Some say that Thanksgiving Dinner is all about the Turkey,  some say it is all about the Desserts, others say it’s the side dishes.  Here is what I consider one of the most perfect side dishes, that will soon become a staple in your Thanksgiving meal, right up there with Jell-O and the Green Bean casserole.

Creamed Onions with Bacon and Chives

Could anything be simpler than creamed onions?   I mean, it’s cream, and then it is onions, then it has bacon. And you cook them together. The end.   Or perhaps the beginning of another piece of evidence that you can take the simplest thing and make it, wonderful.  First, I involved Thomas Keller, this recipe was adapted from his mother.  Who wants us to peel 100 pearl onions,  oh no not me. Even Ina Garten approves of using frozen, pre-peeled pearl onions,  so that is what I did.   If you’re only allowed to make one side dish and want that one side to upstage all of the other sides, this should definitely be it.  I know, that’s not a very benevolent and bountiful holiday outlook!   But I say, its okay, you’re among friends.

Ingredients:

3-10 ounce bags of frozen pearl onions
2 1/2 ounces bacon (apple wood-smoked is suggested), cut into a small dice
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 bunch chives, cut into 1/2-inch segments
Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:

1.  Blanch the pearl onions for 3 minutes in a pot of boiling salted water. Drain, shock in a bath of ice water, and drain again. Peel the onions (making a slit with a paring knife down the side made this easiest for me), leaving a little of the root end intact.

2.  in a medium saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp, then remove it with a slotted spoon and drain it on paper towels.

3.  Leave only two tablespoons of the cooking fat in the pan, and add the pearl onions, heavy cream and nutmeg. Add salt to taste.

4.  Cover the pot with a lid, leaving it a little ajar. Cook onions until they are nearly cooked through, about 90 percent of the way then remove the lid and finish cooking the onions while reducing the cream by half.

5.  Stir in the sherry.

6.  If your onions are done cooking before the cream has sufficiently reduced or if you’re unsure about the alcohol in the sherry, remove the onions with a slotted spoon and transfer them to your serving dish.

7.  Continue cooking the remaining sauce to the desired consistency and taste and pour it back over the onions.

8.  Garnish with bacon and chives and don’t forget to share.