Onions with a Sweet Kiss.

Onions are best known for making us cry. Once an onion is cut, it begins to release a sulfuric component which irritates our senses. Keeping onions in the refrigerator will deaden this effect somewhat, but as the onion begins to warm up, so does the acid.

There are, however, on the market types of sweet onion which have a mild sulfuric, and higher water, content than regular onions. Examples of these are Vidalia from Georgia, Walla Walla from Washington state, Sunbero from Nevada and Maui from the Hawaiian island of Maui; to name a few. Red onions, also called purple onions, are also mild and sweet; their coloring brightens up any dish.

One way to use sweet onions is to make a relish which can be spread on toasted bread, used as a condiment on sandwiches, or an enhancement for beef, pork or poultry.



Sweet Onion Relish
Ingredients:

2 Tbsp canola oil
6 cups chopped sweet onions
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp celery seeds
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup water
¼ cup diced roasted red peppers

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium heat; add onions and celery; sauté until tender. Mix in remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring often. Let cool. Spoon into a bowl; cover and chill for 8 hours.

Makes 4 cups.

Mary Cokenour
March 23, 2006

....so lets cook up a family meal with that relish.

Sweet Onion Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 large red skinned or Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup sweet onion relish plus ¼ cup (set aside)
1 can (10 ¾ oz) cream of mushroom soup
½ cup half n’ half
1 (4oz) can sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp paprika

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 2-qt baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat; brown both sides of the chicken breasts.
Layer the potato slices in the baking dish; spread the onion relish on the potatoes before beginning each layer. Mix together the soup, half n’ half and mushrooms; pour over top of potato/onion relish layers. Place chicken breasts on top, spread the reserved ¼ cup of onion relish over the chicken breasts; sprinkle paprika over the chicken.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour; remove foil and bake additional 15 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

Mary Cokenour
July 22, 2006