Caramelized Onions

Caramelized onions and browned onions are often used as interchangeable terms, and although they are related, they are not precisely the same thing.  Caramelized onions are cooked significantly longer, until the natural sugars in the onions are, well, caramelized.  Caramel is in essence simply browned sugar, and despite the bite onions have, they are very sweet as well, which means they are full of natural sugars.

Many recipes, especially those which will feature the onions directly, such as fajitas, call for caramelized onions; cooking onions this way breaks down the compounds which give onions their bite, and leaves them rich and sweet tasting.  Properly caramelized onions are sufficient as a side dish all by themselves, or feature well with other sauteed vegetables, like mushrooms, peppers, squashes, tomatoes, and more.

Making a Simple Rue

The basis to many recipes, especially (but not limited to) anything with a ‘white’ or cream sauce, is a simple rue (or roux). Most simply put, it is flour, to thicken the sauce, which has been sautéed in butter to get rid of the ‘floury’ taste that it would give the food if you added it directly.
When making a rue sauce, the general rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of butter (or other oil for the calorie-conscious) for every cup of liquid. This makes a fairly thick sauce, just about perfect for brown gravy. Use a higher or lower rue-to-liquid ratio as needed.