# Vidalias are just around the corner!



## CraigC (Mar 28, 2012)

Any special dishes using/featuring these sweet beauties?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 28, 2012)

I like to broil or grill them, quartered and let 'er rip.  I could sit and eat them all day.

They are also my favorite to caramelize.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2012)

Like that is s/thing I might find in SE Ontario...DCers are already responsible for me getting hooked on Meyer lemons...a pie maker, and now Vidalias...is there a way I can filter messages about things that I can't find where I live (I almost moved to the Bahamas when I read the posts about Conch fritters--the only place I've had that dish--LOVE them).


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## Uncle Bob (Mar 28, 2012)

I've been eating Vidalias for almost two weeks....

Cold slices on a grilled Hamburger....With more slices on the side raw! 
In another two weeks the little brown-eyed girl will be saying..."You even smell like an onion" Eat them with everything! ~~ I think they are tainted with Crack!!


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## CraigC (Mar 28, 2012)

Uncle Bob said:


> I've been eating Vidalias for almost two weeks....
> 
> Cold slices on a grilled Hamburger....With more slices on the side raw!
> In another two weeks the little brown-eyed girl will be saying..."You even smell like an onion" Eat them with everything! ~~ I think they are tainted with Crack!!


 
For real? Where from?


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## kadesma (Mar 28, 2012)

Love the casserole recipe my s-i-l gave me we make it often as long as the Viadlia's hold out. 
kades


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## GLC (Mar 28, 2012)

The trucks will begin rolling sometime in the next couple of weeks from West Texas as the Texas 1015 Super Sweet onions are ready. It's amazing how much you can grow on the 1% of Pecos County that's farmable.


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## TATTRAT (Mar 28, 2012)

Simple Salad of really nice heirloom tomatoes, sliced Vidalias, S+P, and a little drizzle of roasted garlic oil and a splash of champagne vinegar.

Also, I LOVE a good Vidalia tart, with crumbled bacon and Chevre. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.


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## Uncle Bob (Mar 28, 2012)

CraigC said:


> For real? Where from?




Georgia......


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## Whiskadoodle (Mar 28, 2012)

I get so confused at the market.  And that's a good thing.  I thought Vidalias are a seasonal thing, but their life-span seems to be getting longer and longer.  That too, is a good thing.  

I think I bought Vidalias as late as September, or November. One 
or t'other,  Don't know about October.     Last fall I found some Little Red onions (sold as boiling onions) in a small mesh bag that I have been using and re-plenishing all winter.  Not for boiling, just when I want a little onion.   I usually cook for one, Me, and the 2 cats don't get people food unless it's turkey, and that isn't real often, or tuna, and then they each get their own can to lick, and I only need a little onion for either tuna salad or tuna casserole,  and they seem to turn their noses up at onions, so these onions come in real handy.  

I know I bought fresh market asparagus and used in a dish at Christmas time.   Asparagus has been pretty much available all winter,  grown in Mexico.   This week I still see sweet potatoes/ yams and winter squashes and strawberries,  although i tend to avoid these as a hot house fruit.  They may be big and red,  the flavor is just not as flavorful as summer berries.  This week I couldn't find a Pineapple for love nor money.  Fresh Hot house / green house grown herbs, even organic,  available all year.   I wish they would just go ahead and make tomatoes Square Shape so we could tell the difference since that's the only reason they grow them anywhere to ship them off to somewhere else to sell to the un-suspecting.   

I wasn't in the onion aisle at the grocer's this week, so I don't know if Vidalia onions have hit the local shelves yet.   There are some other sweet onions -- walla wallas and some Hawaiin onions ( Maui wowies;    normally I think maui wowie refers to something else -- the good kind that is sold in zip lock baggies  LOL)   and maybe even some grown in Texas that make up the sweet onion "family".   I don't even know when walla walla's are available.  I know I have  bought them them some time or another, I couldn't say when.  Vidalia seems to have cornered the market on this and marketing them.    

Simply put --My Bestest is a grilled burger with a thick raw slice and I know I certainly look forward to sweet onions and Vidalia " season".  And in salads.  

This is an article from Access Atlanta last year-- 
Food & Restaurants5:14 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Each year at this time, I start looking for Vidalia onions at the grocery store. These South Georgia-grown sweet onions appear on schedule, just in time for spring salads and summer grilling.

In Georgia, we love our famous seasonal treat. For an onion to be labeled “Vidalia” it must be grown in a specified region that includes 13 counties and portions of seven others, all in Georgia. We’re so proud of these onions we’ve named them our official state vegetable.
Vidalia onion season typically runs from the middle of April through early September. You can count on onion availability in early spring; how long they’ll be in the stores is totally dependent on each year’s crop. With fewer onions harvested, you may have trouble finding them in the stores come August. Lots of onions? Then they should be for sale until September.
The good news is there are, indeed, lots of onions this year. “We’ve got an abundant crop and we’ve been taste-testing the onions around the office. This year’s onions are promising to be really sweet,” said Wendy Brannen, executive director of the Vidalia Onion Committee. The sweetness of the onions, like the size of the harvest, depends on Mother Nature.
Vidalia onions are hand planted and hand harvested. Farmers start their Vidalia onions from seed in September. Those grassy looking seedlings are transplanted into rows come November and December, and the onions grow over the winter until they’re ready to harvest in mid-April. This year’s brief but surprisingly cold winter didn’t hurt the onions, and our long mild spring helped increase the yield.
For those of us who want to extend the season, Brannen offers this suggestion: “Toward the end of summer, it’s time to stock up. We know people still use the panty hose trick [knotting onions individually into panty hose legs], but my favorite way to store them is to buy in bulk and then wrap each onion in paper towels and store them in the refrigerator crisper drawer. Unlike other onions, it’s OK to refrigerate Vidalias.” With her refrigerator trick Brannen is able to have Vidalia onions on hand up until the holidays.
My friend Paula Refi keeps her Vidalia onions on racks in her de-humidified basement. “The Knights of Columbus at our church, St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Decatur, sell them every summer as a fundraiser. I buy a big bag, bring them home and lay them out so they will last as long as possible,” she said.
Brannen told me that Vidalia onions aren’t just a Georgia favorite but are sold in all 50 states and parts of Canada. Refi concurred, saying, “I've been amazed at how my sister and oldest friend in my home town of Philadelphia search out Vidalias every summer. … This humble Georgia crop has attained a certain cachet up north.”
Whether you buy your onions in the Atlanta area or in New York, you’ll find that the Vidalia Onion Committee has gone musical this year. Many bags of onions offer a code for a free music download, or you can show off your songwriting skills by entering the jingle contest and the chance to win prizes like $1000 in cash. All the details are available at Vidalia Onions, Vidalia Sweet Onions, Vidalia Onion Recipes, Buy Vidalia Onions - - Vidalia Onion Committee.


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## Addie (Mar 28, 2012)

My girlfriend in Atlanta for the past four or five years, (I have lost count) goes out to the fields when they start picking and sends me a crate full of Vidalias. I get them with the dirt still on them and with some of the tops. Unfortunately there won't be any this years. She is going through a major family crisis. Cancer in her daughter's father. It looks likes he is terminal. In this past year, she went through cancer with her father, and her brother died. She has more than her share on her plate. If I had the money, I would fly down there and cook her one heck of a meal with the chocolate cake and an apple pie. But the last thing she needs right now is another person underfoot. So all I can offer her is my prayers. 

Vidalias are picked from May through September. After that what has not hit the selling market, goes into temperature and oxygen controlled storage for sale for the rest of the year until they run out. Somewhere around the end of November. True Vidalias come from a very small area in Georgia. They tend to be flat in appearance.  

Whiskadoodle, thanks for the idea of buying boiling onions. Sometimes I buy the packets of tuna fish, just enough for one sandwich, and want onion in it. Most of the time, I only have an onion that is too big, so I slice of a small piece, wrap the rest in a zip lock bag, and forget it is there. Boiling onions are the perfect answer. And they tend to be mild.


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## PattY1 (Mar 28, 2012)

Addie said:


> Whiskadoodle, thanks for the idea of buying boiling onions. *Sometimes I buy the packets of tuna fish, just enough for one sandwich, and want onion in it*. Most of the time, I only have an onion that is too big, so I slice of a small piece, wrap the rest in a zip lock bag, and forget it is there. Boiling onions are the perfect answer. And they tend to be mild.



What I buy for small onion needs is dried onion I rehydrate in water. Works great in a pinch, but you would not get the crunch from them that you would fresh. Keep that in mind for other uses. I buy the one's that are $1 a bottle.


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## Addie (Mar 28, 2012)

PattY1 said:


> What I buy for small onion needs is dried onion I rehydrate in water. Works great in a pinch, but you would not get the crunch from them that you would fresh. Keep that in mind for other uses. I buy the one's that are $1 a bottle.


 
I have used them in the past. If I let the salad sit for a while, the dried onion will absorb the moisture from the mayo and soften up some without losing their crunch.


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## PattY1 (Mar 29, 2012)

Addie said:


> I have used them in the past. *If I let the salad sit for a while, the dried onion will absorb the moisture from the mayo and soften up some without losing their crunch*.




I will have to try that some time.I just always rehydrate them first. Who knew??


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## Addie (Mar 29, 2012)

PattY1 said:


> I will have to try that some time.I just always rehydrate them first. Who knew??


 
You should only use a few. The flavor is very strong when you do that. When you rehydrate them some of the strong flavor is going into the liquid. Then you toss the liquid. With this method, you keep that strong flavor and you have to really like onions.


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## Margi Cintrano (Mar 29, 2012)

In Catalonia, it is Calcot season, which is a " scallion " variety of onion, which is grown in northeast Spain ... they are so delicious, just grilled and served with a Romesco Coulis made of: tomato, hazelnut, chili pepper, red sweet pepper, day old baguette, smoked paprika sweet and piquant and herbs. 

Vidalia onions seem to be very popular in the USA.

It is onion season ... Grill them with a vinaigrette, or French Onion Soup or in salads ... For carmelized and brown sugared slightly, grill the onion and when tender golden, top with goat cheese until slightly melted and then, place on a bed of Arugula greens with vinaigrette ... Nice salad ...

Interesting post. Grazie,
Margi.


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## Addie (Mar 29, 2012)

Margi Cintrano said:


> In Catalonia, it is Calcot season, which is a " scallion " variety of onion, which is grown in northeast Spain ... they are so delicious, just grilled and served with a Romesco Coulis made of: tomato, hazelnut, chili pepper, red sweet pepper, day old baguette, smoked paprika sweet and piquant and herbs.
> 
> Vidalia onions seem to be very popular in the USA.
> 
> ...


 
Vidalias are grown in a very small area of Georgia, one of our southern states. They are a very sweet onion. Because of our unusal winter this year they are coming out early. They only grow in a certain soil. Folks buy them by the 50 lb. bags. A lot of folks eat them like they would an apple with a salt shaker in hand.


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