By DAVE KESSLER
Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted 

Even though the recipe has the word "sweet" in it, you don’t have to use sweet onions when making this dish. Just use any type onion you have on hand or that you can find in the store.

You should use medium-size onions for making this. I usually buy white onions anyway and I like them for this use. Just don’t use large onions, as it’s more difficult to judge the right amount of cooking time. Try to have your onions be about equal in size so the baking time will get them all finished at the same time. I bake mine, covered, at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Then I start brushing on the sweet barbecue mixture.

They usually take about 15 more minutes of baking time to become tender. Be sure to brush on the sweet barbecue sauce a few times during this final baking.

These go well with several meat entrees. Serve alongside roast pork, broiled steaks or even hamburger sandwiches.

12 medium onions

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon of sage

Optional: If you’d rather have hot and spicy barbecued onions, you can add some chopped jalapenos or red pepper flakes to the barbecue sauce.

Bake these onions in a casserole dish large enough to accommodate all of them in one layer. Bake at 350 degrees.

Peel the onions and keep them whole. Put the chicken broth into the casserole dish and lay the onions out in a single layer. Cover the casserole and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

While this baking is going on, mix the ketchup, brown sugar, thyme and sage together. Add the optional items if you wish. Remove the cover from the casserole dish and brush on the barbecue sauce. You’ll need to continue baking the onions until they are tender, approximately 15 minutes.

Be sure to brush the barbecue sauce and pan drippings over the onions now and then, until the onions test tender with a fork.

Be sure you serve these using a large tablespoon. This will keep them whole and will also allow you to add another dash of the barbecue sauce to each serving.

A time or two, I have added some hot dogs or frankfurters to the casserole for the last part of the baking. The ’dogs can be used as sandwiches or can just be served on the same plate with the onions. This makes a scrumptious meal.

Readers with questions or comments for Dave Kessler may write to him in care of this publication.