Once you get diced onion simmering in a beautiful olive oil, with a pinch of salt and a sprig of fresh thyme or even a sprig of parsley and maybe even a few red pepper flakes until it tastes like just a little bit of fabulousness, a little bit of YES!!!, the world is yours It’s going to take you 20 to 25 minutes longer than you might normally give an onion, but if you are asking me, a little bit of fabulousness and a little bit of YES!!! is only going to do a person favors.
Add chopped pancetta someone somewhere has cured with love until it is beginning to crisp at the edges. Let all of that rest on a plate off to the side, and in that same pan, with a little more olive oil, sear off a pound of shrimp without crowding them in the pan, over medium high heat and salting them first. ( Don’t be tempted to overcook; only until it is no longer translucent.) Toss that together with your onion and bacon mixture. Serve it on top of collards that have been slowly simmering in their own pot of salted water with a clove of garlic and a spill of olive oil until tender. Another 20 minutes of stirring and sifting and you’re going ALL the way with cornbread.
Or if that’s too much over the top, you could just toss the lovely onions with some pasta cooked until barely tender, with or with out the bacon and maybe fresh marjoram fried up with the onions.
Or don’t mention the onions to anyone and save them for yourself to spread under cover onto bits of creamy on the inside and downright dangerous on the outside baguette. You pick.
Okay ladies.. I went ALL THE WAY with Faye.. today – over pizza.. I did exactly what you told me in in this blog…. diced onion simmering in a beautiful olive oil, with a pinch of salt and a sprig of fresh thyme and a sprig of parsley – I browned my ground beef ALL THE WAY seperately then mixed the two together… Oh Man – the pizza dough came out perfectly – I cheat and use Betty Crocker Pizza Dough mix – two of them for one pizza – put olive oil and cornmeal on the pizza stone, rolled the dough out and baked it for 10 mins then put the pizza sauce, meat / onion mixture and mozzarella on top and in the oven at 425 for 15 mins – PERFECTION.. and the kids all gobbled it up!!! every bit!!!!
Very very happy you are home safe and sound and still cooking and writing like a whirling dervish. I have signed up to make dinner once a week for the next month for a family who just had their baby #4 and I will go no further than this installation of FAYEFOOD for the menu. Before re-visiting your blog I admit I was considering heating a frozen entree for them. But you have shamed me – no inspired me – back to the kind of cooking that requires good olive oil. – your Hank