Greek beef stuffed onions

Brown half the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat in a generous amount of olive oil, breaking it into small crumbles.

Add diced onion, black pepper, salt and a few shakes of cayenne and cook a few minutes until the onions turn translucent and lightly golden.

Add the minced garlic, a generous spoon of dried oregano and a couple tablespoons of tomato paste and stir until every crumble and onion piece is coated, cooking a minute or two.

Stir in the raw rice until the grains are coated in the oil and rendered beef fat.

Add a splash of red wine vinegar and about a cup of chicken broth, reduce to medium and cook until the rice absorbs all the liquid; cool.

Slice about an inch off each end of four large yellow onions, cut straight down to the exact centre of each, and pull off the papery layer.

Simmer the onions in generously salted cold water, brought up on high then held at a steady simmer on medium low, 20 to 30 minutes until the layers separate. Do not discard the water.

Mix the cooled beef and rice with the remaining raw beef, crumbled feta and a handful of chopped parsley, oregano and mint; refrigerate.

Bring four cups of the onion water with a few cups of tomato sauce and some chicken bouillon paste to a simmer, then hold it hot on low.

Roll a couple of heaping tablespoons of filling in each onion layer, preferring the middle pieces, which are long enough and more tender than the fibrous outer ones.

Pack the rolls into the largest baking dish, lining the torn inside pieces along the bottom, and pour in the hot cooking liquid.

Set the dish on a sheet pan, cover with foil and bake in the centre of a 375F oven, the first hour covered and then uncovered until the rice is perfectly tender -- which took past the two hour mark.

Drizzle with olive oil, finish with another pinch of herbs and rest about 10 minutes before serving.