Sweet-Sour Onions

Cook about two dozen small white onions covered in salted water until almost tender. They should all be about the same size.

Drain and peel the onions. Do it when they cool down.

Heat about 3 tablespoons of butter in a heavy skillet. I use a bit more.

Add the onions, cook over medium heat until golden (not brown---but it's okay if they do brown a little).

Remove the onions with a slotted spoon. I put them in a bowl covered over with a towel. The point is to keep them warm.

Add a tablespoon, or a little more, of butter or margarine to your skillet and add about one tablespoon of flour, not much more. 

Carefully and slowly stir in some vegetable/vegan broth or bouillon (for Lent) or beef broth or bouillon (other times).

Stir this carefully, let it thicken but be careful not to let it get lumpy or burn.

Stir in two tablespoons of cider vinegar. (Some folks use wine vinegar.)

Add one or two tablespoons of sugar if you like that. Most folks do.

Taste it. Adjust it to your taste.

Remember those warm onions? Add those in now.

Cover, let the pan set on low heat, and shake the pan or stir carefully and very quickly to prevent sticking. Really, it's better to shake the pan than stir, believe me.

It should be done in 5 minutes or so, not much longer.

You can sprinkle it with parsley if you like. We don't eat enough parsley, do we?

I think that this recipe came from the Carpathian Cookery cookbook done by the folks at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown, Pa. Whether it did or didn't, that's a great cookbook and it stays in print. I've been through three of them and used to give them as gifts. You can try e-mailing them at carpathiancookery@gmail.com to get one of your own.