Knowing your onions......

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A couple of weeks ago I was approached by the lovely Gemma, at Phipps representing British Onions and asked if I would like to take part in a Gravy Box Challenge. Of course this ticked all the boxes. Great British produce, tasty homemade food and the chance to play in the kitchen....so of course I said yes! Within a couple of days my box of goodies arrived, complete with some absolutely delicious British Onions (the only sort I buy when I have no home grown ones available).

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So for the last couple of weeks we have been having different versions of Onion Gravy with our meals. Plain onion gravy, made simply by frying onions with a bit of flour and then adding stock, and many variations on that theme using the goodies they sent me to experiment with in the box in the top picture. The only thing I substituted was the Worcestershire Sauce, as a vegetarian I do not eat 'traditional' Worcestershire Sauce as it contains Anchovies (fish) so I use Biona Organic Worcester Sauce instead, almost exactly the same flavour but it spares the little fishes. ~

After much suffering on Lovely Hubby's part......yeah right!! The winning recipe was reached using the ingredients in the picture above.

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75g Butter (not shown)

2 Onions, halved and finely sliced

1 tbs plain flour

400mls Vegetable Stock (homemade, not shown)

Half a glass of Red Wine

1 tsp Worcester Sauce

2 tsp of English Mustard

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

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The onions were gently fried for about 10 minutes in the butter, with the lid on the pan, then the flour was added, cooked for 2 more minutes stirring all the time, and then all the other ingredients were added, vegetable stock, wine, Worcester Sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. The whole lot was then popped in the bottom oven of the Aga for about 15 minutes while Lovely Hubby's Venison Steak cooked. (With a 'normal' cooker you could just continue with a very slow simmer to allow the flavours to develop.) I added the juices from the rested Venison Steak to LH's portion after I had ladled mine out.

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We had this with some of the last of our homegrown potatoes, I was supposed to be having a couple of Quorn sausages with mine, but in my excitement at the developing taste of the gravy I forgot to put them in the oven, and as I had already had a large egg sandwich for lunch I was not too worried about any lack of protein in my evening meal. So I just had the gravy with mashed potatoes, it was a meal in itself.

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Now while I agree it was no oil painting to look at it was delicious, and that's what good home cooking is all about. This is something I will definitely be repeating. Although with a dish as adaptable as Onion Gravy you know you will always get a good result, even if the ingredients you have to hand vary from time to time.

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Thanks to the good folk at Phipps and British Onions for the chance to experiment (and eat some delicious meals) over the last couple of weeks. I am open to doing more of these reviews/challenges if anyone wants to get in touch, but beware I tell the truth and will only recommend the very best!!

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But you really can't go wrong with the great British Onion can you....where would be be without them?

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Sue xx