There are two things I know for sure: The first is, it's time to start wearing elastic-waist-pants. And second, you need these onions on your T-day table. Seriously, they are so good and will go with every bite of turkey, stuffing, squash, Indian pudding - whatever your fork can hold and then they will make your leftovers taste even better.
This is a tried and true recipe from Smitten Kitchen, via New York Magazine, via Thomas Keller, from 2010. I stumbled upon the recipe a while back and finally got around to making it, and I've made it 3 times now. These onions will transform any weeknight dish into something amazing, they are great on pork, chicken, fish and on a burger they will blow your mind. Hyperbole? Possibly, but they really are that good!
The original recipe calls for pearl onions, but the markets didn't have any, but they did have some really beautiful cipollini onions, so that's what I used. The recipe also calls for blanching the onions in boiling water, then putting them into an ice bath to cool them down enough so they can be peeled and cleaned up a bit. It was a bit time consuming but not to worry, you can buy FROZEN pearl onions...duh! So WHEN you make this, not if but when, buy the frozen onions and save yourself some time! Oh, they are just as good with frozen as with fresh, I couldn't tell the difference at all.
Applewood-smoked bacon is fried until crisp, then cut into small pieces and then, hold the phone, the real magic happens...heavy cream is added to the bacon grease, along with freshly grated nutmeg. Your arteries might begin to tighten up at this point but pay no attention, if you do suffer some kind of cardiac event from eating these, it will be worth it, I promise. The onions are added to the cream mixture (along with a couple of splashes of Sherry) and they bubble along until they are cooked and soft, about 7 minutes or so.
When the cream mixture is almost gone, the onions will be done and ready to be topped with the bacon pieces and fresh chives. Now promise me this, just have one or two tastes, but do not stand at the stove and eat one after another, it's just rude.
Creamy Onions with Bacon and Chives - Adapted From Smitten Kitchen
1 lb. cipollini onions or 1 lb. bag frozen pearl onions
6 slices applewood-smoked bacon, cut into a small dice
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoons fresh chives, cut into small segments
kosher salt to taste
If using fresh onions: Blanch the onions for 3 minutes in a pot of boiling salted water. Drain, shock in a bath of ice water, and drain again. Peel the onions (making a slit with a paring knife down the side made this easiest for me), leaving a little of the root end intact. If using frozen onions, skip the peeling, let thaw for 10 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp, then remove it with a slotted spoon and drain it on paper towels. Leave only two tablespoons of the cooking fat in the pan, and add the onions, heavy cream and nutmeg. Add salt to taste. Cover the pot with a lid, leaving it a little ajar. Cook onions until they are nearly cooked through, about 90 percent of the way then remove the lid and finish cooking the onions while reducing the cream by half, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the sherry. Cook until heated through. Garnish with bacon and chives, serve warm. I'd suggest doubling the recipe, you won't be sorry.
I took a small bowl to the foodies down the street, they loved them and I'm pretty sure they will add them to their T-day line-up. Thanksgiving will be different for us this year, but one thing that will remain the same, we will have a table full of delicious food, turkey with all the trimmings and these onions will be front and center!