The Onion
It's that time of the year again... When all you want to do is escape
the mad rush, the crazed looks, the crushing crowds. If you're up for a little
bit of cooking, then you could easily tick off your holiday gift list without
stepping out of the house. (It is Buy
Nothing week-end, after all...) It may be a little late for
making jams and other preserves, but it's just right for a few jars of chutney.
Although chutneys are not nearly as popular in North America as
they are in the UK, they should be. Chutneys are great to have kicking about the pantry. They can
make a meal: a dollop on the side of a roast can save one the trouble of making
gravy; a spoonful dropped into a dull soup is a wonder; a slather on toast,
with or without a piece of cheese, makes a tasty sandwich; even mixed into a
plateful of pasta, chutneys are one of the most useful condiments to have on
hand. While ketchup is
often thought of as being in a class of its own, it is basically a smooth
chutney. The following red onion chutney is a close sibling to onion marmalade, but is
much easier to make.
Red Onion Chutney
Yields about three 500ml/1 pint jars
1kg red onions
3 Tbs olive oil
5 cloves garlic
10 sprigs thyme, or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
5 Tbs demerara sugar, or 4 packed Tbs light brown sugar
125ml/¼ cup balsamic vinegar
3 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Top and tail the onions, cut in half, and peel. Thinly slice the
onions from top to bottom: you want the slices to look like parenthesis not half
moons.
Peel and mince the garlic cloves.
Pick the leaves from the thyme
Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium-high heat, and fry the
onions until they turn translucent.
Stir in the garlic and cook out for a minute or two.
Season with salt, sugar, pepper, the thyme and bay leaves.
Turn the heat down to low, and cover with a lid.
Leave to sweat for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.
When the onions begin stewing in their own juices, add the
balsamic vinegar, and turn the heat back up to high.
Stir continuously, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan:
you want the onions to caramelise a bit, but not to burn.
After about 5 minutes, the liquid in the pot should have thickened
somewhat, remove from the heat and pot up in clean jars.
Leave to cool in a draft-free spot.
The chutney will keep for a couple of weeks, though it will need to be refrigerated once the jar is opened. To ensure a longer shelf-life, process the filled jars for about 15 minutes. You can vary the flavour of the chutney by playing with herbs and spices. I had a bunch of basil and sage pining away in the fridge, so they got chopped up and thrown in. Cumin is great with onions, and would be lovely with red wine vinegar instead of the balsamic.
Bon App'!
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