Onion Confit

I decided to try my hand at my first-ever onion confit. It was slightly more laborious than I expected-- the cooking and tending time in the oven lasted exactly the duration of one itty-bitty's nap-- and when it was done I thought, "Um, OK, now what am I going to do with all of this onion confit exactly?" But turns out it is very worth it. This is a nice "staple" to have handy in the fridge. I've reached for it countless times in the past week as a surprising zazz to turkey sandwiches, in making a vinaigrette to go over a spinach salad, and as a sturdy basis for an onion and goat cheese quiche. Oh, it was meant to go with chevre. Those French know what they're doing.

The confit's swan song proved no less dazzling as I warmed about 1/4 cup of the confit with a cup of leftover roasted cauliflower in 2-3 cups of vegetable broth. Once it was all simmered together for 15 minutes or so, I buzzed it through the blender with a dash (>1/4 c) of half and half. A little dollop of creme fraiche topped it off and weee-- never again shall cauliflower languish in my fridge.

Here is the recipe for the onion confit, adapted from a cookbook called The Vegetarian Table: France.

4 T butter
5 lbs yellow onions, cut into slices 1/4-3/8 inch thick (about 7 cups)
1/4 c olive oil
8 dried bay leaves
4 T herbes de Provence
1 T freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cut butter into several chunks and place them on 2 large baking sheets. Place baking sheets in the oven to melt the butter, about 4 or 5 minutes.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and spread out the slices onions on them. The layer of onions should be about 1 inch deep. Tuch the bay leaves amongst the onions, the sprinkle the onions with the herbs and black pepper. Drizzle olive oil evenly over the top.
Put baking sheets back in the oven and cook the onions, turning them in the oil and butter every 10 to 15 minutes, until they have turned a light golden brown and have reduced in volume by nearly half, 1-1 1/4 hours.
Remove from oven and let cool. Transfer to 1 or more clean, dry jars and cover tightly. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.