Caramelized Onions

In my daily wanderings through foodie websites,I came across a posting by an angry man who wrote "Don't believe anyone who says you can caramelize onions in less than 40 minutes ." I love caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms; especially with a good steak.I had never timed my preparation of this lovely addition to my dinner,so I took the challenge.I got well caramelized onions in 15 minutes.Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1 large onion,sliced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preparation:

Peel onion in half and slice into 1/2 inch strips
Wrap sliced onion in paper towels for about five minutes
Heat olive oil in saute pan until hot,but not smoking
Add onions to pan and make sure the slices all touch the surface of the pan.Do not crowd.
Saute onions over high heat for about a minute,then flip onions over and saute for another minute.Onions should be caramel colored at this time.
Turn down heat to medium low and cook onions for about 10 minutes or until soft and sweet.Salt the onions
Remove and serve with your favorite beef.

 If you are cooking mushrooms as well,DO NOT cook in same pan.Cook separately and add together with onions after both have cooked.Mushrooms are mostly water.Cooking them together with the onions will turn your onions to mush.

Chicken with Carmelized Onions and Basil Pesto

This recipe incorporates fresh basil pesto and caramelized onions -two of my favorite things.  I thought I could not make Basil Pesto until summer, but I was able to find a large bunch in my local grocery store. The recipe follows.

  Basil Pesto 

Ingredients:

 2 cups of basil pesto tightly packed
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup toasted pine nuts. Be very careful because they burn easily. I put them in the toaster
  Oven for only 2 minutes at 350 degrees
¼ cup chicken stock
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth

Chicken with Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms

 Ingredients:

1 lb of boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion sliced
8 oz of button mushrooms cleaned and sliced
4 tablespoons extra virgin oil
12 oz farfalle, cooked al dente

Preparation:

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to large fry pan. Heat until hot but not smoking
Cook chicken in large fry pan until lightly browned .Remove and set   aside
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan and heat oil over medium high heat
Sauté onions until they take on the color of real maple syrup about 10 minutes
In separate pan, cook mushrooms using the final tablespoon of olive oil
Mushrooms have a lot of water in them. You must cook them until no more steam is
formed.  They will then start to brown. This takes about 15 minutes
Add mushrooms and chicken to the pan of caramelized onions and heat thoroughly

Assembly:

Place cooked farfalle in a large bowl
Add ½ cup of pesto and stir until pasta is a shade of light green
Add chicken, onion and mushroom mixture to bowl
Mix thoroughly and serve 

Serves 4

                                                             Photo by Buzz Krivonak