Essential Skills. (the Onion)

Ok, so I been pretty much going at recipes only so far and I'm sure you're all wondering where the excitement in food is. Well, let me start.

Onions are perhaps the most brilliant ingredient and the base of so many foods.

Have you ever smelt the aroma of garlic and onions slowly browning in a little oil. It's the building block of many a good meal. It's what we often associate with cooking, that smell.

But actually browning onions and garlic is something so many people get wrong. The results of this step are the difference between mediocre food and wow!!!!

To start with pre heat your pan. Your pan should be non-stick as most pans are now. You wanna heat it over medium to medium high. WARNING!!!! Remember different burner sizes will give off more heat. It may sound like a dumb point, but is one people often neglect. Even when following a recipe from a book they think all ovens and stove tops are the same. They aint.

Once the pan has had a while to get warm add a little oil, not too much but enough to evenly coat the base of the pan thinly. If the pan is too cold this will seem slow, let the pan heat a little more.

Add the garlic and the onions and continue to stir and observe. If any start to burn discard. Pan is too hot. Brown or copper is good. Black is screwed. You need to start over if you get any black. Remember you are browning.

If doing just a small amount of onion say 1/2 to one small onion this process should take about 5-7 minutes. The onions should be a lovely golden brown. Now you are ready to start adding your other ingredients.

If doing a large amount of onions, say you are making a curry, there is the recipe book way to do it and the way I was taught. The way I was taught takes a little longer, but is worth the wait.

Use a reasonable amount of oil in the bottom a saucepan and add all your onions over a low-medium heat. Then throw the lid on the pan. Keep an eye on them and stir every so often. It may take about 20 minutes to evenly brown but when you smell the results you will be amazed. This is also a good process for making onion marmalade or if you wanna do onions for a BBQ just chuck the pan over a warmish part of the BBQ or a side burner and let them simmer while you cook the rest.