Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Shallots?

I also picked up a bag of shallots for $1.49. I thought at first it was a mislabeled bin of garlic. I have always substituted onions whenever I see shallots in a recipe, so I'm really not sure. Any foodies who can tell me--did I buy the right thing? How about the price?

14 comments:

Goslyn said...

Thats a great price for shallots. They are milder and sweeter than regular onions.

Heather said...

That's a very good deal!

TheNormalMiddle said...

Shallots are the little green onions that come with the long stems, or that is what I always thought??? :) Those look like pearl onions to me? I dunno. I'm not a foodie but I do love food!

Kayla said...

Lindsey, you're thinking scallions.

Anonymous said...

Meredith,
this is totally *not* related to shallots!
...is Saturday a better day to list things on craigslist, or are all days the same? I've looked for your email to say *thank you* for what you're doing here on your blog! I love to see your latest finds, and you have really motivated me to begin my thrift store hunts once again! Also, I listed things on craigslist because of you, and made $30 in two hours!! (It was on Saturday, so that's why I asked the initial question!)

Thank you so much for using your time in this way for the benefit of all your readers!

Bonnie

Emily (Laundry and Lullabies) said...

I wish I could find shallots for that price!! They're wonderful for cooking - particularly in French recipes.

Anonymous said...

Yep - good on the price!

If you find that you have more than you can use before they go bad, dice them and spread on a very lightly oiled cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for a couple hours and then sweep the frozen dice into a freezer container or bag. When thawed they won't have that characteristic crispness that for which shallots are known, but the taste will still be there and perfect for most applications.

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding? I would give my eye teeth for shallots that cheap!

We saute them in butter or broil them. You can cut them like onions or not. We frequently put them in omelets. Almost daily really.

Anonymous said...

Shallots are excellent on homemade pizza!

MommyLydia said...

Shallots are wonderful!

Meredith said...

Thanks for the tips and encouragement! I'm hoping a few new ingredients will perk up my winter cooking. I'm in a rut!

Roberta said...

That is a great price.
On an anniversary dinner I ordered this delicious dinner of pork medallions and the chef gave me the ingredients but said I had to figure out the amounts. It included Pork (I have subbed pork chops), shallots and pears. Yummy!

Luke and Valerie said...

I'm quoting from this month's Cook's Illustrated:
"...A finely minced shallot will... melt into the sauce until it's all but indiscernible. No matter how finely you mince an onion, it's not going to disappear into an otherwise silky sauce. An onion also needs much more cooking time before its flavor will mellow...A raw shallot will add gentle heat to a vinaigrette or salsa, with a minimum of crunch."
Reading about them makes me want to try them; I get tired of crunchy onions.
:)

Anonymous said...

If you can't use all of them they can be planted just like onion sets. Bury them root end down after the last freeze for your area.