Tuesday, January 18, 2005

confiture d'oignons, pt. II


the return of confiture d'oignons
Originally uploaded by ajkinik.



The last recipe for confiture d’oignons I made (see the post for December 26, 2004) turned out wonderfully in terms of taste, but it was made with butter so it congealed somewhat when I chilled it, lessening its visual appeal. I decided I would try out another recipe just as soon as I ran out of the first batch. Well, I ran out of oignons confits about ten days ago and I suffered for days afterwards. Yesterday I finally tried a new recipe.

This recipe includes no butter at all. In fact, it includes no fat whatsoever. As a result, it maintains its visual appeal even after its been in the refrigerator.

Once again, things start out slow, but then wonderful things start to happen. Even though this recipe has a lot more wine, syrup, and vinegar in it than the last one, it takes much less time to cook. The resultant confiture has a much darker hue to it. The onions turn out a deep ruby red, and they glisten in the light like little jewels, too.

There’s an old Jewish proverb that goes something like, “If there’s nothing in the pot, there’s nothing in the plate.” The converse of this could read, “If there’s confiture d’oignons in the fridge, there’s confiture d’oignons in my sandwich.” And every day that there’s confiture d’oignons in my sandwich is a good day. Well, it’s better than it would have been otherwise.

Without any further ado:

500 gr. onions, peeled and finely minced
1 glass* grenadine syrup
1 glass* red wine
1/2 glass* red wine vinegar
100 gr. granulated sugar
salt
pepper

Cook the minced onions in a non-stick saucepan for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat.

Add vinegar and red wine and reduce over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Lower the heat and add sugar and grenadine syrup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and simmer over medium heat for about 40-45 minutes. The mixture will reduce considerably until it thickens and takes on the consistency of a proper confiture. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place in jars and refrigerate.

*1 glass = about 8 oz.

(adapted from Conserves Maison in the Les Recettes d'Amandine series, published by Marabout (2002))

aj

4 comments:

aj kinik said...

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aj kinik said...

Hi Geoff,
Just kidding, of course.

I know from experience that that longing can be productive. I read Calvin Trillin and back issues of Convivium to help me through one stretch. You make the most of it when you're reunited with a real kitchen.
aj

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful picture.
Nice idea to omit the butter. Does it taste as decadent though?
I, too, ran out of confiture d'oignon about 10 days ago...
hint hint ;o)
h

aj kinik said...

hi h,
It's just as delicious, but delicious in a different way. It's a bit sweeter, but then the wine flavor is more pronounced, too.

Also, the yield was much larger (hint, hint).

You should come on by. I might be able to dig a jar out of the pantry.

aj