Creamed Onions, Reimagined
One Gourmet Magazine from 1986 and a week from hell later, and we have...
this weeks recipe.
I’ll start with hell week. You know the one. When the universe, with its peculiar sense of humor, decides everything—absolutely everything—is due. Every deadline converges, every task demands your immediate attention, your signature, your ID, your money, something breaks, something starts making a strange noise, an appointment you've already rescheduled twice needs to happen (and rescheduling again is simply not an option), and somehow, you can feel a cold creeping in.
That was me last week.
Naturally, I had no grand plans for this week’s newsletter. “But don’t you plan ahead?” you may be wondering. Yes, I do—usually. Most weeks, I’ve got my recipes lined up well in advance. But the recipe I had on deck just didn’t feel right, and it’s a long story—longer than you probably care to hear, and certainly longer than I care to tell.
Luckily, my mom has adorable friends. And one of them, while cleaning out her garage, stumbled upon a treasure trove: a pristine stack of Gourmet Magazines from the 1980s, still in their original plastic wrap. She lovingly gave the stack to my mom, who, being the thoughtful soul she is, knew I would get such a kick out of them. She brought one along on our trip to the coast last weekend. We spent the better part of an afternoon flipping through it, giggling and marveling, naturally, at all the hairstyles, but also at the sheer volume of cigarette and hard liquor ads. What a time to be alive.
Then, we got to the recipes. Since this was a November 1986 issue, the magazine was, of course, featuring its ideal Thanksgiving menu. And nestled among the dishes was a recipe for creamed onions. My mom’s face lit up like she had rediscovered a long-lost friend. “Oh my goodness, I love creamed onions! I completely forgot about them! They’re so delicious! I can’t remember the last time I had them. You should totally make these for your newsletter!”
Creamed onions? What is this 1896? I pictured an English housekeeper in a bonnet serving a creamed onions on a silver platter to her aristocratic master.
I paused, snatched the magazine from her hands, and studied the recipe, fully expecting it to be a relic from another era.
“This… actually looks pretty good,” I admitted. “With a few tweaks, it could be a great recipe.”
And so dear subscriber, that’s exactly what I did. I gave new life to what was already a classic—certainly not a boring dish by any means—but one that could use a little modern twist. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with tradition, but a few updates never hurt anyone.
First, I infused the heavy cream with a few aromatic herbs and spices. Why not? There’s plenty of time to let the cream steep while the onions cook, and it adds depth and complexity to an otherwise simple dish.
Then, while I loved that the original recipe called for caramelizing the onions with a bit of sugar and butter (such a good call), I felt there was a missed opportunity to enhance the flavor even more. Enter: cream sherry. Its sweetness perfectly complements the natural sugars in the onions and deepens their flavor beautifully.
Lastly, I took the liberty of adding a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. A quick trip under the broiler gave the dish a gorgeous, speckled caramelization, adding a gratin-like finish that makes these onions almost too good to share.
So here we are. A forgotten gem from 1986, reimagined, and now firmly destined for a place on my holiday table. They may not be entirely traditional anymore, but these creamed onions are sure to make a memorable—and delicious—comeback this season, which is more than I can say for perms and cigarette ads.
A Few Notes On The Recipe:
-For this recipe, I would stick with white pearl onions rather than boiling onions which can be quite a bit larger.
-Stick with white pearl onions, as opposed to red pearl onions, which will turn things an unappetizing bluish-grey.
-You can use frozen pearl onions if you want to save time, just thaw completely before proceeding with step 6, reduce water in step 6 to 1/2 cup which will in turn reduce boiling time significantly (frozen pearl onions are already much softer than fresh so they don’t require the prolonged boil).
-For a more traditional way of serving these, you can absolutely skip the parmesan cheese and the broiling.
-Notice I don’t mix the parsley into the creamed onions, but rather sprinkle it on top. This is for aesthetics only, as I like the way it looks having the top with all the color and texture - to me it’s a nice contrast to the creamy onions underneath. If you prefer, you can certainly just mix the parsley into the creamed onions in step 7.
Creamed Onions, Reimagined
Serves 4-6 as a side
Ingredients:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
about 12-15 red or black peppercorns (1/4 tsp)
4 allspice berries
a few sprigs fresh thyme
2-3 fresh sage leaves
1 clove garlic, sliced into 4 pieces
2.5 lbs or 40 oz white pearl onions
2 TB kosher salt for the blanching water
2 TB unsalted butter
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tablespoons Cream Sherry
2 tablespoons minced parsley (1/4 bunch)
1 oz grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
1.) Place heavy cream, rosemary, bay leaf, peppercorns, allspice, thyme, sage and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to just a bare simmer. Shut off heat and cover. Let herbs steep in cream while you prepare the onions.
2.) Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl and set aside.
3.) Fill a large saucepan with 8 cups water and 2 tb kosher salt and place saucepan on stovetop over high heat. When water begins to boil, add onions. Boil onions 3 minutes for smaller pearl onions (those about the size of marbles) and 5 minutes for larger pearl onions (those about the size of small walnuts). You are just blanching them to help release the skin, they will not be cooked all the way after this step.
4.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer the boiled onions to the prepared ice water bath. Use hand or spoon to swirl onions in ice water until onions are cool enough to handle. Drain water from the pot and reserve pot (you don't need to wash it). Drain the onions from the ice water bath.
5.) Using sharp knife, cut away root ends of all onions, discarding trimmed ends. One by one, pinch stem end (opposite trimmed root end) with enough pressure to loosen onion skin. Skin should slide off onion like a sheath fairly easily. Repeat until all onions have been peeled. Discard onion skins and return peeled onions to the same saucepan you blanched them in.
6.) Add the butter, sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt and 1 1/2 cups water to the onions. Bring to a boil and boil until liquid is almost evaporated, about 15-20 minutes. Don’t be concerned if some of the onions begin to fall apart, that’s okay. When the water is almost all evaporated, add the Sherry and continue to boil until alcohol is evaporated, about another 3 minutes.
7.) Strain the heavy cream directly into the pan with the onions, discarding the spent herbs and spices, and bring mixture back to a boil, stirring occasionally until sauce is slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. You may prepare recipe up to this point up to 2 days in advance, keep covered in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, heat in a medium heavy bottomed pot set over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until heated through. Proceed with recipe.
Pour mixture into an oven proof 8x8inch (or about the equivalent) serving dish. Sprinkle on half of the parsley, then the grated parmesan cheese, and then other half of parsley.
Set broiler to high and broil for about 1-2 minutes, watching very closely, until it's bubbling and starting to brown in spots, don't let it burn.
Serve immediately.
Kitchen Tip of the Month:
With the holidays just around the corner, and the official season of get-togethers and in-home entertaining almost upon us, I wanted to give some tips on buying food for parties and figuring out portion sizes. Afterall, there is a fine line between biting your nails when the mashed potato bowl is looking empty and only half the guests have served themselves, and forcing people to take leftovers home with them before they depart. This all being said, it’s important to take into account your own family and guests, and if anything you are preparing is a crowd favorite. Also consider if you are they type of person that loves to have lots of leftovers or if opening the fridge and seeing lots of leftover food stresses you out. It’s also helpful to know that people will always eat less at daytime events, and more at evening events. So keep all these things in mind as you consider my suggestions.
After being a chef for over 20 years, and catering more events than I could ever count, here the guidelines that I use to plan events that feel perfectly portioned:
Appetizers: 2-3 different items is sufficient, and 2-3 pieces total per person is plenty. Dips and spreads figure 1/3 cup per person. Appetizers are the one thing you are allowed to run out of. You don’t want your guests getting full before the main meal anyways. (For an event that is appetizers only with no main meal after, figure 8-10 pieces total per person and increase variety to 5-6).
Cheese and charcuterie boards: These are a great way to satisfy the pre-meal noshes without having to prepare lots of different things. A board with 3 types of cheese (a soft such as Le Tur, a semi-soft such as a Brie and a hard such as an aged Manchego), some cured meat, olives, nuts and crackers/bread looks plentiful and is a snap to put together. If a cheese and charcuterie board is all you will be serving for the appetizer portion of the event, figure 3 oz cheese (total) per person (or 1 oz of each type of cheese), 3 oz cured meat, 2 tablespoon nuts, 2-3 olives and 4 oz crackers or bread. If you are serving other appetizers with the cheese and charcuterie board, halve these amounts (but stick with 3 different types of cheese).
Salad: 3 oz per person (many times recipes are over generous with portion sizes. I find if the recipe says it serves 4, I figure 6-7, depending on the type of salad it is, or if I know it’s one of many items on a buffet.
Side Starch such as rice, potato or pasta: 5-6 oz per person (even if there are multiple starches offered, figure 5-6 oz total)
Main Protein: 5-6 oz per person total for protein (even if there are two types of proteins offered, figure no more 6oz total per person. (Some people will take a generous 8 oz and some will only take 4 oz so it all evens out in the end)
Sliced bread or rolls: 1 per person - although if you know your group loves bread OR it’s your famous homemade dinner rolls everyone loves, aim for 1.5 per person.
Dessert: Allocate one of whatever the item is per person for things like creme brulee or chocolate lava cakes for example (items that are pre-portioned by nature). Things like cupcakes, cookies or brownies you can figure 1.5 pieces per person as people tend to go back for seconds, but if they are a mini size or small such as a French macaron, aim for 2 pieces per person. For cakes, tarts and pies figure 1 slice per person. Ice cream figure 1 cup per person.
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