This is my new favorite recipe: Baked onion

I've been watching videos that are basically "What did poor people eat in the 1800s?". Some are pretty amazing.
 

I baked a vidalia for an hour at 350.  No butter, no salt. It was really good.  I can't wait to try other varieties. 
 

Roasted onions from 1808

When I worked at Kirkland's in the 90s they sold an "onion baking crockery" that was just a clay plate with a clay hat. They sold a bunch of them for some reason.

I guess if I'm going to bake an onion I might as well quarter it, cut up some potatoes in chunks, and bake it all together. Did that the other night, even kids loved it. Not sure if I'm going to just eat the onion alone though.

In reply to slefain :

You're overthinking this. It's winter in the 1800s.  You can't afford potatoes. 
Just bake an onion and eat it. 
 

Onions are seriously underrated, we have them as sides all the time. We do that with garlic, too, spread it on fresh bread.

At work I cut an onion into slices about 1/2"-3/4" thick, olive oil, salt and pepper, put it in the George Foreman about 10 minutes.

We have this sticky onion tart as a side regularly

I don't know if anybody eats more onions than we do.

In reply to Peabody :

That sounds awesome.  I will try that. 

Damn it now I gotta try this.  It's described as good but carmelize at all with that short time?

In reply to Stampie :

I did it for an hour.  The skin is your foil. I wouldn' t call it carmelized, but the end result is sweet and tender. 

Gonna have to give that a shot. I've never heard of just baking onions!

I really wish I could grow onions.  Garlic was easy, but I've never gotten an onion to do anything.  

As for Townseds- I've been watching them for a long time- it's all food from the 18th century- mostly for North America.

My kind of recipe! I'll definitely try it.

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I used to cut onions in half and grill them on the bbq, but they take so long. The GF takes 10 minutes, or less, and is every bit as good. Great for a last minute side when you can't think of anything 

As I remember, Angela's Ashes started with young Frankie McCourt on the streets trying to score an onion for his mother to cook for his dying baby brother. Seemed random at the time, but that pic of a big roasty onion on a baking sheet pretty much brings it into focus. Yum.

They're also amazing foil-wrapped on a grill!  A touch of butter, salt and pepper, and send it.  Once you can bruise it like a rotted apple, pull them, serve with meat of choice... So so good! 

I toss an onion in the oven every time my wife is cooking a roast or chicken. They are one of my favorite foods. 

I'm going to have to try this. 

And this recipe on my pellet smoker

https://savorthebest.com/smoked-onions/

We go through probably 10 onions a week on average. It is sort of muscle memory for me, I go into the kitchen and start cutting up an onion. 

Wife: What are you making?

Me: Not sure yet, just started cutting the onion

Wife: Ooooh, lets make.... 

Her grandpa used to grow them and would just eat them like apples. 

Now, for baked onion... One of my favorite meals/sides is to cut up 3-8 onions (I prefer to use at least 2 different kinds), kind of a mix between sliced and Julienne, throw them in a big casserole dish or enamal pan or dutch oven, drizzle with olive oil, and throw them in the oven at about 325 for an hour or two - just watch them. So good. 

I think I might have a new hobby. "Cooking 1800s-People Foods".

Onion + oven = hot onion

Onion + oven + salt = fancy hot onion

I'm coming back to this thread when I get home tonight. 

Peabody said:

Onions are seriously underrated, we have them as sides all the time. We do that with garlic, too, spread it on fresh bread.

At work I cut an onion into slices about 1/2"-3/4" thick, olive oil, salt and pepper, put it in the George Foreman about 10 minutes.

We have this sticky onion tart as a side regularly

I don't know if anybody eats more onions than we do.

 

I know this is a tangent, but I can't think of Jamie Oliver without thinking of the way "Uncle Roger" constantly rips him and his food to shreds. But that tart does sound delicious. 

In reply to confuZion3 :

The Townsends have some really great videos. Many of them are very tasty. I prefer their ketchup recipe to anything modern. 

In reply to confuZion3 :

Library of Congress I think it is has cookbooks online if you go digging. I think the oldest they have is from the early 1600s scanned in. Lots of stuff 17 and 1800s though. Harvard library has them too

Had an idea for a YouTube channel about a year ago and found them. I don't remember which revolutionary to modern English translator I used, but you'll need one for measurements and just figuring out what some ingredient is. 

In reply to z31maniac :

The tart is delicious, but who is Uncle Roger?

We watch a few of his shows and have a number of his recipes in rotation. The thing is that they're usually simple meals with straightforward ingredients, that stress simple technique and are often greater than the sum of their parts. After a while you start to see a pattern with certain ingredients and when he starts a recipe, like a 70's detective show, I can usually tell what's coming next. That's not bad, though because a lot of the often used ingredients and techniques transfer well to improvisation, and other recipes. His shows have made me a much better cook.

But I can understand how some people may not like that style of cooking, or food.

Onions and sweet red peppers, chopped coarsely and sauteed in butter with a salmon (or random fish) filet kinda poached on top, with Thai sweet red curry sauce and lemon juice.

Always drop an onion in a beef roast if you intend to make gravy.  Blend the onion in when you add the thickener.

Roast onion, split down toward the root three or four times.  Flower-like, add balsamic vinegar.

In reply to Peabody :

Uncle Roger is an... well, I guess we'd say he's an influencer, but in any case he's a Malaysian internet personality who reviews different chefs Asian dishes. Jamie Oliver's Egg Fried Rice was reviewed particularly harshly. 

Uncle Roger HATE Jamie Oliver Egg Fried Rice

Well I already screwed mine up.  I normally prep while the oven warms up.  Prep time 15 seconds, oven will take another 5 minutes to warm up.