Caramelized Onion Jam
Yes, it is time for the again. This month's theme? Alliums!
After a whole lot of googling, I found a recipe I liked, made appropriate variations and got to work.
To start, you need to roast garlic. Have you ever roasted garlic? Because you should. It's delicious, nutty and completely different from regular garlic. Sometimes I'll spread roast garlic on good bread with a spreadable cheese.
So, take a bulb of garlic, lop the top off, put it on top of some aluminum foil, drizzle olive oil over top. Fold the aluminum over so you get kind of a crinkly ball. Repeat w/ three more bulbs. You can also use a garlic roaster
thingy for this, but that really only works with one bulb, not 4.
Put all 4 bulbs in the oven at about 425* to roast for about half an hour. I think the easiest way to keep these from running around is to put each foil ball in a muffin tin.
While that's going on, take your onions...
And dice 5 cups worth. This should be about 3 onions or so. Next, take 1/4 cup of butter. Cube it...
Melt it in a dutch oven over medium heat...
Try not to drool as you watch it...
And put your onions in to caramelize. This will also take about half an hour, requires semi-frequent stirring and also requires you not to drool over the pot and eat them with a spoon as you get closer to caramelization. Caramelized onions are delicious, sweet and one of my favorite foods.
While this is going on, prep your everything else. Take 1/4 cup of balsamic...
I'd drink balsamic vinegar if it was accepted by society. I have a problem, y'all.
Add 3/4 cup of cider vinegar and 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice.
Yes, I said bottled lemon juice. No, you can't use actual lemon juice from real lemons. Yes, I'm a kill joy. You can't get the same guaranteed acidity from real lemons the way you can from the plastic bottle, and that's necessary in this case. If you use one of the yellow lemons like I do, that'll be the entire thing. Once you've got your liquid together, prep your spices:
Combine 1.5 teaspoons mustard, 1 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp pepper (recipe calls for white, I used black because I had it), 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp of cloves. I like to put my spices together in a ramekin for easy dumping when the time is right.
(Please ignore how I dumped half of the ginger onto my counter. Whoops.)
By now, hopefully your onions have caramelized and your garlic has achieved a lovely dark brown roasty color and a great smell has filled your kitchen. You've restrained yourself from just putting the onions and garlic in a bowl and eating it, snarling at anyone who tries to take it from you. Are you there?
Then take all eleventy billion garlic cloves from the roast garlic bulbs, pop 'em out and add 'em to your onions.
(GIANT garlic clove!)
Stir 'em around a bit, then add your liquid and spices. Bring to a boil.
This will also smell very good. You'll be tempted to lean over and take a whiff, but you'll regret doing this, as you'll get a lungful of vinegar fumes. Not delicious.
Now, I attempted to make this with no sugar pectin, so instead of adding the 6 cups of sugar to the recipe, I added a can of apple juice concentrate. (Thank you for your advice, canning twitterers! I couldn't have gotten it without you!!) Bring the mixture back to a roiling boil for 3 minutes. Add pectin.
Stir and bring back to a boil. Boil for 1 minute (while stirring!!!), remove from heat and let sit for 3 minutes.
I tried it at this point, and it was waaaay too tangy! It made my eyes water, it was so bad. So, I put it back on the heat and added a cup of sugar. Tried it again, still too tart. Added a second cup and melted into a pool of yum on the floor. Boiled for another minute, then removed from heat.
Now, you've had your canning pot water simmering all this time, your jars sterilizing for the past 10 minutes and your lids simmering and softening all this time, right? Good job! I always spend the last 20 minutes of a canning project running around frantically and trying to get everything put together properly. Fill 6 half-pint jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims, add lids, and tighten with bands. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.
This JUST makes 6 pints. One of them didn't seal, so I got to try it. Yum. Yum. It's the essence of balsamic vinegar, caramelized onions and roasted garlic. I twittered that all I needed was a good steak to go with it. It's a touch on the sweet side, so my recipe below is how I'd tweak it to serve it. You can adjust the sugar to your liking, but you CANNOT adjust the vinegar, as that's what keeps everything from giving you botulism.
Roast garlic and caramelized onion delicious jam om nom nom:
4 bulbs garlic
olive oil
5 cups chopped sweet onions (Vidalias or Walla Walla sweets are best)
1/4 cup butter cubed
3/4 cup cider vinegar (5% acidity)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (5% acidity)
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
1.5 tsps ground mustard
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 can apple juice concentrate (unsweetened)
1 cup sugar
1 pouch low sugar pectin
Remove tops from garlic bulbs, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap each bulb in oil, bake at 425* for 30-35 minutes or until softened. Cool.
Saute onions in buttler on medium heat for 30-40 minutes, or until caramelized. Squeeze garlic cloves into pan. Stir in cider vinegar, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and spices. Bring to a roiling boil. Add apple juice concentrate and sugar, stirring constantly. Return to a hard boil for 3 minutes. At the same time, sterilize 1/2 pint jars in boiling water for 10 minutes and soften lids in simmering water.
Add pectin, return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let sit three minutes. Fill half pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool overnight. If lids do not seal, either refrigerate or reprocess.
YUM.
(Crossposted to my other blog)
After a whole lot of googling, I found a recipe I liked, made appropriate variations and got to work.
To start, you need to roast garlic. Have you ever roasted garlic? Because you should. It's delicious, nutty and completely different from regular garlic. Sometimes I'll spread roast garlic on good bread with a spreadable cheese.
So, take a bulb of garlic, lop the top off, put it on top of some aluminum foil, drizzle olive oil over top. Fold the aluminum over so you get kind of a crinkly ball. Repeat w/ three more bulbs. You can also use a garlic roaster
thingy for this, but that really only works with one bulb, not 4.
Put all 4 bulbs in the oven at about 425* to roast for about half an hour. I think the easiest way to keep these from running around is to put each foil ball in a muffin tin.
While that's going on, take your onions...
And dice 5 cups worth. This should be about 3 onions or so. Next, take 1/4 cup of butter. Cube it...
Melt it in a dutch oven over medium heat...
Try not to drool as you watch it...
And put your onions in to caramelize. This will also take about half an hour, requires semi-frequent stirring and also requires you not to drool over the pot and eat them with a spoon as you get closer to caramelization. Caramelized onions are delicious, sweet and one of my favorite foods.
While this is going on, prep your everything else. Take 1/4 cup of balsamic...
I'd drink balsamic vinegar if it was accepted by society. I have a problem, y'all.
Add 3/4 cup of cider vinegar and 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice.
Yes, I said bottled lemon juice. No, you can't use actual lemon juice from real lemons. Yes, I'm a kill joy. You can't get the same guaranteed acidity from real lemons the way you can from the plastic bottle, and that's necessary in this case. If you use one of the yellow lemons like I do, that'll be the entire thing. Once you've got your liquid together, prep your spices:
Combine 1.5 teaspoons mustard, 1 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp pepper (recipe calls for white, I used black because I had it), 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp of cloves. I like to put my spices together in a ramekin for easy dumping when the time is right.
(Please ignore how I dumped half of the ginger onto my counter. Whoops.)
By now, hopefully your onions have caramelized and your garlic has achieved a lovely dark brown roasty color and a great smell has filled your kitchen. You've restrained yourself from just putting the onions and garlic in a bowl and eating it, snarling at anyone who tries to take it from you. Are you there?
Then take all eleventy billion garlic cloves from the roast garlic bulbs, pop 'em out and add 'em to your onions.
(GIANT garlic clove!)
Stir 'em around a bit, then add your liquid and spices. Bring to a boil.
This will also smell very good. You'll be tempted to lean over and take a whiff, but you'll regret doing this, as you'll get a lungful of vinegar fumes. Not delicious.
Now, I attempted to make this with no sugar pectin, so instead of adding the 6 cups of sugar to the recipe, I added a can of apple juice concentrate. (Thank you for your advice, canning twitterers! I couldn't have gotten it without you!!) Bring the mixture back to a roiling boil for 3 minutes. Add pectin.
Stir and bring back to a boil. Boil for 1 minute (while stirring!!!), remove from heat and let sit for 3 minutes.
I tried it at this point, and it was waaaay too tangy! It made my eyes water, it was so bad. So, I put it back on the heat and added a cup of sugar. Tried it again, still too tart. Added a second cup and melted into a pool of yum on the floor. Boiled for another minute, then removed from heat.
Now, you've had your canning pot water simmering all this time, your jars sterilizing for the past 10 minutes and your lids simmering and softening all this time, right? Good job! I always spend the last 20 minutes of a canning project running around frantically and trying to get everything put together properly. Fill 6 half-pint jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims, add lids, and tighten with bands. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.
This JUST makes 6 pints. One of them didn't seal, so I got to try it. Yum. Yum. It's the essence of balsamic vinegar, caramelized onions and roasted garlic. I twittered that all I needed was a good steak to go with it. It's a touch on the sweet side, so my recipe below is how I'd tweak it to serve it. You can adjust the sugar to your liking, but you CANNOT adjust the vinegar, as that's what keeps everything from giving you botulism.
Roast garlic and caramelized onion delicious jam om nom nom:
4 bulbs garlic
olive oil
5 cups chopped sweet onions (Vidalias or Walla Walla sweets are best)
1/4 cup butter cubed
3/4 cup cider vinegar (5% acidity)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (5% acidity)
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
1.5 tsps ground mustard
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 can apple juice concentrate (unsweetened)
1 cup sugar
1 pouch low sugar pectin
Remove tops from garlic bulbs, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap each bulb in oil, bake at 425* for 30-35 minutes or until softened. Cool.
Saute onions in buttler on medium heat for 30-40 minutes, or until caramelized. Squeeze garlic cloves into pan. Stir in cider vinegar, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and spices. Bring to a roiling boil. Add apple juice concentrate and sugar, stirring constantly. Return to a hard boil for 3 minutes. At the same time, sterilize 1/2 pint jars in boiling water for 10 minutes and soften lids in simmering water.
Add pectin, return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let sit three minutes. Fill half pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool overnight. If lids do not seal, either refrigerate or reprocess.
YUM.
(Crossposted to my other blog)