Heat management key to caramelizing onions

Published 9:21 pm Monday, April 20, 2009

There is sweetness, yes, but there is so much else, a powerful, mouth-filling deliciousness that can’t be described better than “savory.”

The happy result of a marriage between 5 pounds of onions and four hours to kill, onions caramelize to a deep, mahogany reddish-brown with a marmalade-like consistency.

There are so many things you can do with caramelized onions.

Smear a bit onto a sandwich or a warm tortilla.

It’s also terrific stirred into pasta sauces, stews or a pot of beans.

Build a layer of it into a gratin, and it will perfume the potatoes and make the texture seem richer without adding any fat.

You can even serve it straight, dressed up with a little minced rosemary, as a sauce for meat.

The main pitfall — and it’s a dish-killer — is that caramelizing can come awfully close to burning, and once you’ve scorched the onions there’s no way to get rid of that bitter flavor but to dump them out, wipe the pan clean and start over.

To avoid this, cook the onions in the heaviest pot you have over the lowest heat possible for much of the time, stirring as often as you can.

That should be at least every 15 to 20 minutes for most of the cooking, shortening to 5 to 10 minutes when you get near the end.

The pot should be really big, too. I usually use my nearly 7-quart enameled cast-iron Dutch oven to cook my onions, and at the start it’s almost full to the top. But the onions wilt and shrink dramatically during cooking.

Sprinkle them with a little salt to help draw out the moisture and just enough oil to keep them from sticking.

Cover the pot and place it over medium-low heat.

After about 20 minutes you’ll find that the onions have started to soften, and after about 45 minutes they will be swimming in moisture — it’s amazing just how much water an onion contains.

At this point, you can increase the heat to medium and remove the lid to evaporate as much of that liquid as possible.

After about 75 minutes, the liquid will be very reduced and the onions will be the color of oatmeal.

Here’s where it starts to get tricky, because there’s no longer enough moisture to keep the onions from scorching. You need to reduce the heat as low as it will go (use a flame tamer if necessary), and be vigilant about stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.

When you reach the two-hour point, there will be almost no water left. The onions will have darkened a bit and will taste sweet, if slightly bland. Start stirring every five to 10 minutes.

At the three-hour point they’ll be getting really close. The color will have darkened substantially into a reddish-gold and the flavor will have become notably more complex (you’ll also find that your house will smell absolutely amazing).

When the onions have darkened just a bit further and you can hear them really sizzling despite the low heat, they’ll be done.

Once cooked, the onions can be used immediately or stored tightly covered in the refrigerator (there will be only a couple of cups of them).

Rib-eye with caramelized onion marmalade

21-pound rib-eye steaks, about 1 inch thick

1/4cup balsamic vinegar

1minced clove garlic

Salt

1/2cup caramelized onions

11/2teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

2tablespoons sherry

Vinegar

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the balsamic vinegar and the garlic. Salt the steaks with one-half teaspoon salt on each side and then brush lightly with the balsamic vinegar mixture. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the caramelized onions with the rosemary, stirring occasionally until warmed.

Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle pan over medium-high heat until it is very hot (a drop of water should skitter across the surface). Brush both sides of the steak once more with the vinegar mixture and then sear in the cast-iron pan until well-browned on both sides (about 3 minutes each). Sear the sides as well. Once the steaks are browned, put the pan in the oven and cook, turning once, until the steaks are medium-rare (about 125 degrees), 10 to 12 minutes total cooking time.

Remove the steaks from the oven and transfer them to a carving board. Rest them for 5 minutes to let the juices re-distribute through the meat. While the steaks are resting, add the sherry vinegar to the onions and season to taste with more salt or vinegar if necessary.

When the steaks are ready, spread a very thin layer of the caramelized onion marmalade over top, and then carve the steaks and serve them with the remaining marmalade on the side.

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: 320 calories; 22 grams protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 23 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 72 milligrams cholesterol; 814 milligrams sodium.