Creamed Pearl Onions

Creamed Pearl Onions

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
Up to 3 cups milk
Pearl Onions (frozen are just as good as fresh and much less work)
Salt
Pepper

Place the onions in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook until the onions are tender.

Reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid and drain onions. Put the onions back in the pot and set aside.

In a non-reactive pot, melt the butter. When the butter is melted, immediately add the flour and begin stirring with a flexible spatula. Eliminate any lumps.

Cook the flour for about two or three minutes, but do not boil, to remove the raw flour taste. You may see small bubbles in the mixture while it is cooking and the color may darken.

Pour in two cups of the milk to start and whisk vigorously to avoid lumps. A purist would heat the milk before adding.

This mixture will not reach its final thickness until it come to a slow boil. At this point do not use a high heat because this sauce will burn the bottom of the pot easily.

As the mixture thickens, add some of the reserved cooking liquids bring to a boil and check the consistency. If it is still too thick add more milk or cooking liquid. Do not over-thin the mixture. I look for the consistency of very heavy cream or a thin hot fudge topping. This is a Bechamel Sauce

You may have more sauce than you need, but that’s ok.

Pour as much sauce as you need over the drained onions, reheat and add salt and pepper to taste. (A purist might use white pepper so you don't see the black flakes in the sauce)

A nice serving touch is to place some French fried onion bits (made by French’s and come in a small can) or paprika on top.

Serve and enjoy.

You can use the same basic sauce for creamed corn or spinach.