Onion Flowers with Pecans

Ingredients

• 4 large sweet onions
• salt
• 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons pecans, chopped or 8-12 pecan halves
• pepper, freshly ground
• parsley, chopped

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. 2

   Peel the onion, leaving the roots trimmed but intact. Cut in 1/4-inch slices from stem to root, but don't cut through the root end. (A needle or skewer stuck through the root will prevent this.)

3. 3

   Turn each onion at right angles and cut again so that when you stand it on its root end, it will form a chrysanthemum design.

4. 4

   For another style, cut nearly through the root, turn and cut again, as you would with pie wedges, at 45-degree angles.

5. 5

   Don't worry about any loose onion sections in the middle. Oil a baking dish lightly.

6. 6

   Salt the onions and place them on their root ends in baking dish.

7. 7

   Sprinkle vinegar over each onion and dribble butter over them until they are well coated and there is an excess in the pan for basting.

8. 8

   Cover lightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, basting several times.

9. 9

   Add a few chopped pecans to the center of each onion and continue baking together 1/2 hour.

10. 10

    Remove from oven; season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

11. 11

    Serve hot or at room temperature. They may also be refrigerated and served cold.