I’m well aware that a dish full of onions isn’t going to win me any food blogging awards.
The photos aren’t pretty enough and the ingredient list is missing key buzz words like kale, or quinoa, or chocolate ganache. But I’m posting this one anyways, because while it may not catch your eye at first glance, once you taste this apple cider braised pearl onion dish, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.
Pearl onions, if you aren’t familiar, are your regular onion’s little sister. They’re smaller, they’re sweeter, and peeling them is actually a form of torture.
That’s why I cheated and opted for frozen pearl onions (they come pre-peeled!), and I highly recommend you do the same. Although, if you’ve got someone you’d like to punish, then by all means buy a pound of fresh pearl onions and ask said person to peel them for you. I guarantee tears in under 5 minutes.
Once your onions are skin-free, you’ll mix them with butter, apples, and rosemary and then start the slow process of braising them in apple cider. Braising the onions helps break them down slowly while allowing them time to caramelize. I recommend doing this in a heavy bottomed skillet, preferably a cast iron, so that the onions receive even, solid heat throughout the process.
Speaking of cast irons, I’ve finally put together a resources page for you all. This is a list of all the kitchen tools I use and love, as well as cookbooks, photography, and blogging tools that have helped me build my blog. Feel free to browse. Hopefully you’ll find something you like.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 lb pearl onions, peeled (frozen is perfectly acceptable)
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
- 2 cups apple cider
- Kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- In a heavy bottomed skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, apples, and rosemary. Cook until onions start to brown slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Add in apple cider, ½ cup at a time, and cook until liquid has evaporated. Give the pan a good stir between adding more liquid.
- Season onions with salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe adapted from Vegetable Literacy.
I agree completely that the way to buy pearl onions is pre-peeled but should you find yourself in the position of having bags of very decidedly whole CSA pearl onions at some point, you can blanch them with the skins on and then they pop right out of the skins with a light squeeze.
writes narratologistWhat a great tip, I’ve never tried that. I’m now kind of hoping to get some in this years CSA just to overcome my hatred of peeling them manually!
writes VickyThis is really great!!! I bet it would go terrific over a nice pork tenderloin!
writes Girl and the KitchenYes – pork all the way (I served with pork chops).
writes Vicky[…] our Prather Ranch delivery had been dry brining overnight. Tonight we smoked them and paired with caramelized pearl onions and apple, braised in apple cider. To offset some of the sweetness of the cider we swapped 1/4 for apple cider vinegar, which […]
writes Jan 29: BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato); Smoked Pork Chop with Caramelized Pearl Onions and Apple – The semiSerious Foodies