Worth A Good Cry

Summer means sweet onions and we don't want to disappoint.  After curing our onions out on the field, they are finally ready for you to eat!  This season we will be harvesting the popular sweet Bermuda onions, the Spanish Yellow, Sierra Sweets (which are a maui type), and red Chianti onions.  You have to try each one because each one has a different robust flavor.  

In conversation with Esther Weiser yesterday, she mentioned that not enough people eat onions as a main dish. So she gave me this recipe for all of you to try:

Balsamic Sierra Sweet Onion Blossoms

-8 large Sierra Sweet Onions

-Course salt and freshly ground pepper

-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

-about 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

-1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Oil the bottom of the baking dish or pie dish large enough to hold the onions in a single layer.

Working with 1 onion at a time, peel the skin from the top of the onion, trimming off the long hairs but leaving the root end intact.  Using a sharp knife and starting at the stem end, cut the onion into eights or tenths almost through the root end.  Be careful not to cut all the way through.  Using your thumbs, pull the onion open slightly to form a blossom shape.  Set the onions, root ends down, in the prepared dish; they should be touching but not packing too tightly.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, then drizzle with the vinegar and olive oil.

Roast until the onions are tender when pierced with a fork and the tips are browned, about 35 minutes.  Transfer to a warmed platter and garnish with the parsley.  Serve immediately.