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Pickled Red Onions

A number of years ago, I was in charge of the food for about 250 young people and their adult leaders at a church-sponsored youth conference. As we got close to the date of the conference, the conference chairman looked over the menu.

“Pickled onions?” he asked in disbelief. “The kids aren’t going to eat that!”

“Just trust me,” I replied.

He did. The pickled onions were a hit.

Pickled onions are sweet, sour, and crunchy. They bring a crispy bite of acid that complements fish tacos and smoky meats, nachos and burgers, salads and beans.  You just can’t go wrong. Serve them in a bowl at the table, and people will gobble them up.

Pickled Red Onions

  • 2 large red onions
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt

Slice the onions in half through the root end. Trim the ends of the onions, and slice the onions into 1/8 inch wide half-moon pieces.

Blanch the onion slices in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain the onions in a colander. Dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar in a heavy non-reactive pan. Return the onions to the brine, and add enough cold water to just cover the onions.

Bring the brine to a boil over high heat. Simmer the onions for 1 minute.

Transfer the onions and the brine to a large glass jar. Store the jar in the refrigerator. The onions will become crisp and turn bright pink as they cool. They are as beautiful as they are tasty.

Variations:

  • Different types of vinegar bring different flavors to the table, so feel free to experiment.
  • Add 2 tablespoons Mexican oregano and 2 bay leaves to the brine to vary the flavor.
  • Add 6 to 8 cloves of peeled garlic to the onions in the brine to bring a richness to the brine. (Garlic makes just about everything better.)
  • If you want to bring some heat to the onions, add jalapeno slices or red pepper flakes to the brine.
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Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce

Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce

My culinary journey has taken me down the pathway of barbecuing and grilling. My pellet smoker has become a critical part of my cooking equipment We’ve smoked our Thanksgiving turkey, ribs, pork shoulder, and more. And the brisket . . . mmmm, brisket . . . is out of this world.

But smoking meat is only part of the process. Great barbecue requires great sauce. So I’ve gathered recipes from the masters, made some adjustments of my own, and developed a repertoire of “go to” sauces that can put burgers, ribs, and brisket over the top with flavor.

Steven Raichlen is a master of barbecue. His book Barbecue Sauces, Rubs and Marinades outlines the critical components of a good barbecue sauce.

Base: While most barbecue sauces use some sort of a tomato base, you can make a great sauce with mustard, vinegar, beef or chicken stock, or even mayonnaise as the base.

Sweetener: Sugar, honey, molasses, jams, jellies, syrups, and soda provide a sweetness that helps counter the acidity of the vinegar or other souring agent.

Souring agent: Vinegar or sour juices give barbecue sauce its distinctive punch.

Seasonings: Every sauce needs a salty component to help meld the sweet and sour ingredients.  Soy sauce, Worchestershire, fish sauce, miso, olives, and others bring the needed saltiness.

Heat: Many sauces include a heat factor. Chile peppers, ginger, black and white pepper, cayenne, red pepper flakes, wasabi, mustard, horseradish, and more. Choose a heat index that resonates with your taste buds.

Aromatics: As Raichlen notes, “Aromatics give barbecue sauce its personality.” Onions, garlic, fresh peppers, herbs, spices, liquid smoke, and more. For my money, few things whet my palate as well as the smell of garlic and onion sauteeing in butter.

Enrichers: Butter, olive oil, lard, bacon, beef stock, and others help round out the flavor of your sauce.

I smoked some pork ribs this weekend and needed to make some sauce to go with the ribs.  This sauce is one of my favorites.

It uses ketchup as a base and Dr. Pepper as a wild card sweetener. I like to up the flavor a bit by using Cherry Dr. Pepper. It’s flavorful and surprisingly easy to make.

Sautee your aromatics in butter, then add the remaining ingredients and bring everything to a boil.  Stir the sauce occasionally to keep it from burning. But otherwise, it requires little attention. Once you try it, you’ll never buy your barbecue sauce again.

Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce

From Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned

  • 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 12 oz. Cherry Dr. Pepper
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. Ancho chili powder
  • 1 tsp. fine ground white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Melt the butter in a heavy pan. Saute the onion and the garlic in the butter until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the flavors are well blended, which will take about 15 minutes. Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken, about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper if desired.

When it has cooled, blend the sauce in a blender until it is smooth. Store in the refrigerator.

Make about 5 cups.

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Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Pistachios

Two weekends each year (in April and in October), my family gathers with other members of our faith worldwide to participate in the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over two days, we listen to the general authorities and officers of the Church as they provide us with messages of hope and inspiration to guide our lives for the coming six months.

Modern communications allow us to participate in the conference from the comfort of our own home. And so we have turned the conference into a culinary experience as well as a spiritual one.

I like to make sweet rolls for our conference breakfast. In October, I made cinnamon rolls using challah dough as the foundation. But I’m always game for something new, so my eyes got big when I came across a recipe for Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Pistachios in the Breakfast 2020 issue of Fine Cooking magazine. Spoiler alert: it’s as good as it sounds.

Sweet raspberry preserves blend well with the tart lemon glaze. Toasted pistachios provide additional crunch and flavor. What a great way to start your day.

Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Pistachios

The Best of Fine Cooking: Breakfast 2020

Dough

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon yeast
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter,  softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup raspberry preserves
  • flour as needed

Glaze

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • Heavy cream as needed
  • 1/4 cup toasted pistachios, chopped

Making the Dough

In a small pan, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Watch it closely so it doesn’t boil over. Remove the milk from the heat, and melt the butter in the milk. Let the milk cool to 110* to 115*.

In a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, lemon zest, and salt on medium speed. Add the milk mixture and eggs and mix just to combine.

Knead the dough on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes in the mixer. If mixing by hand, turn out the dough onto the countertop and knead for about 12 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball. Place it in a buttered bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the dough aside to rise until doubled in size (about 1 to 2 hours).

Shaping the Rolls

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. Mix the sugar and salt in a small bowl.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12×16 inch rectangle. Using a spatula or our hands, spread the softened butter evenly across the dough. Then spread the preserves across the entire surface of the dough. Coat the preserves evenly with the sugar and salt mixture.

Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the long seam and the ends closed. Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 12 one-inch wide pieces. Place the rolls into the buttered dish. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise at room temperature until the rolls are touching (about 1 to 2 hours). During this second rise, preheat your oven to 350*.

Baking and Glazing

Whisk the egg yolk and about 2 teaspoons of water to form an egg wash. Brush the wash across the top of the rolls. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

While the rolls are cooling, mix the powdered sugar, butter, and lemon zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add heavy cream to bring the glaze to your desired consistency. Spread the glaze on the warm rolls. Sprinkle the pistachios over the glaze.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

It’s been a while since I last posted.

During the interlude, we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Civil Rights Day, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents Day.

I’ve graded student papers, traveled to Waco, Texas for a week of studies with my colleagues in the Executive LL.M. program in Litigation Management, completed my own final exams, prepared written materials for a continuing education course, and taught the course. And because the second trimester of my studies started on the heels of the first, I have plunged into another round of classes, while trying to keep up with my day job.

It’s been a busy few months.

Friday night, I asked Rebecca what she wanted for our Saturday breakfast. She suggested we have Lemon Poppy Seed Scones, something we had not tried before. Well, now we have, and so can you.

This is the same recipe that I regularly use when making scones, with the addition of lemon flavoring and poppy seeds. Try out the recipe, and let me know what you think in the comments.

ingredients

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 to 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
zest and juice of one medium lemon
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450*.

Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to mix.  Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of grains of rice. Mix in the poppy seeds.

Add the lemon juice and zest. Slowly blend in the heavy cream until the mixture forms a dough.

Roll (or pat) out the dough until it is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the scones using a biscuit cutter or knife. I use a 2-inch cutter, which typically gives me 12 scones.

Place the scones about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Glaze the top of the scones with heavy cream. You also can sprinkle on turbinado sugar if you like.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll be tempted to eat the scones as soon as they come out of the oven, but wait a few minutes first. The flavors intensify as the scones cool.