A Bitten Word Recipe
We recently wrote about Zach's trip to the Bristol, a fantastic gastropub in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, home of the Chocolate Sabayon With Sea Salt and Olive Oil, and Homemade Nutter Butters.
That dessert certainly stole the show, but there was another dish Zach had that night that was similarly delicious, and, like that Chocolate Sabayon, it was something we knew we wanted to try in our own kitchen: Charred Spring Onions with Mustard Cream Sauce.
We've been getting really delicious fresh spring onions from our CSA, so for a recent meal, we threw them on the grill, whipped up a mustard cream sauce, and chowed down. (The Bristol's dish included crispy goat belly, but our goat-belly purveyor is at the Shore for the summer. Alas, we were forced to make do with a hircine-free version.)
Honestly, this is one of those recipes where the ingredients and the preparation are pretty much spelled out in the name: You char the onions on the grill and dress them with a simple mustard cream sauce.
It may be simple, but the play of flavors is really fantastic. Grilling the spring onions brings out their sweetness and gives them a nice smoky char, as well. That plays really nicely with the mustardy sauce, slightly sweetened with honey.
We don't typically treat spring onions as a side dish in our house. Usually, they're more of a garnish or an accompaniment, something to be thrown into a salad or saute to add a little flavor. But a dish as simple and perfect as this one really elevates spring onions to a star player of the meal.
They might even steal the show -- as long as you're not also serving that heavenly Chocolate Sabayon.
Charred Spring Onions with Mustard Cream Sauce
A Bitten Word recipe, with inspiration from the Bristol
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon honey
Hot sauce or chile sauce, such as Sriracha (optional)
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 dozen spring onions, peeled, ends trimmed.*
*Farmers market onions, which will likely be bigger and have more flavor, are preferable to grocery store-bought scallions. But those will work, too.
DIRECTIONS
1. Make the mustard sauce. Mix mustard, cream, honey and hot sauce in small bowl; add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Heat grill to high heat. Brush onions with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place onions on grill. Grill 3-4 minutes, or until onions develop dark char marks. (You may wish to turn the onions so they develop a char all the way around.) Remove from heat, drizzle with mustard sauce, and serve.
