and here for info on the the book just published last month

and here for more about Lynne

Lynne Rossetto Kasper is a James Beard Award-winning food writer and host of the American Public Media radio show The Splendid Table. Kasper's popular and long-lived radio show, targeted toward those "who love to eat," features a series of interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, and wine experts. Guests vary from week to week, but every show includes a segment with food travelers and Gourmet columnists Jane and Michael Stern. At the end of the show, Kasper answers call-in questions from listeners on ingredients and cooking techniques.

"Life is Like an Onion"

by Carol Ann Kates

The great American poet, Carl Sandburg, wrote: "Life is like an onion. You peel if off one layer at a time; and sometimes you weep."

If you've ever chopped an onion, you know how true Sandburg's quote is. But what causes this amazing phenomenon? Onions contain sulfur-based acids. When we cut into this vegetable, we break its cells causing a chemical reaction that unleashes the acids. Their fumes drift upward reaching the nerve endings of our eyes making them sting. Our tear glands save the day by producing tears to flush the nasty irritant out.

While we use lots of tricks to minimize this effect-using a sharp knife helps minimize this reaction as does rinsing the onion in cold water after peeling-it seems we must endure the tears to get our onion chopped. And despite this nuisance, this aromatic vegetable is a fundamental ingredient in many recipes and adds flavor to anything from soups to stews, sauces, stuffings, casseroles and savory pies.

An out-of-the ordinary onion available at the market is the Egyptian walking onion. Also called Top onion, Topset onion, Walking onion or Egyptian onion, this variety resembles a clump of perennial green scallions. The plant has a bunch of bulblets where a normal onion would have flowers. As the weight of the bulbs increases, the plant stalks fall to the ground, sometimes as far as two feet from the parent plant. The bulbs waste no time in putting down roots-thus the name "walking onion". Quite hardy, this onion can literally walk through the garden.

In the spring the Egyptian walking onion produces an early harvest of sweet scallions. The flavor of this variety of scallion greens is somewhat spicy and its texture is juicy and very tender. By summer an established plant produces small "pickling onion" topsets.
 

Following is a recipe using the Egyptian walking onion in fajitas. I cleaned the onions, cutting off some of the scallion parts, leaving a length of 6 inches. Then I cut the onions lengthwise into ¼ to ½-inch strips. While I normally don't add garlic to my fajitas, I also added a bit of green garlic and the taste was absolutely delicious. Tired of the same old, same old, I substituted tomatillos for tomatoes. My family raved about the tang Egyptian walking onions, green garlic, and tomatillos brought to our fajitas. All in all, I found the Egyptian walking onion very tasty and mild-I had no tears. A real bonus for the cook.

Tequila Marinated Chicken Fajitas
Serves 6

For the chicken:

            ½ cup tequila
            ¼ cup lime juice
            ¼ cup soy sauce
            3 dashes Tabasco® sauce
            ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
            3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

In a large bowl, combine tequila, lime juice, soy sauce, Tabasco® sauce, and black pepper. Add chicken breasts, cover with plastic wrap and marinate 4 hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from the marinade and reserve marinade. Grill breasts over hot coals until they're almost done. Cut breasts into ¼ to ½-inch strips.

            12 (7-inch) flour tortillas, warmed

If you don't have a tortilla warmer, preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Wrap 3 to 4 tortillas per package in aluminum foil and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.

For the chicken and vegetable fajita mixture:

12 tablespoons Canola oil for sautéing
Reserved marinade
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ¼ to ½-inch strips
1 medium yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ¼ to ½-inch strips
3 cups (about 4) Egyptian walking onion, peeled and sliced lengthwise into ¼ to
          ½-inch strips
3 cups (about 10) tomatillos, husked, cored and cut into eighths
3 tablespoons green garlic, thinly sliced
Grilled chicken breasts, cut into ¼ to ½-inch strips

For each serving, place 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons reserved marinade in a large skillet. Sauté ½ cup each of red and yellow bell pepper, onion, and tomatillos and ½ tablespoon green garlic over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add one-sixth chicken breasts and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. It's nice to serve this in a fajita skillet if you have one.

For the garnish:

Shredded Cheddar cheese
            Sour cream
            Carol Ann's guacamole (recipe follows)
            Your favorite salsa   

You can serve the garnish in separate bowls or mound them in sections on a plate of shredded lettuce. Fill warmed tortillas with cooked chicken and vegetable mixture and garnish with shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Carol Ann's Homemade Guacamole

            4 large ripe avocados
            ¼ cup Egyptian walking onions, finely chopped
            1 tomato, chopped
            ¾ cup diced green chiles
            2 tablespoons green garlic, minced
            1 teaspoon salt
            2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
            Cholulu® to taste

Remove skins and seeds from avocados. With a spoon, scoop out avocado meat into a medium bowl and mash with a fork, leaving some small chunks. Add onion, tomato, green chiles, green garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Blend gently. Season to taste with Cholulu® and blend again.
           

Shopping for Egyptian walking onions: Choose ones with crisp, bright green tops and a firm white base.

Storing Egyptian walking onions: When stored, wrapped in a plastic bag, in the vegetable crisper section of the refrigerator, walking onions should keep for up to 5 days.

Carol Ann Kates is the author of award-winning cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market. For more information, visit www.cornermarketsecrets.com.