Medinah Shrine Club annual Vidalia onion fundraiser set for this weekend

John “Jay Jay” Joseph will take a Vidalia onion, lop off the top, stuff a pat of butter inside, score and replace the top, and then grill it.

"That’s the best-eatin’ onion there is,” said Joseph, onion chairman for the Medinah Shrine Club’s annual Vidalia onion fundraiser and member of the club's clown unit.

On Saturday and Sunday, members from 36 Chicago-area organizations – including shrine clubs and associated marching units – will sell 8,500 10-pound bags of onions as far north as the Wisconsin border all the way down to Kankakee, Joseph said. This includes locations in Joliet (600 bags of onions) and Morris (800 bags of onions), Joseph added.

Onions will cost $11 for a 10-pound bag or $20 for two 10-pound bags, Joseph said. He recently saw a 4-pound bag of Vidalia onions retail for $4.83 in a local grocery store, so the Shriners are offering a “fair deal.” The Shriners expect to make $20,000 in profit, he added, from this longstanding fundraiser.

“I don’t know when they started doing this,” Joseph said, “but I’ve been a member for 40 years and they’ve been doing it at least that long.”

Normally, the Shriners sell close to 12,000 bags of onions, Joseph said, but he cited the economy and an aging club population for the drop.

“It’s an effort to get all these onions to all the locations,” Joseph said. “The go straight from the Georgia grower to us.”

It’s a doubly sweet effort. Vidalia onions have a high sugar content, Joseph said, but, even sweeter, proceeds support Shriners outreach activities. A club news release said nationally, the Shriners support “a network of 22 nonprofit children’s hospitals around the country." These hospitals provide services to children with “orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.”

Locally, proceeds from the onion sales will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children on Oak Park Avenue in Chicago, Club Chairman Fred Martin said.

“The [onion sale] money goes into a general fund,” Joseph said, “and they direct the funds as needed.”

Members decide the number of bags they wish to sell and an order is placed. The onions left Georgia on Tuesday and should arrive at distribution centers M. They will then be hand-loaded into the vehicles of Shriners representatives, who then deliver them to other members. Martin said some businesses have allowed the Shriners to sell the onions at their location for decades. Many customers are equally as loyal.

“We have a lot of people come up and tell us they could have gone to a major market and bought them,” Martin said, “but they wanted to buy them from us because they know where the proceeds go. It’s amazing.”

Martin likened the popularity of the Vidalia onion to blueberries: both are grown only in certain times of the year and at certain locations, enhancing their appeal. For optimal freshness and longer shelf life, Joseph recommends rewrapping the onions individually. He’s known people to use paper towel, newspapers and even hair nets.

“It’s the high sugar content,” Joseph said. “For some reason, if they touch each other, they go bad faster.”

Not sure how to use those onions? Try these club recipes at home.

Shriner Vidalia Onion Soup:

4 tbs. butter (one stick)

2 ½ pounds Vidalia onions (about 4)

6 cups beef or chicken stock

2 twigs fresh thyme

2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese

8 slices French baguettes

Salt and pepper to taste

Quarter onions; slice thinly and set aside. Melt the butter in the bottom of a 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven. When butter has melted but before it starts to brown, add onions and toss to coat with melted butter. Cover, turn heat on very low and slowly cook onions for 15 minutes. Slightly turn up the heat and cook for another 10 minutes, until onions are soft, tender and sweet. Season with salt and pepper. Add the stock liquid, thyme twigs and lower the heat to simmer for 25 minutes. While the broth and onions are cooking, toast the French bread and set aside.

To serve, remove thyme twigs from the mixture. Ladle the onion soup into a bowl. Place one or two slices of toasted French bread in the middle and cover with mozzarella cheese. Place under a broiler until the cheese has melted. Enjoy! Yield: 4 servings

Shriner Vidalia Onion BBQ

4 Vidalia onion (about 4)

4 slices of thick smoked bacon

4 T. butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Heavy duty aluminum foil

Toothpicks

Peel and wrap a Vidalia onion with the thick slice of bacon. Use toothpicks to hold in place. Cut an “x” into the top of the Vidalia and smear with the butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Wrap the entire onion and bacon in a heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure that there are no openings to allow liquids to drip out.

Place on an outdoor grill heated to medium-high heat. Cook, wrapped, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the onion has started to soften. Open foil very carefully so as not to lose the juice. Use bread or rolls to sop up the liquid. Yield: 4 servings

Shriner Blue Cheese Vidalia Onion:

Vidalia onions (about 4)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Panko bread crumbs

Crumbled blue cheese

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Slice onions into thick slices. Brush both sides of onions with olive oil. Place onions on the grill and cook until onions have grill marks and start to soften. Remove onions from grill and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle onion tops with panko crumbs and blue cheese. Season onions with salt and pepper and broil until the cheese melts and the crumbs start to brown. Yield 4 servings

GET YOUR ONIONS

According to www.medinah.org, Vidalia onion will be available from Saturday and Sunday at the following locations:

• Aurelio's Pizza, 9901 W. Lincoln Hwy., Frankfort
• White Fence Farm, 1376 Joliet Road, Joliet
• First Midwest Bank, 2801 W. Jefferson St., Joliet
• Minooka Ace Hardware, 855 S. Ridge Road, Minooka
• BP Amoco Morris, 3485 N. Route 47, Morris
• BP of Morris, 1516 N. Division St., Morris
• BP Amoco Morris,1400 Park Blvd., Morris
• Ace Hardware, 358 W. Maple St., New Lenox