The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry

If you have a mandoline, you don't cry at all.

A few weeks back, my former roommates and I held a brunch for some of our friends. I had heard about these homefries that included caramelized onions, potatoes, and parmesan. I decided to make them on heresay alone, and it ended up being a good decision and I realized I love caramelized onions. I had shied away from onions because they make me cry in an obscene amount to the point where I actually close my eyes while chopping. This makes me dangerous to myself and others in the kitchen, but cutting onions is unavoidable in many recipes so I dealt with it.

No, I did not purchase the Vidalia chop wizard, but I did pick up a handy mandoline slicer at HomeGoods one afternoon. It has changed my life, because not only does it finely slice onions, but it is also good for potatoes, apples, cucumbers, the list goes on. It also means I can enjoy onions more abundantly, and my favorite way of cooking onions as of late is to caramelize them, so I did that today in conjunction with my upcoming quiche recipe.

To caramelize onions, the first thing you need to do is choose your onion. I like sweet onions, so I chose a sweet white onion. Then, you need to finely slice it/them. I prefer my onions to be cut in rings or half rings, but honestly do whatever is easiest for you as I don't want you to lose a finger or a thumb. Are thumbs fingers? I can never remember. My mandoline works wonders for this task, I suggest you buy one. Did I mention I love my mandoline slicer?

Then, add them to a sauté pan with a smidge of oil. Just a smidge will do the trick as onions have a lot of liquid so they will not burn immediately. Let the onions cook for bit, until they start to sizzle. Then, reduce heat and add liquid. The kind of liquid you add is up to you. Some people like to add a sweet vinegar like apple cider or balsamic, but in my case, I simply used water. It did the trick. Cover the pan.

Wait a while, call an old friend, organize your photos in Snapfish, write a blog, read a book. Do whatever it takes to forget you are even cooking. When you remember, you will jump to attention in horror as you probably thought you burnt them and will have to start over and only had one onion so will need to make a trip to the store and it is 10pm and you don't feel like it. No worries, they are not burnt because your culinary intuition is in gear and plus your fire alarm has not been set off. Stir. Add more liquid. Eat some sorbet straight from the freezer.

[Unfortunately, my photo of the finished product had some issues being uploaded and was lost. This is a true shame because they were gorgeously caramelized and I would have loved to share the image with you.]

Continue to check in (but not in a fussy, protective mother type of way, in a cool older sister saying 'What's up' kind of way), add liquid (switch to water if you are using something else) cover, and stir (not in that order, that would be ridiculous) until they are a golden caramel color. Use them in whatever recipe calls for them, or eat them topped on a sandwich or salad. Delish.