Previous
Retrain Your Taste Buds to Fit the Season
LOCAL PICKS
Retrain Your Taste Buds to Fit the Season
With fall fully upon us, prepare for heartier fare like onions
By Denise Miller
For the Albuquerque Journal
You know it's fall in New Mexico when clothing layers can't come off quick enough midday or go back on soon enough when the sun drops.
Much like my body and psyche are beginning to accept cooling weather and shorter days, so too is my palate beginning to regulate to the season.
Visits to local growers' markets make it apparent that the last of the tender crops are mostly gone, and now it is time to reconfigure menus to feature heartier fall and winter crops such as apples, squash, pumpkins and root crops.
Because many markets will close for the winter, this column will take a long winter break.
During a recent market visit, I was feeling short on creativity. The only veggies I brought home were potatoes, garlic and onions. So what should I make for dinner?
Then I remembered my daughter's recent hankering for French onion soup. Here was something I could pull together in the morning, let sit in the crock pot during the day and know it would make everyone happy after soccer practice that night.
Onions and garlic are truly indispensable cooking ingredients.
But are all onions created equal? They come in various shapes, colors and flavors, but the two main varieties are green and dry.
Dry onions include red, white and yellow varieties that are further divided into spring/ summer and fall/winter types.
Fall/winter onions also are called storage onions because they last longer than the sweet onions of spring/summer, which contain more sugar and water. Storage onions are ideal for flavoring dishes that require long simmering or cooking times such as soups, chili or roasting with meat.
Locally grown storage onions are plentiful at growers' markets now, but shoppers also may find some lingering sweet onions.
Growers with a bountiful late summer crop of sweet onions like the Candy or Texas Grano may have cured them -- let them field dry in the sun and later in a cool place -- and still have some for sale. One grower said her cured Candy onions last until March when hung in her cool garage.
When selecting fresh onions in the store, look for firm and dry onions with a shiny, crackling outer skin.
At growers' markets, feel free to ask the farmer about the variety, if it has been cured and how long it can be stored.
While I generally use whatever onion I have on hand, yellow onions tend to be better for caramelizing than red, white or sweet onions. They are yellow because they have more sulfur, which gives them more depth of flavor when caramelized.
Red onions are great lightly sautéed. White onions tend to be cleaner and tangier, great for Hispanic recipes and more delicately flavored dishes. Sweet onions are especially good served raw in salads or sandwiches.
Any way you slice them, onions always take center stage in French onion soup. And, because most kids can't pass up the cheesy broiled French bread atop the soup, it's easy to get them hooked, too.
French onion soup has many variations -- some with wine, herbs or different cheeses -- but the following recipe is an easy standard in my house.
While I love to use a crock pot to simmer soup while I'm gone during the day, I've never figured out how to brown onions in the pot's ceramic insert as many recipes suggest. So, even though it means getting an extra pan dirty, I always start by browning onions in a heavy-bottomed pan and transferring them to the slow cooker.
Whether onions will be enjoyed in soup or thousands of other ways, I have to agree with Julia Child, who said, "It's hard to imagine a civilization without onions."
Bon appétit!
FRENCH ONION SOUP
8 small servings. Double the recipe for leftovers.
3 large onions, sliced
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon pepper
7 cups beef broth
Cheesy broiled French Bread (recipe follows)
Melt butter in large pan, add onions and cook until golden brown, which is about 25 minutes.
Mix flour, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and pepper. Stir flour mixture and one cup of broth into onions, scraping up as much of the pan's brown bits as possible.
Transfer to crock pot. Add remaining broth.
Cook on low heat setting seven to nine hours or until onions are tender.
Make cheesy broiled French Bread. Place 1 slice on each bowl of soup.
CHEESY BROILED FRENCH BREAD
8 slices French bread, 1-inch thick
¾ cup (about 3 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Set oven to broil. Place bread slices on rack in broiler pan. Sprinkle with cheeses. Broil with tops 5 to 6 inches from heat about three minutes or until cheese is melted.
Put in a sub
Out of French bread? Top the soup with large croutons and sprinkle soup with shredded Parmesan or mozzarella before serving.
