honey pie

Cherry Pie.

Big Cheese.
Strawberry Swing.
I Want Candy.
Mean Mr. Mustard.

It seems like there is a song for every delicious food out there. Except one. The onion.
And I just don't get it! ...Okay, I get it. They stink. They make you cry. They can be strong and piquant and just plain evil. I use them every day in just about every meal that I make, but sometimes I feel resistance to slicing one open and balling my eyes out. I always fight that resistance.
It's always worth it.
But last night I decided to try to find the sweeter side of my mascara's arch nemesis. Caramelized Onion, Bacon and Blue Cheese Tart. I found the recipe in a recent issue of Woman's Day Magazine. What? I got a subscription free with some airline miles I had accumulated. Fine, I'm lame. Whatever. Back to the tart.
Did you know that onions could taste sweet, but not too sweet? Be soft, but not mushy? Take on a beautiful color and really earn the whole CARAMELized bit?
I did. I really thought I did. But I had no clue. Not until last night.
I served this easy and unreal tart along-side some Cream of Asparagus Soup (I stole this pic from a google search since I didn't bother to take one of mine. It looked this good, though. Trust me.) which is SO easy and SO creamy and SO delicious. I adapted the recipe from one I found online at allrecipes.com:

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 stick butter, unsalted
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• 4 cups good chicken stock/broth
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and coarsely chopped
  
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
  

Directions

1. Melt butter in a heavy cooking pot (I use my enameled cast iron guy). Add onions and chopped celery; saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour, mixing well. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add water, chicken broth, and chicken soup base; stir until smooth. Bring to a boil. Add diced potatoes and chopped asparagus (reserve the heads of the asparagus in a bowl on your counter for post-blender). Reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
   
2. Puree soup in a food processor or blender in batches (I use my stick blender). Return to pot. Return soup to simmer, add asparagus heads and simmer 5 minutes.
   
3. Stir in half and half cream salt and pepper. Bring soup just to boil. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve hot*.

*I like to garnish mine with a swirl of half and half as I serve it, which makes it look fancy and cools it down just enough to dive in. Just use a teaspoon or two on each bowl.