Roasted Pearl Onions

I found some pearl onions at the store this week and wanted to try some different things. This was the last of the onions, and I was roasting them for a beef garnish. I did it a little backwards, but this made it so they'd be done with no sauce, but so they'd be ready to be tossed into a sauce at the last second with other things. That's how a restaurant would do it, have them cooked already and waiting to be thrown in a sauce later.

Also, my butter timing would be different depending on what I wanted to do overall. That's hard to explain, but some kitchen people may understand.

Okay, so the onions are a little bigger than I would want, but you can't control what's in the bag (at a restaurant you may complain to the distributor if that problem persists). After peeling them, which takes a while, you're ready to go.

I got started with the following ingredients, besides kosher salt and pepper: a little red wine, some chicken stock, fresh thyme, some butter (in my case I used French butter), and the onions.

Start with hot oil and add the onions, and season with salt and pepper:

Then put them in the oven for a few minutes, but not letting them finish. After they get a little color, but still aren't done, retain them to the fire and add the butter and thyme. The thyme will pop and the aroma will be awesome:

As the butter bastes the onion (foams up over everything), add some wine, not too much:

As the wine reduces, add the stock and get it simmering again:

Now, return the lid and put it back in the oven. After ten or fifteen minutes, pull it out and check. The liquid/sauce will almost be gone, and below, those with a keen eye should be able to see that the pan's sauce is broken. That happens when you're trying to do this. This isn't about the sauce, it's about the onions.

Here's the final product, the soft and sweet onions over the sliced beef and rice. If I'd had a sauce going, I would've added them to it, but on this day my resources were limited.