No breakfast this morning.
<ins datetime="2003-11-13T15:24:00-05:00">I walked over to the Telecommunications Building this morning and back before lunch. I went to a “Climate Lunch” today. Very interesting, I strongly support theses types of meetings. People from disparate groups get together over food to discuss what is right and what is wrong with the organization. Very good. Lunch was ho-hum. There was gnocci, but it was relatively tasteless. There was a nice anitpasto. There was a grilled chicken breast with mozzarella and roasted red pepper on a focaccia. While it looked and sounds good, it too was relatively tasteless and the chicken was dry. There was an interesting carrot and ginger soup that was good, though I probably would not recommend it. At least the conversation was good.</ins>
<ins datetime="2003-11-13T18:24:00-05:00">I guess Gretchen felt like she was in need of a little comfort food as well, because we had a feast tonight. Dinner was a grilled marinated pork chop, cloved onions, mashed potatoes and gravy. We used the leftover marinade with a little chicken stock and corn starch to make the gravy. Gretchen is going to take the left over mashed potatoes and make a shepherd’s pie. If you have never had cloved onions you are missing a real treat. So simple, so thrifty, so delicious.</ins>
Cloved Onions
Traditionally, this recipe is made with whole pearl onions. They tend to keep their shape better than the chunked large white onions that we use, but we do not grow pearl onions. If you are concerned about the presentation, you can substitute 1½ pounds of pearl onions for the 3 to 4 large white onions below. The taste is the same, regardless. We serve these as a side dish to beef, pork, and poultry, but they are also great as a garnish. Sweet and savory.
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 large white onions (chunked)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
Directions
- Boil or microwave the onions to cook them. Ten minutes should do.
- Place the butter in a medium frying pan, add the cloves on top of the butter. Heat the butter and the cloves over a medium heat until the butter melts.
- If you boiled the onions, drain them.
- Add the onions to the pan, stirring lightly until they are coated with butter.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar over the onions.
- Allow the onions to cook, turning gently often, until the butter and sugar have reduced to a syrup-like glaze.
- Reduce the heat to its lowest setting to keep the onions warm until you are ready to serve.
Credit, where credit is due, this recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, the 52 year old book of classic american-style economy cooking. The version with this recipe is long out of print.