Sometimes I have an idea for a recipe, and I experiment and do a couple of tweaks and end up with something on the plate that is exactly what I envisioned when I started. Sometimes I have an idea for a recipe, and then it morphs into its own path and being and the food that ends up on the plate is nothing like what I envisioned when I started. This recipe is absolutely the latter. But I am so glad that I ended up here, with a jar of this deliciousness in my fridge (well actually three jars, because it worked brilliantly the first time, then I decided to see if I could cut corners which didn’t work so well the second time, then the third time I redid what I did the first time with no cut corners and it worked brilliantly again).
This jam would be perfect on a cheese and cracker board. But sadly storebought crackers on not an option on the gluten contamination elimination diet and I haven’t made myself any lately, so I have settled for just putting it on other things. In the process, I have discovered that this jam goes beautifully with venison, roasted beetroot and hot chips. Use it any way you might use a chutney or relish. I haven’t mastered preserving and kind of feel that this could be a good preserve if I knew what I was doing, but it does last for a week or two in a jar with a good lid in the fridge. The recipe below makes about 2/3 of a cup.
What you need:
3 large-ish red onions (or equivalent if you use smaller onions – I went for a weight of about 650 grams of onions before peeling and cutting)
3 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of mild olive oil (or other mild oil)
¼ cup of light brown sugar
¼ cup of red wine vinegar
¾ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
½ cup of water
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
What to do:
1. Peel the red onions and dice finely.
2. Peel the garlic cloves and dice finely.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat until hot. Add the diced onion and garlic and brown sugar to the hot oil and fry for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion and garlic has softened and the sugar melted through the mixture.
4. Still over a medium heat, add the red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to the pot and stir into the onion/garlic/sugar mixture in the pot. Allow to simmer, stirring every few minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. This should take about 10 minutes, depending on how hot the stove plate is.
5. Add the water to the pot with the other ingredients and mix together thoroughly. Whilst still over a medium heat, allow the onion mixture to simmer, again stirring every few minutes, until the liquid has evaporated and the onion is looks and sounds like it is frying in the residual oil at the bottom of the pot. This should take a further 10 minutes, again depending on how hot the stove plate is.
6. Once the water has evaporated and the onion mixture in the pot is looking thick and jammy, add and stir through the fresh thyme leaves whilst cooking for a further minute or two.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and place the hot jam in a clean jar.
8. Set aside the jar of jam to cool. Once cool, store the jam in the fridge.
9. Enjoy!
Some, Some and Some 