high. Add broth and bring it to a simmer and season to taste with more salt and pepper. Add short ribs to broth and gently simmer everything together for 10 to 15 minutes.

To make the cheese toasts: Heat your oven’s broiler (or turn it to its top temperature). Coat a large baking sheet with foil, for easiest cleanup. Gently toast the bread until semi-firm and dry to the touch. Rub each with the raw garlic clove. Divide cheese between the toasts and return the tray to the oven until the cheese has melted and the toasts are browned on top.

To serve: Ladle ribs and broth into bowls and sink a cheese toast halfway in. Sprinkle with chives.

Do ahead: I love making this a day ahead of time; short ribs are fantastic the second day, even better, you could argue, plus any excess fat in the broth will be easier to remove once chilled. You can make everything but the cheese toasts early, or just a component or two (the short rib braise, the caramelized onions). Rewarm over medium-high heat until simmering to serve.

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focaccia onion board – smitten kitchen

Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and instant yeast. Add the water and use a spoon, rubber spatula or a dough whisk [I have this one], mix until the water is absorbed and a shaggy, sticky dough is formed. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled at room temperature for 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Alternatively, you can let it rise in the fridge overnight for 8 to 10 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare your onions: Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add the onions and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook onions, stirring every minute or two, until a medium brown, almost caramel colored, about 25 minutes. [See Note at end.] Scrape onions onto a plate to cool while you finish the bread.

Finish the focaccia: When the dough is doubled, line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper and drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over it. Do not deflate your dough, just scrape it onto the oiled parchment. Drizzle the top of the dough with another tablespoon of olive oil and use your fingers to dimple the dough, flattening it out. It’s okay if it doesn’t reach the edges. Let the dimpled dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes and heat your oven to 425°F. After 15 minutes, dimple the dough only where needed a little further into the corners. Let rest for a final 15 minutes before scattering the top with onions, poppy seeds, and a few pinches of salt.

Bake the focaccia: For 25 minutes, until deeply golden brown at the edges and across the top. While it bakes, you can prepare any toppings you’d like to serve it with, such as cream cheese or butter, lox, thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, or capers.

To serve: Loosen the focaccia if it’s stuck in any place and slide it into a cutting board. Cut into 12 squares, using a sharp knife to get through the onions on top without pulling them off, and replacing any that scatter. Eat right away.

Do ahead: Focaccia keeps at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. Reheat on a baking sheet at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.

Note: These are not caramelized onions; we do not need 60 to 90 minutes over low heat with constant stirring. That is not how any ancestor of mine cooked onions. I’m intentionally using a higher heat for more quickly developed flavor. If they’re not picking up color by 20 minutes, bump up the heat slightly. If they’re coloring too fast to make it to 20 to 25 minutes, reduce the heat. We want to stopping shy of a dark bronzed color, as the onions will finish in the oven and we don’t want them to burn.

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