TOMORROW (Saturday August 15) is Julia Child’s birthday. The proposition is – cook something from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (or some other Julia recipe). And if you haven’t seen it already, go to Julie and Julia.
That is kind of what we plan to do, spurred on by a post by “Doc Paulie” - Paul Bacino elsewhere.
Through an odd convergence, I also was convinced to look for onions by an email from my brother in law, who lives some 300 miles away, raving about Walla Walla Onions. These can be found at Costco for about $8 per bag. He said they are fabulously delicious, you can just roast one and eat it, no tears and no “repeating.” Whatever that is.
So I think we are going to make an onion tart and go to the movie. Maybe we’ll have lots of elbow room in our movie seats after eating a pound of onions…
I hope some other people pick a Julia recipe and make it this weekend. Martin’s chicken in vinegar recipe also looks fabulous.
Great idea, Frank. Steve and I were hoping to get to Julie & Julia this weekend, but I may have to pick a Julia recipe too.
Walla Walla onions are a staple here in summer, and I’ve been using them a lot this month. I slice them thinly with a mandoline and saute them slowly until they’re deeply caramelized. They’re like onion candy.
Melissa – are the onions too sweet for a Pissaladiere?
One of our favorite dishes from MTAOFC has been the “supremes de volaille” with mushrooms and cream sauce. Basically gave that up when I learned that my cholesterol was through the roof but if I had to switch recipes I might go there. It’s a little like what Martin Barz posted but minus all the vinegar.
I don’t think so-- not considering the other flavors in the dish-- but if you’re concerned, sauté a few slices of the onion and taste them first. I use Walla Wallas pretty much anywhere I’d use yellow onions.
The onions worked fine – but it’s a slightly bland dish. If I made it again I might slice some green Zebra tomatoes on the top and tear up some basil leaves – after cooking. Actually maybe go the whole nine yards and combine the tomatoes and basil with fresh mozzarella and have a Capresi salad on an edible plate. The green Zebras are sweet and the would complement the onions.
Seeing the movie yesterday was just lovely, we really really enjoyed it.

Wow, that was bland? With sweet onions, oil cured olives, and anchovies, I’d expect it to be pretty intense! I can see where it might benefit from something acidic… but Steve piped in over my shoulder to offer that he prefers regular onions in dishes like that. So much for the sweet onion flammekuchen I planned to make this week ![wink [wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif)
I’ve seen versions on the internet where there were twice as many anchovies, that might help. Louise made a great buttery pie crust and cooked it in a tart pan that was too wide, maybe 11" diameter. So the area of the tart was about twice what it should have been (at 8" diameter) and when I looked into the oven it was obvious that I would never hit the “bubbling” stage. So I think part of our problem was the thin layer of onions, you could taste the crust more than the onions. And somehow my first piece did not contain even one anchovy, although it had a couple of those great salty olives. At any rate the same onions on a smaller crust would probably taste a lot stronger and better.
Still not totally decided about whether other onions would be better. I suppose I have a suspicion that they would. One of the “selling points” for Walla Walla Onions is that they don’t make you cry. What that tells me is that there is more sugar, and less of everything else, and some of that everything else is what makes you want another piece of Pissaladiere.
Exactly. ![[thumbs-up.gif] [thumbs-up.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f84c5acc11486ee4baba6dee6cf61dbd133abb18.gif)
Super-sweet onions (like super-sweet corn, but that’s a whole 'nother thing) sacrifice something for all that sweetness. I think sweet onions are awesome in their raw form, but for deep, soulful cooked flavor, I think regular old yellow onions are the way to go.