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Baked Onions With Meat-And-Chili Stuffing
(Cebollas Rellenas)
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| What You Need: |
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1 tablespoon butter, softened, plus 1 tablespoon butter, cut into ¼-inch bits
4 eight-ounce onions, unpeeled
½ cup finely chopped leftover cooked beef, lamb or pork
8 tablespoons (½ cup) soft fresh crumbs made from homemade type bread pulverized in a blender or finely shredded with a fork
½ cup finely chopped seeded drained canned red chilies
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. With a pastry brush, spread the tablespoon of softened butter evenly over the bottom and sides of a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the onions in one layer. Set it aside.
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2. In a heavy 3- to 4-quart saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Drop in the unpeeled onions and boil them briskly, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
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3. Drain the onions in a sieve or colander and, when they are cool enough to handle, cut off the root ends with a small sharp knife and slip off the papery outer skins. Cut a slice about 1 inch thick off the top of each onion and discard the slice.
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4. With a fork pull out the centers of the onions to make cuplike shells about ¼ inch thick, composed of the two or three outermost layers of the onion. Invert the onion shells on paper towels to drain, and finely chop enough of the scoopedout onion centers to make ¼ cup.
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5. Combine the meat, 6 tablespoons of the bread crumbs, the chopped onions, chilies, parsley, oregano and salt in a bowl, and stir until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Taste for seasoning. Spoon the meat mixture into the onion shells, dividing it equally among them.
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6. Arrange the stuffed onions side by side in the buttered baking dish, sprinkle them with the remaining 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs and dot the tops with the tablespoon of butter bits.
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7. Carefully pour ½ cup of boiling water into the bottom of the dish and bake the onions in the middle of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and the onions are tender but not falling apart. With a spatula, transfer the onions to a heated platter and serve at once.
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NOTE: If you do not have cooked meat at hand, fry ¼ pound of ground beef in 2 tablespoons of butter until no trace of pink remains. Drain the beef in a sieve to remove the excess fat before stuffing the onions.
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