Good Grief Food – Onion Pie
Good Grief Food. Recipes that will help to nourish your heart and your body if you are coping with the loss of your pet. Pet bereavement can have a very physical as well as mental impact on your health. Typical symptoms include loss of appetite and difficulty in breathing. You can find more common problems on the Marie Curie website.
Bereavement is the loss of the bond
I know Marie Curie doesn’t deal with pet bereavement but if you have lost a pet then you will know that the symptoms can be really punishing. Grief is not limited just to people. Sometimes we have much more deep and powerful bonds with our dogs,cats,rabbits,parrots,hamsters. It is the loss of that bond which is causing the pain.
Nurturing your pain
Whilst you might not feel in the mood to cook it is vital that you get the right nutrients inside your body. Here is a simple onion pie that I have adapted from Jamie Oliver’s new Veg book. One of my twins has recently turned vegetarian and it’s had a really positive impact on my cooking. I did think at first that it was one more thing to have to squeeze into my already ‘full-to-bursting’ head. But I could hardly complain when I was a vegetarian for 17 years and even worked at the Vegetarian Society in my early career. But actually now that I’m doing it I realise what a positive effect it’s having on the whole family. I am no longer the one insisting that everyone eats their greens!
Why are pies such soul food?
It might just be me but a pie just feels like a hug. There is something so comforting about tucking into the crackle of the crust to find steaming loveliness come pouring out. that just cannot stop me from smiling, no matter how rough I’m feeling.
Ingredients
4 Medium Onions – red or white to suit your taste and/or store cupboard
8 Garlic Cloves
50g Butter
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
4 tablespoons vinegar (cider or red wine)
Sheet of all butter puff pastry
Method
- Preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7
- All you need to is peel and cut in half 4 medium onions and 8 garlic cloves.
- I grow thyme in my vegetable plot so I just grabbed 4 springs and took the leaves off – the stems don’t cook well. I’m also very lucky to have a Bay tree in the garden so I used 4 fresh leaves. You could easily used dried herbs.
- Melt the butter in an ovenproof non-stick frying pan with the thyme leaves, bay leaves until it starts to bubble.
- Add the sugar, vinegar and 100ml of water.
- Put the onion in the pan – cut-side facing down along with the garlic cloves.
- Season to taste with salt & pepper.
- Cover the pan and turn the heat down to let the onions sweat for around 10 minutes.
- Take the lid off and cook until the liquid goes nice and caramelized.
- Place the pastry over the onions and pop in the oven for 35 minutes or until it puffs up and goes golden.
You can serve it with a fresh green salad in the summer or in this weather broccoli and carrots. Delicious, suitable for vegetarians and very easy.
Take care of yourself
