Day 300.
It is the 300th day of the year, and the day my youngest turns 4. If it wasn't for writing the day of the year each morning, I'd have no idea that every leap year her birthday falls on the 300th day. That's kind of neat.
She was awake at 5:51 this morning, hopping on her bed. Thankfully her older sister continued to sleep. She and Adam are in the living room playing with her birthday request: a toy barbecue. It has wheels, a little rotisserie complete with plastic chicken, and 'realistic' cooking sounds.
She couldn't be happier.
I made these onions last night on a whim because I had found this recipe in one of the Cooking Light magazines my mom brought over, and I liked the picture. They tasted fantastic and would be great paired with a nice juicy steak.
The Ingredients.
adapted from Jan. 2008 edition of Cooking Light, page 164
--2 pounds tiny onions (sometimes called boiler or pearl onions)
--1/2 cup raisins (one box)
--1 T butter
--2 T balsamic vinegar
--1 T sugar
--1/4 tsp kosher salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/4 cup pine nuts
The Directions.
I used a 6 quart crockpot, but anything 4 quarts and up will work.
Cut the top and bottom off of all of the onions and peel away the skin. If you get some of the onion and peel that off an outer layer, that's okay. It takes a while to peel the onions; make sure you're in a good mood.
Put the onions in the crockpot and toss with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the pat of butter and the raisins. Toss in the pine nuts.
Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours, stirring every 45 minutes or so. I cooked ours for a bit more than 3 hours, and stirred 3 times. I wanted the onions to get brown and caramely on all sides.
The Verdict.
Adam and I liked this a lot. This would be a great accompaniment to a holiday meal, or to bring as an addition to a potluck dinner.
It looks fancy, and tastes fancy, but is easy to throw together. The raisins plumped and took on the vinegar flavor, and the pine nuts added a bit of crunch and some smokiness.
I'm off to eat a plastic chicken. I can't wait.
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