blooming onion soup

2014-05-12

Don't you just hate it when it seems that all your effort in the garden was for nothing? I bought a package of chives seeds, a fairly small onion relative with pretty purple blooms. What came up was these very tall things that are probably some kind of bunching onion. I let my 'chives' go to bloom in the hope of seeing those pretty flowers. Instead I ended up with bunching onions that were way too old to be used as green onions.

Rather than throwing them away, I made onion soup, but one that is not at all like the better-known French Onion Soup. Depending on your personal palate, you may find that either the onions or the mustard dominate in this soup. Marielos took a sip—bwerk, onions!—while I didn't taste the onions at all, only the mustard.

BE WARNED:

Blooming onions smell and taste much stronger than younger plants. I can cut large onions without a problem, but these make me cry! The long soaking and cooking times help to reduce the penetrating onion smell and taste. Soak the onions 30 minutes or more before using and wash thoroughly.
Blooming onions have a rigid stem full of woody fibers. Running these through a blender - even for a long time - does not make it any more pleasant to eat those fibers. Strain and filter the soup. Use a food mill first and a fine strainer or a filter after that. See Fennel Soup recipe for more details.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for # servings:

Blooming (bunching) onions, about 1 lb. (Pic2)
olive oil
2 tbsp. of your favorite mustard
2 quarts of chicken stock
S&P
optional:
- 1 lb. fresh tomatillos
  or 1 pint of canned tomatillos

Pic1: blooming onion soup

Directions

Pic2: blooming onions
Pic3: load the pot

Cut the roots off the onions with ¾ inch of the plant.
Plant and regrow those if you like.
Cut, peel and discard all wilted parts of the onions’
Cut all healthy white and green parts of the onions in 2" pieces.
You can include the flower heads, or you can reserve them as garnish or table decoration.
Heat the olive oil in a 6-qt. pot.
Stew the onions 30-60 minutes until the onion stems start falling apart.
Add chicken stock, tomatillos, mustard, S&P to taste
Bring to boil and let simmer 60 min.

Removing woody fibers that can hurt you:

Pic4: woody fibers, don't eat them
Pic5: strain AND filter before you drink this

Use a cup blender to puree ALL of the soup in small batches.
Strain and filter the blended soup to remove the fibers. (Pic4+5)
Use a food mill first and a fine strainer or a filter after that.
Discard the woody fibers.
Reheat the soup.
Adjust the seasoning.
Serve and enjoy.
Serving suggestion:
- This soup is also excellent when chilled!

Decorative onions

Pic6: blooming onions
Pic3: onion flowers
Pic4: it's looking at you

Decorative onions

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org