These Onions Aspire to Greatness

Submitted by TheLizard and HoChiWaWa

For this meal, Hochi and mine's inspiration was meals that we've had at good restaurants in the DC area. We used four different types of onion; vidalias, white, yellow and cippolinis. Since we didn't cook fast enough to get Vidalia's Onion-apple tatin as the dessert, we kindof had to improvise.

Bacon Wrapped Cippolini Salad inspired by Citronelle

Bacon-Onion Tart with Creme Fraiche inspired by Central

Beefy French Onion Soup inspired by Ray's the Classics

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Ice Cream with a Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote inspired by Jaleo

Now, onto pictures:

Bacon Wrapped Cippolini Salad inspired by Citronelle

Ingredients

Salad

• 20 small cippolini onions
• 2 TB Butter
• 1 garlic clove
• 10 thin slices of bacon
• 2 ts fresh thyme
• 1 head boston lettuce

Vinaigrette

• 1 TB red wine vinegar
• 1/2 ts soy sauce
• 1/2 C chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Onions Method

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

2) Melt 2 TB of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat

3) Add cippolinis in a single layer. Brown lightly for about 3 minutes per side.

4) Remove chippolinis and reserve.

5) Using a microplane, grate 1 clove of garlic into the butter mixture

6) Carefully wrap each onion in bacon, and add back to the skillet, seam-side down

7) Place in oven, cook 30-35 until bacon is to the desired crispness. Remove the onions and reserve.

Vinaigrette Method

8) Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock and add the soy sauce and red wine vinegar.

9) Scrape up the fond and reduce by half.

Plating

10) To plate, add lettuce to a plate, dress, and top with the bacon-wrapped onions.

Serves 3

Bacon-Onion Tart with Creme Fraiche inspired by Central

Ingredients

• 4 Oz Bacon
• 1 C Wondra (instant) flour
• 1.5 C Water
• 2 TB Butter
• 2 Yellow Onions, thinly sliced into half-moons
• 1/3 C creme Fraiche
• 1 TB chives, chopped

Method

1) Preheat your oven to 450 degrees

2) Whisk together the flour and water to make a simple crepe batter

3) Over medium heat, in a crepe (or non-stick) pan, spread a very thin layer of butter

4) Drop 1/3 C of batter into the pan, swirl around until there is a very thin layer of batter evenly distributed.

5) Cook 3-4 minutes until the edges curl up and get brown. Do not flip the crepe; you only want to cook 1 side.

6) Watch as your crepe undercooks or overcooks, and adjust your heat accordingly.

7) Throw away the first crappy crepe and try again. Don't worry, it takes a while to get this right.

8) Slide the finished crepes cooked-side down onto greased cookie sheets and reserve

9) Toss your bacon in the freezer for 10 minutes to make it easier to cut. When firm, cut into 1/4 inch strips

10) Over a medium heat, render the fat from the bacon until the bacon is medium-crispy and reserve the bacon itself.

11) In the same pan, saute the onions for 3-4 minutes until soft but not browned. Reserve and let cool.

12) Mix the cooled onions with the creme fraiche and spread as a thin, even layer onto the crepe.

13) Add the reserved bacon on top, and press down to make sure everything is one layer.

14) Bake 15-18 minutes until crispy.

Plating

15) To plate, quarter the tart, dab with a little extra creme fraiche and top with minced chives.

Makes 4 tarts.

Beefy French Onion Soup inspired by Ray's the Classics

Ingredients

Stock

• 4 Carrots
• 1 Head Garlic, chopped in half
• 4 Stalks of Celery
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 1 TB Black Peppercorns
• 1 Onion, quartered
• 3 springs fresh thyme
• 4 back ribs
• 2 oxtails
• Water to cover

Soup

• 2 quarts beef stock
• ~1.5 C reserved beef, shredded
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• 3 TB brandy
• 1 TB fresh thyme
• 2 sweet onions
• 3 shallots
• 1 white onion
• Gruyere Cheese, shredded
• Baguette, sliced

Stock Method

1) In a pressure cooker over medium-high heat, brown the back ribs and oxtail and reserve

2) Add the meat back into the pressure cooker along with the vegetables and herbs.

3) Cover with water, bring to a boil, lid the cooker, and reduce heat to low.

4) Cook 6-8 hours

5) Once completed, steam off the pressure, pull out the meat and reserve.

6) Strain and refrigerate the stock.

Soup Method

7) Once the meat is at a manageable temperature using your hands remove the bits of meat from the fat and shred. It should be extremely tender and pull away from the fat effortlessly.

8) Once the stock's temperature has come down, you'll notice a lot of fat has congealed on top. Remove and discard this.

9) Caramelize the onions and shallots

10) Add the stock, thyme, shredded beef and white wine, and simmer ~30 minutes on low heat

11) 5 minutes prior to serving, add the brandy

12) Top the sliced bagette with the gruyere cheese and broil until melted

Plating

13) To plate, ladle the soup into a bowl and top with 2-3 gruyere toasts

Servers about 6 as part of a meal or 3 as a meal itself.

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Ice Cream with a Strawberry-Rhubarb Compoted inspired by Jaleo

Ingredients

Ice Cream

• 1 C Goat milk (can substitute cow whole milk)
• 1.5 C Heavy Cream
• 1/4 C Sugar
• 5.3 Oz soft goat cheese
• 2.5 oz hard goat cheese, softened
• 1/2 onion, caramelized

Compote

• 2 large rhubarb stalks
• 1 lb strawberries
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 TB balsamic vinegar
• 2 TB honey

Ice Cream Method

1) Mix together the milk, cream, sugar and both goat cheeses, and chill in the fridge

2) Caramelize the onion and cool. When cool, blend with a small amount of the ice cream base

3) Combine the blended onion and ice cream base, add to an ice cream maker and churn 20 minutes

4) Empty the soft ice cream into an air-tight container and freeze at least 3 hours

Compote Method

5) In a large sauce pan, combine the sugar, honey and vinegar over a low heat

6) Add the rhubarb and strawberries and cook until dissolved, about 15 minutes.

Plating

7) To plate, place the compote on a plate and then top with the ice cream. Garnish with fresh strawberries

Serves Lots.