The onions were good. They weren't strong but still did have an onion flavor. Kind of like sauteed onions but far, far less messy, and less time spent "babysitting" them. (And probably less fat, in the long run). Two addenda, though: it's a good idea to butter the pan you're baking them in, and my mother called me later, concerned, because she forgot to tell me to put a little water in the bottom of the pan and was afraid that the onions would have scorched (they didn't, but I think they might have cooked a bit faster with the steam from the water to speed them along).

It took a little over 30 minutes for them to cook at 375* (I did that following Mark Bittman's advice from "How to Cook Everything." However, he doesn't split his onions, so his take over an hour to bake).

Yes, you remove the papery outer skin, and I cut off the root end and the very tip.

I think these would make an excellent veggie sandwich on dark bread (I think pumpernickel would be best), with maybe some grilled tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, and maybe a little vinaigrette or that oily "sub sauce" stuff spread lightly on the bread. (Then again, I know someone who liked mayonnaise-and-onion sandwiches, so maybe you don't need to be that elaborate. But then again, mayo and onion sounds like a rather nasty combination to me, especially on Wonder bread, which is how this chap used to eat them)