Baked Onion Blossoms

A few weeks ago the Senior Center was given a box of fresh Vidalia Onions.

I got so excited when I saw them, and I immediately started making plans for them, lots and lots of plans.

Vidalia Onions have got to be my favourite kind of onion.   But I won't turn down onions in any form actually.

I love onions, you can cook with them, caramelize them, eat them raw, and you can do this with them.

Bake them after cutting them into blossoms.  And they are so good.

To start with, you need onions.   I like Vidalia's but any onion will work, you do need not a round onion, but one that is a little flatter. 

Peel the onion carefully and cut the root off, leaving a level spot.
Then cut down from the stem end crosswise making at least four even cuts. 

 But don't cut all the way through, just down to the root.

Place on a greased pan and drizzle about a teaspoon of good olive oil over the top, then a bare sprinkle of salt.  Make sure you don't crowd them, they need room to 'blossom' out .

Yeah, I know I said to add salt.   And I usually don't, but the very slight hint of salt here helps the onions' natural sweetness come out.
Bake in a moderate oven, about 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
They'll look like this.

A little browned and almost cooked all the way through.
Take a spatula and very carefully slip underneath each 'blossom' and transfer them to a different pan,
like this.

Add about 1/4-1/2 cup water, cover and let bake an additional 15 minutes.
Remove and serve.
We served them yesterday on top of the Mojo Pork,

and in the past served them as a side to the Chicken and Dumplings.

These are are so good.

I think you could also serve them with a dipping sauce, but really, I don't think you need anything other than the onions.

BTW, that lovely fond that's left in the bottom of the pan after baking, is wonderful added to homemade stock.  Any kind of stock.