Caramelized Onions: Onion Recipes

Caramelized Onions On Steak - Click To Enlarge

This week I am going to be making Caramelized Onions into Onion Jam. I had to think quickly this week as to what I was going to make because this has been a very busy week for me and I had lots going on around the house. I was supposed to have a water softener installed in my house but the plumber got stuck on an all day job so I had to reschedule for next week. This cut into my personal schedule especially since it was on Monday. Monday is the day I shoot my videos and the plumber was supposed to show up at 10a.m. but got stuck. I didn’t learn about this until it was almost 1p.m. in the afternoon. So part of my day was shot! I didn’t even have time to go shopping this week and I was in a quandary as to what to cook this week.

So I opened up my refrigerator and started looking around and I came up with “nuthin!” Then my eye’s fell upon a big 10lb bag of Vidalia onions. I know what many of you are thinking: “Why does this guy have 10lbs of Vidalia onions in his fridge?” Well! Once a year I get a 10lb bag of Vidalia onions from a local farmer right in Vidalia, California. They are the top of the crop and If I don’t give some away fast then I have to think fast as to what I am going to do with them. So I started doing some onion recipe research and came upon Onion Jam. It looked really, really good! The only thing that I found was that most of the people out there Making Caramelized Onions into Onion Jam were making it too sweet for my liking.

So after doing a couple of hours of research I came up with a version of Caramelized Onions to make Onion Jam with. I am going to make a savory garlic and bourbon Onion Jam that you can put on just about anything you can think of. I did some further research and found many uses for Caramelized Onions or Onion Jam. At the end of this blog post I will have a list of uses for Onion Jam and if you my readers have a suggestion for it’s use then send it to me and I will add it to the list and I will just let the list grow and grow! You will never look at Caramelized Onions the same way ever again! If you have never had Onion Jam you don’t know what you are missing! Caramelized Onions reduced to a jam like consistency has many, many delicious uses.

Vidalia onions sauteed with garlic and savory herbs like rosemary and thyme and a pinch of sage reduced down to a jam like consistency and flavored with Kentucky bourbon. It’s going to be a wonderful balance of flavors. Onion Jam is fantastic with vegetables or on a bagel with a cream cheese schmear!

Like many of us I become a tear monster when working with onions. I LOVE onions and even though my knife is sharp as many of you know my onions were cold and still the tears keep coming. The recipe is simple enough and it is WELL worth the effort to make for the return in flavor you get. Don’t let the word Jam fool you about this recipe. The Caramelized Onions don’t come out like a regular “Jam” per se. They do get broken down and reduced in size and the liquids used in the de-glazing process will aid in breaking down the cellulose of the onion. Once your Caramelized Onions are cooked down to jam you should be able to keep it in your fridge for weeks or longer because of the addition of the lemon juice and sugar.

All I know about Caramelized Onions turned to Onion Jam is that if you have a grilled cheese sandwich or a hot dog or cheese burger or even simple cheese and crackers all you have to do is put some of this Onion Jam on it and you will be in heaven! Onion Jam naturally is a gluten free food and is fantastic as a pantry essential for making quick appetizers, entrees and even sauces.  So let’s see how to make Garlic and Bourbon Onion Jam! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
A large saute pan or skillet I used a 5 1/2 quart Cuisinart high wall saute pan.
4 to 6 Onions any kind you want to use peeled and sliced.
1/4 Cup olive oil.
1 Cup Chicken stock.
1 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice.
1/4 to 1/2 Cup of Kentucky bourbon.(Your choice of brand)
1 Tbsp. Brown sugar.
4 Cloves of finely chopped or pureed garlic. I used 6 cloves.
1 Tbsp. dry thyme.
1 Tbsp. rosemary.
1 Tsp. dry sage.
2 Bay leaves.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
NOTE: If using fresh herbs use 4 to 8 sprigs of the rosemary and thyme and a handful of chopped fresh sage leaves.
1+Tsp Caraway seeds. Careful with these as they are very strong and pungent.

Optional Ingredients:
1 or 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard mixed into Onion Jam five minutes before it is finished cooking.

Method:
1. Heat your cooking oil on medium high heat. Don’t let oil smoke.
2. Put your onions in a large saute pan or skillet and begin to sweat them down. Add some salt and black pepper.
3. Once onions get translucent add 2 bay leaves and your chicken stock and stir/mix well.
4. Add your brown sugar and mix well. Cook this mixture 15 minutes uncovered until liquid is just about gone.
5. Once the chicken stock is almost gone add your garlic and cook uncovered until stock is gone and onions have caramelized and you have some tasty brown caramelization going on in the skillet or saute pan.

6. Now add lemon juice to the saute pan or skillet and deglaze it. The lemon juice will help break down the onions.
7. When the lemon juice is almost gone add your rosemary, thyme and sage and mix the herbs in well.
8. Cook onions until they are caramelized. The onions will have reduced significantly at this time to about 1 1/2 cups of onion jam. This means the onions have broken down.

9. Now add your caraway seeds and mix well into the Caramelized Onions.
10. Now slowly add your Kentucky bourbon to deglaze your saute pan or skillet. It might flambe’ or it may not. Be careful. Stir bourbon in well and allow alcohol to cook out. We want the flavor not the alcohol!

Now remove your onions from your skillet or saute pan and allow the Onion Jam to cool. That’s all folks! That is all there is to making Caramelized Onions into Onion Jam! Enjoy! Now here is the beginning of a list of things that you can do with Caramelized Onions or Onion Jam.

Onion Jam Uses:

On a gourmet Gorgonzola pizza.
Put on a crostini with bacon or prosciutto and either Chev or Gorgonzola.
Add some to a steak sandwich with Dijon mustard.
Add some to a burger/cheese burger with pungent pesto sauce.
Added to a pasta dish made with sun dried oiled cured tomatoes and roasted red bell peppers. Yum!
Oh my! Howz about added some Onion Jam to mashed potatoes made with some egg yolks!
Have some with your white or brown rice.
Add some Onion Jam to an omelette or frittata.
Add some Onion Jam or Caramelized Onions to a quiche. Delish!
Make a Brie En Croute with some Onion Jam. Oh yeah!
On a bagel with a cream cheese schmear!
Put some Caramelized Onions or Onion Jam in French onion soup!
Put some Onion Jam in cream of potato soup.
Shove some Onion Jam into a grilled cheese sandwich! Oh my mouth is drooling!
Add some Onion Jam or Caramelized Onions to the top of a hot dog or smoked sausage.
Put some Onion Jam into a salad.
Mix some Onion Jam with some green or Kalamata olives.
Howz about on a baked potato with sour cream.
Howz about grabbing a spoon and just eating it our of a jar! Works for me!
Put some in a calzone or stromboli! Now your talking!
Spread on an English muffin!
Add some to baked chicken.
Add some to fried potatoes! OMG! That sounds good!

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