French Onion Dip
Software:
- 1 cup of white or yellow onions
- 4oz. of beef broth
- 1 good-sized garlic clove
- 16oz of sour cream
- 1 teaspoon of Worcerstershire sauce
- Extra vigin olive oil
- salt + white pepper (black pepper is fine too)
Preparation:
Dice the onions fine. No one wants huge chunks of onions hanging off their potato chips.
Smash and chop the garlic.
Put a non-iron skillet pan over lowish heat. More heat than for a sweat but far less than for a saute. When the pan is hot, add a puddle of oil to the pan. How much? Enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but not more. This isn’t a deep fry.
Add the onions and garlic to the pan. Throw a pinch of salt on to the veggies. Let ‘em sit there for 20 minutes. You’re caramelizing the onions. Give them a stir ever minute or two so that you don’t burn them.
When the onions are golden brown and delicious, move them to the sides of pan. Deglaze the pan with the beef broth. Pour the liquid into the pan and using a wooden spoon, scrap up the frond from the pan. Did you notice that the onions sucked up the broth? That’s the secret.
Remove the onion/garlic mass to bowl for cooling. I recommend a glass bowl for this, but whatever you use will not affect the final taste.
If you added 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, you wouldn’t ruin the dip.
Slop into a mixing bowl the sour cream and the worcestershire sauce. Stir until mixed.
When the onion/garlic mass is cool enough to touch, add to the sour cream. If you add the hot mass to the cream, it could curdle.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Do not over salt, especially if you’re planning on serving this with potato chips. And I recommend serving this with potato chips.
I suspect that adding an ounce or two of brandy or cognac at the deglazing stage would be the right thing to do, if you’ve got such things on hand.
Some people will want to replace up to 6 oz of the sour cream with mayo. I think this makes dip too runny, but it is your food to play with.
Serving options:
With potato chips (Cape Cod chips are my favorite) or with a veggie assortment (e.g. carrots and celery).