The Houndstooth Gourmet

Now that ramp season is nearing an end (did that go fast, or what?), I have been turning a culinary eye towards spring onions. Delicate, mild and even sweet, spring onions can be used raw in salads but perhaps shine best when they are grilled or roasted for caramelization.

Unlike fall/winter or “storage” onions, spring onions have a delicate skin and need no peeling. They also have a higher water content. Shaped like a green onion, or scallion, spring onions have a defined white or red-skinned bulb attached to a long green stalk-whick unlike the leek, is fully edible.

My current fascination with eating these lovely onions began with a recent meal at Taqueria Poblano. As a side to my usual L.A. style crispy tacos with adobo-seasoned pork, I ordered Cebollitas-charcoal-grilled baby onions. Frank looked at me like I had two heads when the dish was set on our table. After all, I could have ordered a side of refried beans-but I was feeling the onions and wanted a change of pace.

Amazing. The char and the sweetness of the cooked onions was amazing. I could have put whole onions in my mouth! No- I didn’t, but I wanted to! So since then, I have been eager to buy freshly picked spring onions from my local farmers markets.

Last Sunday, I purchased a beautiful bundle of red-tipped spring onions from J&W Valley View Farm in Wesmoreland County, VA at the Alexandria West End Farmers Market. I used them in two meals, and wanted to share the methods of cooking and using them with you all.

First, I made an Italian Sausage, Roasted Spring Onion and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza (head over to www.dcfoodies.com for the recipe!). While my pizza stone was heating in the oven at 475 degrees, I roasted some of the spring onions for 10 minutes on a roasting pan, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. The result was excellent caramelization on the bottom of the bulbs. The green stalks cooked until some of them got crunchy and a bit charred. Actually, I covered the green stalks with foil after about 6 minutes to stop the browning, and you can decide how much you would like them to cook just by checking them while cooking, and covering them up if you like.

Last night, I made a terrific salad using fresh spinach from J&W, grilled chicken, Westmorland County, VA strawberries, Gorgonzola cheese, pecans and grilled spring onions.

While grilling chicken breasts on a cast iron grill, I plopped down a few spring onions and let them char and caramelize for a few minutes. They were terrific with their sweetness and a bit of bitterness from the char.

It’s spring. I’m in love.

Ah.

What are you fancying this time of year? Share in the comment section!

Tags: onions by Ramona
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Having a cool Saturday to make a pot of french onion soup and watch college football is relaxing and enjoyable. This soup, embraced and enjoyed by many, comes in a myriad of variations on the same theme: lots of sauteed sliced onion, beefy broth, wine, a large crouton, and a mound of melted cheese. What tends to  differ are the type(s) of cheese(s) used to top the soup, and what wine or alcoholic beverage is added to the broth.

This recipe, adapted from Williams-Sonoma The Best of Taste cookbook, uses a combination of chicken and beef stock and adds a cocktail of spirits to the broth, providing a complex yet sweet note at the finish. It’s topped with gruyer cheese and adds pecorino romano cheese to the crouton, but you may use any melting cheese you’d like, such as Swiss, emmenthaler or a combination of cheeses (see below for addendum).

French Onion Soup

serves 6

Ingredients:

Soup

 2 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

 2 1/2 lb. onions, peeled and sliced thin

3/4 c. dry white vermouth

3/4 c. dry white wine

3 c. chicken broth

3 c. beef broth

bunch fresh thyme, tied with cooking string

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. dry sherry

2 c. gruyere cheese, shredded

Croutons

6 slices baguette, slice 1 inch thick

olive oil for brushing

salt and pepper

6 T. grated Pecorino Romano Cheese (optional, or you could use Parmesan cheese if you have it on hand)

Directions:

Peel onions and slice thinly (I used a mandoline to get the job done quickly. I still teared up a bit!). In a heavy bottomed pot add olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions and turn the heat down to low. Stir to coat all onions. Add a pinch of salt and allow to caramelize slowly over a period of approximately 2 hours. Stir every 10 minutes or so.

When onions are deep golden to light brown, transfer to another bowl. Increase heat to high and deglaze pan with vermouth and white wine. Scrape up any brown bits on bottom of pan and allow liquid to reduce by half. Return onions to pot and add chicken and beef broth. Add bay leaves and thyme. Partially cover pot and allow soup to simmer for 20 minutes. Add sherry and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves and bundle of thyme. You’ll notice that many of the thyme leaves are now in the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

For the croutons, turn on broiler and slice baguette. Place croutons on baking sheet. Oil each side with olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Place croutons under broiler and brown on each side.

Leave broiler on and place one crouton into individual oven proof serving crocks. Add 1 tablespoon of grated pecorino on top of each crouton. Ladle onion soup over croutons to 1/4 below the rim. Add shredded gruyer to the top of each crock. Put crocks back on baking sheet and place under broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly.

*Weekend Herb blogging is a weekly event sponsored by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.This week it is being hosted by Kalyn herself!

 

Addendum- This soup tastes even better the second day! I reheated the soup and toasted a piece of sourdough loaf for the crouton. Then I topped it with some remaining gruyere and shredded cheddar and melted the cheeses under the broiler. I topped it with diced chives. Terrific and even more cheesy than last night. Anything goes!

 

Tags: weekend herb blogging, cheese, onions, soup, Recipe by Ramona
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