Posts tagged ‘spreenkles’

Jan 26

Spreenkle #3

While we’re on the subject of onions, and since there’s clearly so much more fun to be had with them…

Did you know that if you slice rings from an onion – red onions are especially good for this – and submerge them in a nice icy bath for maybe 10 – 15 minutes, they will have crisped up beautifully and lost the bite and bit of harshness they have when eaten raw? (Drain them and dry with paper towels.) This works especially well when combining in a salad. I highly recommend it!

Did you know that if you submerge little pearl onions in boiling water for a mere 30 seconds and then drop them into a colander, they’ll shed their skins with very little help from you? You can then go on to caramelize or saute them or whatever you fancy doing with your pearls.

By the way, I gathered up all the onion tips others so generously shared and dropped them into the “spreenkles” page above.

Sometimes when I go missing for a few days from here it’s because I had a plan…that plan began with a recipe, or merely a shopping list of ingredients…I proceeded to preparations and photos along the way…the final, loving attention given to the dish’s culmination…and then I move on to the part with the fork. Sometimes I’ve even started the writing before I’ve raised my fork. And then I make a disappointing discovery at the table. It tastes fine — and fine just isn’t good enough to share with the lovely likes of you. And so I move on to another plan and go through a similar process, sometimes even trying to refine before finally giving up, cutting losses and moving on once again. I may still come back to it later. But you only read about the success stories around here. I want to be sure you know though, just in the interest of full disclosure, that there are, at times, rather pathetic flops or meals just fine. So if you don’t hear from me for days, presume that I’m going through another one of those stretches. I like to play with food, as many of us do, and sometimes messes just happen.

But this time, it could be several days before you hear from me because family’s coming, and my arms and my heart will be fully occupied. And there just may be a few happy tears. Onions or no onions.

Have a colorful & fun weekend!

And maybe a few tulips on your table…

See you in a few days!

love,

spree

p.s. I know JUST what I’m posting next and I think you’re going to LOVE it! I already used my fork on it!

Jan 24

39 Comments

Spreenkle #2

A few helpful things to know about onions and our tears.

a) cold onions won’t make you nearly so teary. Try refrigerating onions 30 minutes before you need to cut them.

b) onions cut with santoku knives (it is said) are less likely to make you cry because of the knife’s extra-fine edge. What does that have to do with the price of butter? A finer blade is more apt to slice between the onion cells as opposed to through them — and through them is what causes them to burst and release the chemical that makes us weep.

c) I’ve tried this, and it’s possible that placebo effect would account for some of its success, but I’ve found it helpful. Try slicing an onion directly next to the sink, with the cold water running. Why this seems to work could have something to do with the negative ions released from the cascading water – much like what takes places (on a far grander scale of course) in waterfalls – the negative ions present in the area around a waterfall result in the peaceful sort of happiness we experience when we are too.

If spreenkles are entirely new to you, you can see where they were introduced here. You’ll see them accumulating in the page with the same name in the header above.