Ah, August.
You know August, the month of
Sundays. The month of last gulps of rosé and drippy kitchen sink
peaches. Pretty soon I’ll be replacing words like “tequila happy hour”
with words like “trajectory.” Instead of saying, “Dude, pass me the salt and a
lime,” I’ll be saying, “Please pass me that book. I have to read 200 pages on
restaurant ethnography.” But for now, the dog days are upon us, tripping lazily
along.
I’m out to enjoy all the hot
bits while I still can. So I’m leaving my summer soundtrack of music to
chop by. And a list of dishes I’ve had on repeat. Feel free to
shake it in the kitchen. Let things get a little unruly.
The
Sound
“We
are the Tide” Blind Pilot
“Silver Coin” Angus and Julia Stone
“Sugar Man” Rodriguez
“Hold
the Line” Toto
“Stars”
The xx
“The
World is Going Up in Flames” Charles Bradley
“Ghosts” The Head and the Heart
“I Ain’t the Same” Alabama Shakes
The
Dishes
Shredded
kale tossed with a bastardized Caesar dressing
Roasted
young onions with balsamic, cream, and lemon thyme
A word about the onions.
I make them in the early morning before my kitchen steams and the earth
heats up. I don’t have air conditioning, but I believe in the power of
roasting onions. This late in the summer, the onions you’ll find at
farmers’ markets will no longer be green in the figurative sense. No
matter. I’m quite certain you could quarter regular onions and have things
sing. This would also be the time to take advantage of Vidalias. You
could even try this roasting and creaming business with scallions.
Hardly worth fussing over
specifics. What I have for you is barely a recipe. But it’s
something that is spectacular with morning eggs or tossed in a raw kale salad
at lunchtime. Again, let things get a little unruly. These guys are
difficult to mess up. And their little onion souls pair fantastically
with the Alabama Shakes.
Young
Roasted Onions with Balsamic, Cream, and Lemon Thyme
Ingredients:
A bunch of young onions or
about four small onions
Olive oil, enough to coat the
onions
Salt and pepper
Few sprigs of lemon thyme
A few douses of balsamic
vinegar
A splash or two of heavy
cream
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425
degrees. Place the onions in a baking dish and generously coat them with
olive oil until they glisten; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with
balsamic vinegar, maybe a few tablespoons worth when all is said and
done. Tuck a few sprigs of lemon thyme in between the onions and bake
until the onions are tender and start to caramelize, about 20 to 30 minutes or
so (you will probably want to check on them occasionally).
Once the onions are fairly
well caramelized, take them out and add a few splashes of heavy cream; stir to
combine the cream and place back in the oven. Continue to cook the onions
until a sauce forms (it will start to thicken a bit); this will take about 5-10
minutes more.
Makes a few cups of onions
Notes:
-If you are using the whole
onion with its green parts, the tops might get frizzled a bit. I enjoy
eating these parts, if you don’t, well, don’t.
-I know, technically rhubarb
season has come and gone. But I’ve had the recipe on repeat. When
you make something at least six times in a matter of weeks, it's worth noting.
So I did.
There was a time (up until a couple of years ago) that I used to hate onions. I am very glad I got over that. These sound fantastic. I had a grilled scallion dish at Catalyst in Kendall Square which was awesome, and now I am thinking of roasting them, thanks to your recipe.
ReplyDeleteyoung onions. i feel like some sort of malicious baby-eater when it's worded like that, even more so than if they were called baby onions. regardless of my hang-ups, this sounds great!
ReplyDeleteLove the blue plate!
ReplyDeletehttp://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com/