Onion Gratin

WiGal's Note:

After looking at the kind review of Chef#296809, I have revised it and made it myself. A recipe adapted from the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association but with quite a few changes. The directions do not include the time to make the hard boiled eggs. If you love cooked onion, I hope you give this a try! DH and I think it is delicious. And a great way to use those leftover hard boiled eggs and bacon.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups onions, quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup light cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, to taste
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced
• 1 cup gruyere cheese or 1 cup swiss cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled-or 4 strips

Directions:

1. In a large size heavy skillet melt the butter and cook the onions over medium heat until soft, between 15 and 20 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. You do NOT want the onions to be crunchy later.
2. Add flour, stirring, and cook about 1 minute.
3. Gradually stir in milk and cook 4 minutes; add cream, salt, and pepper.
4. Remove skillet from stove top and set aside to cool slightly.
5. Preheat oven to 400*F.
6. When oven is pre-heated, taste sauce and adjust with more salt and pepper to suit your taste preferences (I like to add quite a bit more pepper).
7. After taste adjustment, add 1 beaten egg to the cooled onion mixture and whisk thoroughly to combine.
8. Pour the onion sauce into a lightly sprayed pie dish.
9. Cover with layer of egg slices and sprinkle with cheese.
10. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes-depends upon your oven.
11. Top with bacon crumbles.
12. Allow to set for 5 minutes so that it will set up and be easier to plate.

Reviews

[Lori Mama]

We really enjoy the taste of caramelized onions, so wanted to give this a try. Very nice. Unfortunately, it didn't set up quite how I expected, but still tasty. Made for Everyday Holiday Tag Game. :)

[twissis]

Made as a prize for the *Best of 2008* cookbook game, we liked this a lot but the recipe & prep did require a fair amt of tweaking to get a good result. As agreed, I made this as a casserole in a pie plate as the volume of ingredients & layering did not allow prep in 4 individual serving dishes & this generously serves 6 IMO. I used a mix of red + white onion & the onion was still crunchy after 4-5 min. I agree 45 min is too long to cook the onion & feel cooking them to the start of caramelising would be ideal + add a flavour boost. There also was an excess of sauce & I suggest reducing the milk amt by 1/4 cup. Changing to 6 servings + reducing the milk amt will also improve the nutritional data. Salt & pepper are matters of pers pref, but I found it in need of both & suggest tasting the sauce & adjusting S&P prior to assembly. Oven time was spot-on for melting the cheese + lightly browning & I suggest a rest time b4 serving to allow for best texture. For me in the future, I will prob do 2 more things: 1) Omit the bottom egg layer as it tended to get lost there, but was welcome atop the mixture & 2) Add an egg to the sauce mix to aid set-up & ease of serving. Thx for sharing this recipe w/us. It is really quite good & I hope others will try it. :-)