Onions

FOOD Layers of Deceit Why do recipe writers lie and lie and lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? “ Caramelizing Onions from Simply Recipes on Vimeo.   Here, telling the truth about how to prepare onions for French onion soup, is Julia Child: "[C]ook slowly until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Blend in the salt and sugar, raise heat to moderately high, and let the onions brown, stirring frequently until they are a dark walnut color, 25 to 30 minutes." Ten minutes plus 25 to 30 minutes equals 35 to 40 minutes. That is how long it takes to caramelize onions  [Layers of Deceit, via Gerard ] Those bastards!  No wonder my French onion soup never comes out right.  I just looked it up in my Complete American Test Kitchen cookbook.  Here's their shortcut. “ .Fortunately we found that if you first cooked the onions , covered, in a hot oven for two and a half hours, we only needed to deglaze the onions on the stovetop three or four times. ” To make this all worthwhile I'm going to start with 40-50 pounds of onions next time.  That ought to yield enough to make about four bowls of FOS.  ”