Hell Raiser Grilled Onions
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Hell-Raiser Grilled Onions
I try to impart on Bareboat Chartering students that a good meal is not only possible aboard, but relatively easy to accomplish with just a little planning. Sailing is about destinations as well, and going ashore to eat, but there’s plenty of time for that after learning the basics of cooking aboard. Budgeting for a charter or cruise is much less expensive, if you have some relatively easy “go to” recipes that aren’t just PBJ sandwiches. Most skippers for whom I have crewed on long deliveries feel it is important to feed their crew good meals. “A well fed crew is a happy crew” is an adage for which to strive, whether family or friends are aboard.
I have several of my own “go to” recipes I use when I teach live aboard classes. With two nights aboard for a typical bareboat course, we plan two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners. It’s really not difficult to live well while cruising or chartering. Breakfast, for example, doesn’t have to be cold cereal. Bacon and eggs each morning tends to be the norm aboard during my classes. Our provision planning usually starts with a discussion of the cooking possibilities, then to what each crew member might like during the trip. Most charter boats have an oven in the galley with a broiler and 3 stove top burners. Charter boats should also be equipped with at least a small propane grill mounted or mountable on the stern pulpit.
During a recent provisioning and meal planning session with a 104 class (myself and three students), one of the students offered that he has a method to grill slices of sweet onions without them falling apart or falling through the grill grate. As an engineer, he had applied his problem-solving skills to this particular dilemma, by pushing toothpicks into the onion, prior to slicing, such that when the onion is subsequently sliced, between the toothpicks, each slice would have a toothpick buried from the outside ring to the center of the onion, holding the rings together during the cooking process, and allowing them to be removed from the grill without falling apart. Brilliant!
We bought 3 medium sweet onions for this purpose. Vidalias work wonderfully, and John prepared and cooked them according to plan, as part of our grilled and marinated chicken dinner our first night out.
I nicknamed the onions “hellraiser” onions, because once the onions have several toothpicks pushed into them, prior to slicing, they look like the head of the character in the ads and trailer for the movie, Hellraiser. (see photos)
This is a simple recipe, and thanks to John Dougherty’s engineering skills, it works great on the boat’s grill or at home. The attached photo are of this process on my home’s grill, as I wanted to try it out myself and take some hopefully decent photos of the process.
Step 1: peel the onions
Step 2: push a toothpick to the center of the onion every ¼ inch or so, perpendicular core of the onion. This is important, in that it is pretty much impossible to push a toothpick into an onion slice after it has been sliced.
Step 3: carefully slice midway between the toothpicks, across the grain of the onion.
Step 4: coat both sides of the onion slices liberally with olive oil
Step 5: place slices on hot grill and turn to char marks into both sides of the slices, or cook to level firmness desired. You will then enjoy the benefit of said embedded toothpick, which allows the slice to be turned or removed from the grill without the frustrating destruction of the succulently grilled slice!
Step 6: Eat! Enjoy!
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