Caramelized Onions on the Wood Cookstove

It's been a hot summer here, in my opinion.  Really hot.  The last fire that we had in the cookstove was on May 6th, but we had a cool day last Friday, and I couldn't resist the urge to cook on wood again.

We have a beautiful row of Walla Walla onions in the garden, and Nancy loves bratwurst, so it seemed a good idea to have brats with caramelized onions.  Making good caramelized onions involves quite a long cooking time, so it is a great side dish to make on a wood cookstove.

Start with about two teaspoons of olive oil.  For this, I like to use a non-stick frying pan.  To start the onions cooking, place your pan directly over the fire. 

I apologize for the quality of this photo.  I didn't have the flash on the camera turned on.

The olive oil heating over the firebox.

Add onions that have been sliced about a quarter inch wide.

I took advantage of the fire by cooking several things at once
to be refrigerated for later.

 

Stir the onions around a bit to get the oil distributed, then cover the pan right away to begin cooking them quickly.

Keep an eye on the onions, stirring them occasionally.  Once they have become limp, remove the lid.  Also move them to an area of lower heat.

Stir occasionally until they are fairly evenly browned.  This can take quite a bit of time.  These onions cooked for a total of about an hour.  Because it is summer and I didn't want the fire to last a long time, I was letting it die down, so I ended up moving the onions back over to the fire.  Once they are all brown, add a scant teaspoon of sugar. 

 

Continue cooking gently for a while until the onions are reduced to a delicious-smelling, but slimy-looking, mess.

 

Serve very warm over bratwurst on a bun.  Delicious!