Well, I followed through on at least one of my threats:
Onion dip, made from scratch using Alton Brown’s recipe.
I was genuinely surprised at how much liquid the onions gave up after I added the brown sugar, salt, and baking soda and let them sit for about 15 minutes. I was also a little surprised at how long it took to cook them down.
How does it taste? Well, in keeping with our Jeremy Clarkson theme…(warning! Language!)
Certainly had more taste to it than the last batch of dip I bought at the store.
I don’t think it is overwhelmingly oniony, but there’s a bit of onion taste there, and a fair amount of “tang” to it. I suspect that may be the vinegar and the Duke’s (remember, this isn’t the Food Network) that give it the tang.
This is a keeper. I’d make it again. And I still have about a cup of caramelized onion in the freezer…
Look! I made another thing!
Cocktail franks using a recipe from Vincent Price, reproduced on the Silver Screen Suppers blog. I’ve had a craving for these ever since I read the recipe, and this was my chance.
Of course I have Angostura Bitters in the house! Do you think I’m a Philistine?
Actually, I’ve taken to adding them to other (non-alcohol) things, like dried soups: it adds a certain flavor that I can’t quite pin down. It isn’t umami, but it feels close to that.
Honestly, I didn’t think this worked as well as the dip. It was a bit salty for my taste. However, I suspect there were several reasons for that:
- My proportions were off. I could only find 12 ounce packages of (Nathan’s) skinless franks, so I used two of those. Which is 24 ounces, or less than two pounds.
- Looking at that recipe, I assumed “1/2 teaspoon each of onion, garlic, and celery salt” meant 1/2 teaspoon of onion salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of celery salt. I wonder if, instead, Mr. Price meant 1/2 teaspoon of onion and garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of celery salt. If I were to make this again, I might try 1/2 teaspoon each of powdered onion and powdered garlic instead of the salts.
- I think I may have overcooked the butter.
- It may just be that it is supposed to be a little salty. This seems to be intended as a cocktail party appetizer, not dinner, and was possibly intended to get people drinking pink gins.
Still, it was a good, simple meal. And I even had a great dip to go with it.
That’s not pink gin in the glass. While I have Angostura and gin on hand, I just wasn’t in a drinking mood tonight.
I now have everything I need, except time, to make hot buttered rum and homemade eggnog as well. We will see how things go the rest of this week, but it might be next week before I get to those.