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Caramelized Onions
Peel rather small onions, prick them with sharp knife top and bottom, boil carefully in salted water until tender. Drain, place in frying pan, dot with butter and sugar. Cook gently, turning often until each onion is thoroughly caramelized. Use plenty of butter and sugar.
A simple two-stage method: boil the onions whole until tender, then glaze them in butter and sugar. The only real risk is rushing the second stage and scorching the sugar.
- Onion size"Rather small onions" means boiling onions or large pearl onions, roughly 1 to 1.5 inches across. Modern cipollini work well and hold their shape. Allow about 1.5 lb for four people as a side dish.
- Why prick themPiercing top and bottom lets water and steam move through the layers so the centre cooks at the same rate as the outside, and reduces the chance of the onion bursting apart in the pot.
- Boiling timeSmall whole onions need 15 to 25 minutes in salted water depending on size. Test with a skewer at the root end; they should yield with no crunch but still be intact. Onions left underdone will soften only a little in the frying pan, so finish the boiling properly.
- Drain thoroughlyLet them sit in the colander several minutes and pat dry. Water carried into the pan keeps the sugar from browning and leaves the onions steaming rather than glazing.
- Quantities for the glazeThe original gives none. For 1.5 lb of onions, start with 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons sugar in a wide pan; add more of either if the pan looks dry.
- The hingeKeep the heat at medium-low and keep the onions moving. Butter and sugar go from amber to burnt in under a minute, and once the sugar scorches the bitterness cannot be corrected. Ten to fifteen minutes of gentle turning gives an even brown.
- Pan choiceUse a heavy skillet wide enough to hold the onions in one layer. Crowded onions release moisture and stew instead of caramelizing.
- FinishingA pinch of salt and a grind of pepper at the end balances the sugar. A splash of vinegar or dry sherry off the heat will lift them if they taste flat.