# Onions



## debthecook (Dec 1, 2004)

I've been cooking and using large beautiful WHITE onions for the past few months. 99 cents a pound, if I buy 3 they last for the week. What kind of onions do you use in your cooking?


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## middie (Dec 1, 2004)

i'm fond of vidalias


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## SierraCook (Dec 1, 2004)

I like the white onions.  I think they are sweeter.


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## Ishbel (Dec 2, 2004)

In the UK, our onions are fairly generic - ie brown onions or white onions (no names), sometimes the white ones are called Spanish onions (their country of origin), they are milder than the British brown skinned onions and are 'kinder' to the digestion when used in salads or salsas etc  8) 

Personally, I use shallots and leeks as often as onions  8)


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## debthecook (Dec 2, 2004)

Can anyone detect a distinct flavor difference in RAW WHITE and RAW YELLOW? I can't, but those are my taste buds.


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## choclatechef (Dec 2, 2004)

I like Vidalias or Texas Sweet for eating raw, and I also like red onions for the color in salads.  

I like yellow or white onions for cooking.


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## Yakuta (Dec 2, 2004)

Grew up in India cooking with shallots (larger than the ones you get here).  They were mild, sweet and had great texture. 

I now use either white or yellow.  I like the sweet onions as well so Vidalias (since I lived in Georgia for a lot of years) would be my first preference followed by Mauii.  I like to shop at local farmer markets so I can pick up whatever looks fresh and good.  I avoid getting onions and other vegetables from the larger grocery chains as much as I can.


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## choclatechef (Dec 2, 2004)

debthecook said:
			
		

> Can anyone detect a distinct flavor difference in RAW WHITE and RAW YELLOW? I can't, but those are my taste buds.



I find the yellow [other than the sweet varieties] to be stronger than the white.


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## jennyema (Dec 2, 2004)

I think whites are just a bit sharper than regular yellow onions.

I usually use yellow in cooking, red for salads.  Sometimes white if the yellows don't seem good.  My store has ceased, for some reason, selling loose yellows.  They come in bags and almost always contain some that are already soft.  GRRRRR.  

I like vidalias in the summer in salads, too.  But they are too sweet for my taste to sub them for yellows across the board in everything.


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## Psiguyy (Dec 2, 2004)

I use whatever is on sale unless I'm using it raw, in which case I prefer to use Kula (Maui) Onions.


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## mudbug (Dec 2, 2004)

Take a peeled Vidalia, create a core for a generous dab of butter, then wrap in foil and toss onto the grill until soft.

Open, eat, and believe you have died and gone to heaven.


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## DampCharcoal (Dec 2, 2004)

As far as variety and uses, I'd like to echo choclatechef. I also use red onion slices on sammiches. Strangely enough, Vidalias only seem to be available here one week a month.  :?


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## Lifter (Dec 4, 2004)

ChocolateChef, no surprise, has got my agreement too...

A bit of a personal "love affair" with vidalias, when you can get 'em, up here...but a Vidalia or a yellow onion, peeled, sliced vertically into wedges, speared onto a skewer, sprayed gently with EVOO, salted generously with "Seasoning Salt" (or better yet "Hy's Seasoning Salt") and grilled 5 minutes a side with your BBQ'd steaks over high heat...rested about 5 minutes (along with the meat)...well...DELISCIOUS!

Lifter


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## Haggis (Dec 5, 2004)

I use red onions for salads and sandwiches, they are not as sulfuric and hence sweeter and a bit easier on the palate.

For when I am serving onions with a nice big hunk of meat nothing beats caramelised brown onions, they beat the red and white varieties hands down in my opinion.

Shallots (as we call them here in Australia, I think they are called green onions in the US and spring onions in the UK) add a nice subtler taste to salads sometimes, especially those with Vietnamese/Thai influence.


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## Audeo (Dec 11, 2004)

mudbug said:
			
		

> Take a peeled Vidalia, create a core for a generous dab of butter, then wrap in foil and toss onto the grill until soft.
> 
> Open, eat, and believe you have died and gone to heaven.



Oh, yeah, mudbug!!!  YUM!

I adore onions and (therefore) should probably own some Altoids stock.  Especially enjoy them just like this, or stuffed and baked.

I'm also pretty much with the rest of you in preferences, typically buying whites for the sharpest flavor, Vidalias or Texas Sweet yellows for baking and reds/purples for salads.  Scallions and green onions there, too.  Love 'em raw with dips...


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## kitchenelf (Dec 11, 2004)

I prefer the white to the yellow - to me the yellow has a harsher bite to it - whites are milder when used for cooking.  If I am going to eat them raw in a salad I prefer and red/purple onion, spring onion, or any kind of sweet onion.  There are some things that only shallots will do!


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## pdswife (Dec 14, 2004)

Walla Walla sweets when I can get them... but, any sweet onion will do.

Last night I took two onions sliced them thinly and sauted them in butter until they were soft and brown.  Then I added a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a few pinches of beef bouillon.  Let it cook for about four more minutes and then  pigged out.    They were delish.   I served them as a side to our pork steak dinner.   YUMMY!


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## Erik (Dec 14, 2004)

Red Onions on Burgers, and Sweet Yellow Onions for sauteeing.


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## scott123 (Dec 15, 2004)

Haggis said:
			
		

> For when I am serving onions with a nice big hunk of meat nothing beats caramelised brown onions, they beat the red and white varieties hands down in my opinion.



I'll second that. Caramelized yellow/brown onions beat sweet onions as well. Cook a sweet onion that long and they end up quite bland.  I'll echo everyone else, though on raw sweet onions - those I like.


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## norgeskog (Dec 21, 2004)

I love all onions as long as they are oniony, prefer the tart, sharp taste of bermuda, white, shallots, and sometimes the yellow.  Something I like to do with shallots is slice thin and fry in equal amounts of EVOO and butter until crispy and use as a garnish over mashed potatoes, green beans, peas,  or basically any vegie.


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## Lifter (Dec 22, 2004)

This is getting good!

I believe that God gave us a wonderful variety of onions, as they are so greatly versatile in application...

"Green onion"...about the thickness of a pencil, sweet in flavour, great by themselves, with or without a touch of salt...a pleasure in any garden salad, sliced finely over perogies, chicken soup, baked potato, the year's first "mashed potato", widely adaptable to any number of purposes...

"Leeks" or "White Bulb Onion" (usually sold, here, with the greens still attached), as per green onion in soups, stews featuring chicken or pork, a raw slice to add to a burger or sandwich, where the "heavier" more sulpher tasting ones "over-do it"...near capable to be eaten on their own, but requires an evolved taste and breath mints, on occaision...

"Red Onion"...the "heart" of a good Caesar Salad, much appreciated "ringed" on burgers, in a pinch, finely sliced and diced in the tuna salad, can add greatly in Greek and Garden salad, "slightly disappointing" when cooked (but maybe I'm just doing that wrong?)

Vidalia Onions are a special treat, when you see them, buy extras!  They are not always available, even at the best connected stores up here!  Sprayed with EVOO, doused in Hy's Seasoning and baked, grilled or roasted...fantastic!  Strangely edible raw, and can get onto the burger in raw form with no complaints...A tad strong for a salad, but it depends on the other ingredients...a disappointment when used in a stew or pasta sauce (IMOO!)

"Yellow" onions, including what passes for Bermudans up here (a varietal that we have a tough time getting!), and, generically, "Spanish Onions"...it often takes an epicure to tell the one from the other in our markets, unless you can go to St Lawrence's in TO or Jackson's Farmer's Market here in Hamilton...strong flavours, heavy sulpher, relatively high acidic flavours assist much in carmelised versions, diced onions in burgers, ringed or diced in pasta sauce, the best choice for stuffings, dare I suggest "Haggis" recipe's, grinding in with meats, as suggested by a rather brilliant writer on the Cabbage Roll thread, stews, of course, in a pinch quartered and barbecued with EVOO and seasoning to accompany steaks...

Scallions...relatively tiny, purplish, dry skinned mini-onions, that are the first choice of packing into the Phyllo Pastry with minced mushrooms etc, and a seared  pork tenderloin pice, the first choice to be micro-diced into the tuna salad, and other such "tasks" where their unique combination of flavours and texture promote them to "#1" pick...

Funny, I don't think I've disagreed with anyone that's posted to this thread, but what a valued vegetable in the kitchen arsenal for almost any recipe involving meat and veggies!

Lifter


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