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Up the ante on your creamed onions. Browning the onions makes these creamed caramelized onions really special.
Creamed Caramelized Onions Rock!
I’ve always loved this perennial classic side dish. Creamed onions are pretty easy to make so I wonder why they seem to only make an appearance around the holidays.
Making creamed onions from scratch has always been my method. All I’d do was braise the onions and let the water evaporate then add some cream and let it reduce until it coated the onions. Delicious!
However, when I saw an old Julia Child show where she browned the onions by sautéing them for a French stew, I thought that’d be good for the side dish too.
Peeling Small White Onions
Small white onions, or white onions in general, are difficult to peel the standard way.
You’ll save yourself plenty of frustration by doing them this way–bring a big pot of water to the boil. Add the onions and boil for one minute. Drain them in a colander, run some cold water over then. Then trim off the root end and slip the skin off. This is the same way you peel tomatoes too. For the onions, the job is a bit tedious, especially if you have a lot of onions, but it definitely is not hard at all!.
I might add at this point that using frozen pearl onions won’t work here. They are far too watery to sauté correctly and brown.
Using Sautéed Onions
Aside from my version of creamed onions using them, they do have a myriad of uses.
Serve them as a side dish sans any cream. It’s different and very tasty. They’re a great accompaniment to steak or a pork roast.
One of the best places to use them is in the classic coq au vin. So if you use my recipe for that, just sub your own sautéed onions for the frozen I used in it.
The Recipe
Creamed Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb small white onions
- 2 tbs oil
- 1/2-2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper white pepper preferred
Instructions
- Peel onions as directed above in the post. Pat the onions dry.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add oil and when it begins to shimmer, add the onions. Make sure you toss the onions around so you get browning on a couple of sides. Be aware that because of the round shape, the onions will not brown evenly. When they brown to your satisfaction, drain any excess oil from the pan.
- Add the cream (amount depends on how much sauce you want), salt and pepper. Keep pan over medium heat until the cream reduces and coats the onions; about 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
