Sundays tend to be a work day at our household. At the end of the day, we love to have a wind down dinner on the backporch. I love to grill out so we tend to make this a Sunday tradition.

Early Sunday morning,I had been in Louisville and stopped at Paul’s to buy some pancetta, when I spied some wonderful organic rib-eye steaks. Next to the steaks were some Vidalia Onions, setting off in my mind a plan for dinner.

I recalled a recipe from “Down Home with the Neeley’s” for grilling Vidalia Onions, so they became part of the grilling meal along with grilled asparagus, rib-eyes and fresh sliced tomatoes with basil and mozzarella cheese.. I ended up even grilling the tomatoes, so we ended up eating right off the grill!

With the aid of several citronella candles, Skin So Soft, and my mosquito eating bats, we were able to enjoy a pleasant evening under the stars. To me it is very romantic to eat and observe the bats as they came out from under the shutters and swooped their way into the night to eat! It is fun to be on my porch at dusk.


Grilled Vidalia Onions with Bacon Butter
I brought the steaks to room temperature and then put seasoned them with Olive Oil and course Sea Salt. The asparagus and tomatoes all received the same treatment, the recipe for the Onions from the Neeley’s is written below.

The addition of a nice Red Wine topped off the evening and the meal.


4 Large Vidalia Onions
Kosher salt and freshly grounded pepper
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 slice cooked bacon, crumbled (My husband loves bacon so I doubled this number)
2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves.
Preheat grill to medium heat

Cut onion top and “backtail” so the onion can sit flat. Peel the onion. Using a paring knife cut a hollow cone-like shape into the center of the onion making sure not to go all the way to the bottom. Salt and Pepper to the cavity. Place onions on individual squares of heavy duty aluminum foil

Add the bacon, butter, blue cheese, and thyme to a bowl and mix until well combined. Add large dollops of the butter mixture to the cavities of each of the onions.

Fold the aluminum foil all around the onion, gathering at the top and sealing to create a tent. Place on the grill over direct heat and cover the grill.. Cook for 30 minutes until the onions are soft. Let cool for 5 minutes before opening the packets and serving.


Recipe from the Food Network 2010.
“Down Home with the Neeley’s”