Seth's Super Onion Mixture

I know I've said this before about my cooking style, but I have developed a few habits that I keep returning to in order to enhance the flavor of my cooking.

My super onion mixture is one of them. I know I'm not the first, nor will I be the last, to use onions and garlic in my cooking. Indeed many cultural food traditions use sauteed onions and garlic as the base for many dishes. However, it's worth posting here because this mixture is less about any particular recipe, and more about technique.

Why is it super? Well, garlic should be enough to explain that, but I actually use both onion and fennel to give this mixture a greatly enhanced flavor.

Super Onion Mixture
1 large yellow or brown onion, sliced thinly
1 large fennel bulb (or two smaller ones), sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 T. kosher salt
2 T. black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350°.

In a large oven-save saute pan, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium heat. When pan is hot, add sliced onion, fennel, garlic, and salt.

Saute this mixture for about 10 minutes until the onions and fennel just begin to look translucent. You're only trying to sweat the vegetables, not trying to brown them at this point. That's what the oven is for.

Place the saute pan in the oven and cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil. This will help the onions not brown too quickly. After 20 minutes, remove the foil. Stir every 10 minutes until the onions are a deep, caramelized brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Add your black pepper, and mix these with mashed potatoes or other roasted vegetable (such as sweet potato medallions).

Sorry about the photo quality in these photos. What you see above is sweet potato medallions with onions and fennel, alongside macaroni and cheese and sauteed pork chop.