newbie question
 

I am new to cooking and I have a question about sauteing onions. I have a
non-stick pan and I used quite a bit of butter to start off and when it
started to seem like the pan was getting a little too dry I added more and
by the time the onions were done they were kind of swimming in a little
excess butter. Is there a certain amount of butter to use for a certain size
of an onion? Do I start off with all the butter at once or keep adding a
little at a time? Thanks in advance.

When I saute vegetables, I start out with not much more than
what it takes to barely coat the bottom of the pan, and you
shouldn't have to add much more, if any. Butter is probably
fine, but I am partial to olive oil.

Good luck!

Michael

On 10 Jan 2005 12:03:39 -0800, "Michael" > wrote:

>When I saute vegetables, I start out with not much more than
>what it takes to barely coat the bottom of the pan, and you
>shouldn't have to add much more, if any. Butter is probably
>fine, but I am partial to olive oil.

Agreed on the amount of stuff. I like to combine butter and olive oil.

Carol
--
"Years ago my mother used to say to me... She'd say,
'In this world Elwood, you must be oh-so smart or oh-so pleasant.'
Well, for years I was smart.... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

*James Stewart* in the 1950 movie, _Harvey_

On 10 Jan 2005 12:03:39 -0800, "Michael" > wrote:

>When I saute vegetables, I start out with not much more than
>what it takes to barely coat the bottom of the pan, and you
>shouldn't have to add much more, if any. Butter is probably
>fine, but I am partial to olive oil.

Agreed on the amount of stuff. I like to combine butter and olive oil.

Carol
--
"Years ago my mother used to say to me... She'd say,
'In this world Elwood, you must be oh-so smart or oh-so pleasant.'
Well, for years I was smart.... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

*James Stewart* in the 1950 movie, _Harvey_

Stan Horwitz > wrote in
:

> In article > ,
> "zyx321" > wrote:
>
> > I am new to cooking and I have a question about sauteing onions. I
> > have a non-stick pan and I used quite a bit of butter to start off
> > and when it started to seem like the pan was getting a little too
> > dry I added more and by the time the onions were done they were
> > kind of swimming in a little excess butter. Is there a certain
> > amount of butter to use for a certain size of an onion? Do I start
> > off with all the butter at once or keep adding a little at a time?
> > Thanks in advance.
>
> You shouldn't need much butter to saute an onion. One or two
> tablespoons of butter at the beginning should be plenty for a medium
> size onion. I suspect you used too high a flame and too much time.
> Turn down the heat and just saute until the onions start to get limp
> and lose their color. Oh, and I usually saute onions in olive oil,
> not butter, but that's just me. With olive oil, two or three
> tablespoons in a hot pan is enough to saute a medium size onion.
>
>

Also to help the onions to release their juices lightly salt them in the
pan

--
Starchless in Manitoba.
Type 2 Diabetic 1AC 5.6mmol or 101mg/dl

I think you're right, I'm pretty sure I had them on high the whole time.
Thanks.

"Stan Horwitz" > wrote in message
...
> In article > ,
> "zyx321" > wrote:
>
>> I am new to cooking and I have a question about sauteing onions. I have a
>> non-stick pan and I used quite a bit of butter to start off and when it
>> started to seem like the pan was getting a little too dry I added more
>> and
>> by the time the onions were done they were kind of swimming in a little
>> excess butter. Is there a certain amount of butter to use for a certain
>> size
>> of an onion? Do I start off with all the butter at once or keep adding a
>> little at a time? Thanks in advance.
>
> You shouldn't need much butter to saute an onion. One or two tablespoons
> of butter at the beginning should be plenty for a medium size onion. I
> suspect you used too high a flame and too much time. Turn down the heat
> and just saute until the onions start to get limp and lose their color.
> Oh, and I usually saute onions in olive oil, not butter, but that's just
> me. With olive oil, two or three tablespoons in a hot pan is enough to
> saute a medium size onion.