Today, Ben Kirkwood turned to explain why the Byron Beach Cafe gives a fork and you should too, especially if you love fish, lots of music from the artists at Boomerang, and lots of onion songs, and onion recipes from my mother's network of friends in Italy – I asked for a couple of tips and started a recipe war! Lots of stories about what is going on in the world of food, & a beautiful story from Canada about something even better than organic gardening – organic gardening based on indigenous knowledge, markets, in season this month, more music, a belly smogasbord on this holiday Monday.
I've got lots more for you to pop online about today, but I've just finished translating all those onion recipes, so here they are.
My mother has friends all over Italy, so you are getting a great spread of regional recommendations.
I left the original Italian, in case you are learning or we have Italian speaking visitors to the site.
Queste ricette erano in Italiano nell'originale, se sei in visita al sito dall'Italia, per favore fammelo sapere usando i commenti qua sotto, grazie.
ONIONS AND ANCHOVIES – BY GIOVANNA IN TUSCANY
1 kg cipolle rosse – affettate—sottili
mezzo kg di alici – aperte pulite bene
aceto – mezzo bicchiere
prezzemolo tritato
mettere tutto a crudo—cipolle al doppio delle alici – coprire con olio –mettere in frigo e cominciare a mangiare dopo due o tre giorni
1 Kg red onions, thinly sliced
500 g anchovies (in Italy these would be bought by weight, kept in salt as whole fish in a big tin) – butterflied and well cleaned – or try good quality fillets, drained
1/2 glass of wine vinegar
finely chopped parsley
olive oil
Layer onions and anchovies, cover in oil, top with parsley
Refrigerate and start to eat after 2-3 days
(you may want to try a much smaller quantity of this one first!)
MARIA LUISA'S SUN DRIED ONIONS – Sicily
Affettare le cipolle ,preferibilmente quelle rosse, a fette non troppo
sottili cospargerle di sale e metterle a sgocciolare, se il tempo lo
consente, esporle al sole per circa 30 minuti affinchè perdano il loro
liquido pungente, a questo punto sciacquare abbondantemente con aceto
per eliminare il sale. Lasciare ancora una volta le cipolle a
sgocciolare e conservare in un contenitore di vetro con abbondante
olio di oliva. Questa semplice ricetta è un ottimo contorno al pesce
ed inoltre è ingrediente di insalate alla Siciliana.
Slice the onions, preferably red ones, into not too thin slices.
Cover them in salt and let them drain.
If you have enough time, put them in the sun for about 30 minutes so they lose their pungent juices, then rinse with lots of vinegar to get rid of the salt.
Allow to drain a second time.
Keep in a glass container with plenty of olive oil.
This simple recipe is delicious with fish or can be used in Sicilian style salads.
I just tried this last night, interesting even just to see how much liquid comes out of the onions.
They were good and sweet, a bit salty, even though I only had the supercheap 2L container of white vinegar available for the washing step. I used a whole lot of them in a seared fish and potato salad, with lots of fresh herbs, they provided a lovely high (sweet/sharp/salty/crunchy) flavour note and bright colour to the dish.
ZUPPA DI CIPOLLE DI INES – INES'S ONION SOUP – Piedmont
cipolle di tropea o bianche 1 kg – red or white onions
pane casareccio tostato – toasted 'home style', good white bread
brodo vegetale – vegetable stock
bicchierino di rhum o cognac – a small glass of rum or cognac
gruviera – gruviere/Swiss style mild melty cheese
a piacere una macinata di pepe misto – ground mixed pepper
a little white wine
affettare le cipolle —non sottilissime—lavare veloce con vino bianco e acqua–colare e asciugare–cuocere con olio oliva—molto lentamente—a quasi cottura ultimata aggiungere 2 noci burro-.il liquore
prendere le ciotolt individuali di coccio—mettere sul fondo il pane tostato–aggiungere un pò di cipolle– mettere il gruviere grattuggiati grossolanamente
continuare gli strati sino a fine ingredienti—-normalmente sono due——-
prima dell'ultimo strato di gruviera mettere il brodo
le fette di pane non devono galleggiare–ossia il brodo deve inzuppare le fette solo a sufficienza—ines dice che si può anche fare una teglia grande ed in
seguito essere in grado di tagliare a fette
possibilmente gratinare al forno velocemente
Slice the onions, not too thinly, and wash quickly with wine mixed with water. Drain and dry the onions.
Cook onions very slowly in olive oil, when almost done add about a scant 1/4 cup butter ("2 walnuts of butter") & the rum or cognac.
Use individual earthenware oven safe bowls or one large one.
Layer bread and onions, bread first, then onions, then cheese. Add stock before the last layer of cheese, just enough so the bread is soaked but not floating.
Finish briefly in a hot oven.
ONIONS COOKED IN SALT (BY ANDREA RIBALDONE, TRIED AND RECOMMENDED BY LIDIA) – Lombardy
CIPOLLE DI ANDREA RIBALDONE CHEF A SPINETTA MARENGO – SPERIMENTATA DA LIDIA : CIPOLLA COTTA AL SALE
tempo due ore –per quattro persone – 2 hours to make, recipe for 4 people
4 cipolle gialle – yellow onions (try brown), unpeeled
50gr.parmigiano grattuggiato – grated Parmesan
50 gr. pane raffermo grat. – breadcrumbs made from day old bread
3 kg di sale grosso – rock salt
4 cucchiai olio – 4 Tbs olive oil
un pizzico di sale—pepe nero – a pinch of salt and black pepper
ricopri cipolle col sale grosso, tienile per 85 minuti nel forno a 170 gradi
quindi tagliane la parte superiore e con un cucchiaio svuotale della polpa, preservandone intera la buccia. cuoci la polpa in padella con due cucchiai di olio per 20 minuti
poi frullala unendo 30 gr. di parmig. il pane gratt.sale e pepe fino ad ottenerre un composto denso ed omogeneo.
riempi la buccia con la farcia, coprile col restante parmigiano e due cucchiai di olio e passale in forno a 200 gradi fino a che non saranno dorate—circa 5 minuti
Cover onions in rock salt and bake at 170C for 85 minutes
Cut the top off onions and take out the pulp with a spoon, keeping the skin whole.
Cook the pulp in a pan with 2 Tbs oil for 20 minutes
Mince in a food processor with 30 grams of the Parmesan, the breadcrumbs and the salt and pepper until it is thick and smooth.
Fill the onion skins with the pulp, top with remaining Parmesan & 2 Tbs oil
Bake in a 200C oven until golden, about 5 minutes
LITTLE SWEET AND SOUR ONIONS – MY MUM FRANCA'S RECIPE – Piedmont
This started the whole Italian onion craze when I made it recently, for the first time in many years, to great acclaim. A very forgiving recipe, cooking times and temperatures and quantities aren't really too important, but it's good to cook the onions until they are quite soft and the sauce is thick. Good with beef or pork, or as a vegetarian meal pair with blanched/pan tossed bitter leaves like radicchio and couscous or rice. Or chickpeas or polenta.
The recipe is in print in a book mum and I did many years ago, 'Italy a Culinary Journey'. A regional cookbook with contributions from many authors from the various regions, you can still find copies online.
Small mild onions, I used red ones, roughly 1 kg, peeled
3 Tbs sugar
60 g. butter
1 Tbs flour
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
Choose a pan that is just big enough to fit your little peeled onions in one layer
Make a light brown caramel with the sugar
Add butter, flour, stir until goes creamy, add 1/2 to 1 cup warm water
Bring to the boil, add onions, you need enough water to cover the onions, add more warm water if necessary
Bring back to boil, simmer about 30 minutes covered, stir occasionally
Add 1 tbs vinegar, simmer uncovered 30 minutes or more, check for salt
One of those dishes that is even better the next day, and the day after, so you can make extra.
Love and chocolate covered onions, sister T