Locked down, I look at everything in a new light. Even the ever-present bowl of onions, whose contents I too often take for granted, has taken on a different significance. Rather than playing their usual hidden role, they became the stars of this week’s eating. First, they were pickled with cider vinegar, coriander seeds and bay as a piquant, garnet-hued addition to a winter salad of apple and fennel. Then, a couple of days later, they were the backbone of a silky mustard and cream sauce for frikadeller (or fricadelles, or frikandellen – take your pick).
First, the sharp pickle. I sliced red onions finely, brought them to the boil with two vinegars – cider and darker, treacly malt – then let them sit a while with mustard seeds, sugar and chilli flakes. This added a punch to a winter salad of freckled leaves, rough-skinned apples and crisp, white fennel so clean and bright it made your heart sing. We ate it with wedges of blue cheese – Stichelton and Shropshire Blue – and baked potatoes, their crisp skins filled with leaves and the dressing.
Then there was the onion’s opposing role as a bringer of sweetness and subtlety. Cooked until pale amber-coloured and butter-soft – several steps away from caramelised – and simmered with mild mustard, cream and juniper, this accompanied some frikadeller of sausage and smoked bacon. A sweet and mellow feast for a freezing day.
Sausage and bacon frikadeller, onion and mustard sauce
I prefer to use my favourite sausages, but if you want to use loose sausage meat, add interest with pepper and perhaps fennel seeds or ground juniper. Serves 4
For the frikadeller:
pork sausages 450g, herby, well-seasoned
smoked streaky bacon 150g, finely diced
parsley 2 tsp, chopped
olive oil 2 tbsp
For the cabbage:
red cabbage 500g
olive oil 2 tbsp
cloves 4
cider vinegar 4 tbsp
redcurrant jelly 2 tbsp
For the sauce:
onions 400g
olive oil 3 tbsp
coriander seeds 1 tsp
juniper berries 6
bay leaves 2
grain mustard 1 tbsp
double cream 100g
Slit the sausage skins and remove the meat. Put into a bowl and discard the skins. Add the bacon to the sausage, mix in the parsley and check the seasoning. Roll the mixture into table tennis-sized balls, about 45g each, so you have 12-16 balls. Set them apart on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Warm the olive oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat, add the frikadeller and let them brown appetisingly, turning from time to time. Transfer to a baking dish. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.
For the sauce, peel and finely slice the onions. Warm the olive oil in the pan in which you fried the frikadeller and add the onions. Lower the heat, partially cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes until soft and pale gold. Add the coriander seeds, juniper and bay. An occasional stir will help the onions to cook evenly.
Bake the frikadeller in the oven for 15 minutes until cooked through. (If you need to keep them warm while you finish, switch off the oven and cover with foil.)
Halve the cabbage and shred finely. Heat the oil in a deep pan or casserole, add the cabbage and cloves and cover. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, giving it an occasional stir, then add the vinegar and replace the lid. Leave to cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the jelly and add a little salt and pepper.
Stir the mustard and cream into the onions and let it bubble briefly, adding a little salt and pepper. Transfer the cabbage to a serving bowl, place the frikadeller among the cabbage, then spoon over the onion sauce and serve.
Winter leaves, apple, and onions
Serves 4 as a light salad
For the onions:
red onions 250g, peeled
cider vinegar 120ml
malt vinegar 45ml
water 120ml
black peppercorns 8
yellow mustard seeds 1 tsp
coriander seeds 1 tsp
sea salt flakes 2 tsp
caster sugar 2 tsp
bay leaves 3
dried chilli flakes ½ tsp
red wine vinegar 2 tbsp
dijon mustard 1 tsp
olive oil 6 tbsp
apples 2, sweet, medium
fennel 125g
treviso, frisée, radicchio leaves 4 handfuls
Finely slice the onions into rounds. Put the vinegars, water, peppercorns, mustard and coriander seeds, salt, sugar, bay and chilli in a saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, add the onion, lower the heat to a simmer and cover. After 5 minutes, stir the onions, continue cooking for a minute or two then remove from the heat and set aside, still covered.
The onions need a good hour to soften, after which time you can either use them immediately or transfer to a jar in the fridge. They will keep for several weeks.
Put a fat pinch of salt flakes in a bowl, add the wine vinegar and mustard then beat in the oil. Grind in a little pepper. Halve and thinly slice the apples then add them to the dressing. Trim and slice the fennel (the thinner the better) and toss with the apples. Leave for 15 minutes.
Wash and dry the salad leaves and put them in a serving bowl. Add the apple and fennel, trickle over the dressing, then put the pickled red onions on top and serve.
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