Posted on July 24th, 2008 by Carolyn
Have you ever heard or read about how hard it is to photograph brown and beige things? Hope you can even figure out this is onions! I had to balance some of the onions on a fork with my left hand and try to hold the camera steady AND click the shutter with my right hand. All to show some added depth to the photo. And although this may not look all that appetizing, it’s actually very good. Would I kid you?
After just stating yesterday that I didn’t have any posts waiting in the wings, I looked, and oh yes, I had this one. I hadn’t posted it because I made the onion pepper relish to go with the beef sliders for the 4th of July, and thought the two were too similar. This one is less sweet than the relish - more suited for a slab of grilled meat probably, than the burgers and accompaniments. I still have some of this in the refrigerator (as well as the relish from the 4th), and assume it will keep for another few weeks since it’s “pickled,” so to speak, with the vinegar. Hope so, as it was delicious and very suitable for some meat things. I used it on a sandwich last week too.
We had some friends over for dinner a few weeks ago, and with the pork roast we did on the rotisserie (that I’d brined) I wanted to serve some kind of sauce or salsa, or something. Found a recipe for a pork rib roast with this onion marmalade. It was just a perfect fit. And oh-my-goodness deliciousness. It’s not difficult, although it does take some time (total cooking time about an hour) to sweat down the onions, then to continue to cook them down to a jammy consistency. If you started this first (when about to make a dinner) it would be done by the time you were ready to sit down).
The recipe came from Food & Wine magazine, May 2008. If you want to do the pork roast, just brine it, bake or rotisserie it until it reaches an internal temp of about 133 degrees (still pink in the middle). Remove and let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving with this cold, room temp or hot onion topping. The leftovers will keep for several weeks.
Balsamic Onion Marmalade
Recipe By: Food & Wine, May ‘08.
Servings: 8
4 whole onions — peeled, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pinch ground cloves
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large pot (large enough to barely hold all the onions) heat the oil until it starts to shimmer. Add the onions and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 20 minutes. Do not let them burn or brown.
2. Season the onions with the ground cloves, salt and pepper. Add the brown sugar and cook over moderately low heat until the skillet is dry, about 10 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and orange zest and continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the marmalade is very thick, 30 minutes. Transfer the marmalade to a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Reheat, if you prefer it hot, just before serving, or serve cold, or at room temperature.
Per Serving: 65 Calories; 2g Fat (23.0% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 5mg Sodium.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’ve always been amazed but the length of time it takes to cook onions in this way, sometimes I add a little water throughout the cooking, it sems to stop the burning.
Have you thought that a tripod might help your food photography?
I was amazed that my old one even fits my new little digi-cam!
July 24th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Two typos there - ‘amazed BY the’ and ‘it SEEMS’ I really should pay more attention…
July 25th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Yes, onions do take a while to sweat out their juice. And get to that silky brown color. And yes, I have used a tripod on occasion. Probably need to try it more often. It’s a little baby one - will only go up a short amount of space, so I need to use it mostly for side shots. My photo area is a little niche in my kitchen, and I really am not happy about having equipment sitting around, so try to limit what I leave out on the counter. My main equipment piece is my light, which is a very awkward size and too big to hide anywhere. My little photo niche is used a lot, and I’d hate to have to dig it out of a closet every day just to snap a picture. My DH is quite tolerant about my photo-taking, even when we’re trying to sit down to dinner.