A while back, I have mentioned that I attended a Pampered Chef party, my daughter was hosting, and bought an onion chopper (yes, another one…).  This is my third onion chopper.  I  do chop lots of onions for my cooking, but that is not the reason for my third onion chopper. I am still searching for an improved version of a chopper, to ease my job.

Today I will share my opinion about all of my current onion choppers, and would love to hear from you, about your favorite onion chopper.

I would also like to know if there is a way to chop onions without crying over them. I love sauteed onions, but I always cry when I chop the raw onions.  I heard many tips on handling onions, without crying, but so far none of them worked for me.

Please share your tips, to make onion chopping a more pleasant experience for me, and for all of our onion chopping readers.

This is my most current onion chopper by Pampered Chef (also in the top picture).  This chopper is great since, as you can see, it comes apart so nicely, for easy cleaning.  It contains a handy container with a removable bottom, for chopping and collecting the chopped onions.  It is very user friendly, since all you do is repeatedly pounce on the top nob, which makes the blades rotate, and chop the onions placed in the closed bottom container.

You still need to peel the onion, remove the core, and cut it into quarters, at least, for faster chopping.  This chopper is very handy, and does cut down on my “crying on the job”. I highly recommend it.

Here is one, I received from my sister-in-law (before I bought the Pampered Chef one), and I really like it, because it chops the onions so evenly, actually better than the one above, but it is not very well engineered.

The top section is not attached to the bottom section, so it is kind of awkward to keep on turning the crank to chop the onions, and at the same time try to push down the onions toward the blades, and to hold the two pieces together.  But I love it any way.  Maybe because it was fee, and as the old saying goes, “you should not look a gift horse on his teeth”.

Here you have a close up view of the simple construction of the onion chopper.  Notice how freely the blade assembly sits on the bottom container, and the upper part just lo0sly fits over it, rather than snap on tightly.  However, the blades are very sharp, and make the onion chopping job a breeze.  The bottom container collects the chopped onions, and the bottom lid opens up for easy emptying.

This is my first ever onion chopper. Yes, they used to make a glass jar, rather than all plastic, and the chopping mechanism is similar to the Pampered Chef ’s, but the blades are much simpler, and smaller, thus do not chop as well as the other two choppers.  One would also pounce the protruding top nob, which pushes the blades down, to do the chopping.  The pumping motion of the handle does not rotate the blades, like in Pampered Chef, so the glass jar needs to be rotated to make sure all the onions are being chopped evenly.  Not the best, but it was better than chopping onions the usual way, on a cutting board, and crying profusely at the same time.

So, here you have it.

Please share your onion chopping stories with us.

TIP: Check out the comments, please. One of my readers suggested to burn a candle, while chopping onions.  I will definitely try this trick.

This is a follow up to my previous post about The Pampered Chef, and the party food recipes.

The Honey-Apple Brie Bites were absolutely delicious, and so elegantly presented in prepared mini phyllo shells.  These ready made phyllo cups are readily available at any grocery store, and they come in three colors: natural, red, and green.  The chef selected the natural color, to complement the red apples she used in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 medium red baking apples such as Jonathan, cored, and finely diced
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 4-in round Brie, or Camembert cheese with rind, cubed to ½ inch pieces
• 2 pkg prepared mini phyllo shells (30 shells total)

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 400°F.
2. Set you phyllo cups on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
3. Mix gently the apples, walnuts, zest and honey.
4. Place one cube of Brie in each phyllo cup.
5. Using a Small Scoop, cover the Brie with one scoop of the apple mixture.
6. Bake 6-8 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
7. Serve warm.  (They are still as delish cold).

Tip:  My friends mentioned that this recipe would be great for Rosh Hashanah, since apples and honey are being served in abundance during that holiday.  You will agree that these type of appetizers are great for any occasion.

All gadgets and cookware used, are offered by The Pampered Chef.