Walla Wallas sweet on any kind of cooking style
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, June 22, 2004
It wasn’t until I hit the Northwest in the late 1970s that I discovered the magic of the Walla Walla Sweet.
The name alone can make you smile. But it’s the taste that has made these gourmet onions so popular that thousands of tons of them are air-freighted cross-country to faithful fans each year.
Why onions by air? It’s because the qualities that make them so uniquely desirable – high sugar and water content – also make them susceptible to destruction.
When humidity is high and the mercury reaches the mint julep range on the thermometer, mold is just around the corner. So don’t buy a 50-pound sack and expect everything to be peachy.
These onions like to be stored in cool, dry places. They need plenty of air circulation, and suffer from crowding.
Because of its sweet and gentle nature, this variety is best suited for less robust concoctions. This is where it shines. Long, slow cooking in butter turns a pile of crisp, raw rings into a decadent platter of caramelized (remember that high sugar content?) paradise, fit to accompany your finest sizzling sirloin.
Baking or barbecuing them whole, with a small well hollowed out of the top for a dollop of herbed butter, is another way to take advantage of their dramatic size and delicate flavor.
And don’t forget raw. Thanks to their mildness, you can use enough to impart a transcendent, fresh, crisp texture to salads and sandwiches that just can’t be achieved in any other way. That this is only possible for a few months each year makes it all the more special.
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This is a simple, stress-free treatment of Walla Wallas that renders fabulous results.
Walla Walla Sweets, caramelized in a crock
Simply slice up 3 or 4 Walla Walla Sweets – whatever it takes to almost-fill your crock-pot container. Place half a cube of butter (or if you’re feeling decadent, a whole cube) in the crock then pile in the sliced onion rings. Cover with the lid, and turn the crock-pot onto low and let them cook and caramelize for about 8 hours.
They’re completely caramelized when they have turned a rich-dark golden brown. If you happen to be around at any point mid-way through the cooking process, then stir the onions a little bit to distribute the melted butter; otherwise, just stir them toward the end.
Use these onions and the flavorful liquid that has developed to make a fabulous onion soup, finished off with a topping of toasted crouton and grated Swiss cheese that you’ve run under the broiler.
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Garlic chives go well with the Walla Walla. Each one’s gentle nature complements the other.
Cream of Walla Walla Sweet soup with garlic chives
4cups chicken broth
1large Walla Walla Sweet onion, peeled and chopped
1cup chopped garlic chives (see note below); if not available, use 2 cloves of chopped garlic
2cups peeled and chopped russet potato
1/2cup light cream
Scant 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/3cup each chopped garlic chives and finely minced Walla Walla Sweet onion, combined
About 1/2 cup dry sherry
In a large pot, combine the chicken broth, onion, garlic chives and potato. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, just until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then puree the mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth (this will have to be done in batches). Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir in the light cream and white pepper and gently reheat.
To serve, ladle a portion into each soup bowl. Garnish each serving with a bit of the chopped garlic chives and Walla Walla Sweet onion. Pour the sherry into a cruet or some other container for easy pouring and serve with the soup at the table so guests can drizzle a bit on if desired. This soup is also delicious chilled, and can be prepared up to 48 hours in advance. Yields 6 servings.
Note on garlic chives: From a distance, garlic chives have the appearance of regular chives, but on closer inspection, you’ll see that the stems are flat instead of round. They’re becoming easier to find, particularly in early to midsummer at farmers markets. Select ones with small, tightly-closed flower buds.
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For the ultimate experience the onions must achieve a deep-golden hue, which translates to about an hour of grill time. Really great with steak. However, they can be prepared on any evening when you already have the coals stoked into action, then stored in the refrigerator for later in the week to accompany a simple dinner of oven-roasted chicken or fish.
Roasted and smoked sweet onions
5large Walla Walla onions, peeled and halved
1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4cup balsamic vinegar
2tablespoons butter, melted
Salt and white pepper to taste
Create a 10-by-14-inch roasting pan with at least two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil by bending the edges up into 2-inch high sides and crimping the corners to hold them in place. Lay the onions in the pan, cut-side up. Combine the olive oil, vinegar and butter and pour over the onions.
Bank hot coals on two sides of the bottom of a barbecue. Place the foil pan of onions on the grill, centered between the banks of coals below. Cover the grill and bake, gently turning the onions and basting them with the pan juices about every 15 or 20 minutes, until they are deep-golden and very soft when pressed. This will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Ultimately, they will break apart somewhat, so don’t be too concerned with keeping them whole. Serve them hot or at room temperature, as an accompaniment to grilled or oven-roasted fish, poultry or beef.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.
