Onion & Bacon Marmalade

I've made onion marmalade before, but I'm grilling brussel sprouts tonight and I wanted something special to dress them. The thought is that the sweetness of the onion and the richness of the bacon will help balance the pungency of the sprouts.

Continue reading...

This marmalade is very versatile, and it's also just this side of addictive. It's amazing on a warm slice of baguette with some goat cheese, as you see pictured here, but with the addition of some thinly-sliced leftover steak. It's also wonderful tossed into roasted potatoes.

This takes a while to make, but your patience will be richly rewarded.

Ingredients
4 lbs Yellow onions, halved and sliced to 1/4"
4 slices Thick bacon
2 cups Apple cider
1/4 cup Sherry vinegar (white wine vinegar is fine)
1/4 cup Brown sugar
10 sprigs Thyme, stripped from the stem (about 2 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp Kosher salt
2 tsp Black pepper

Method
Heat a Dutch oven or large heavy sauce pan over medium-high heat.

Cook the bacon until it's just crisp, then remove the slices and set aside, leaving all of the rendered fat in the pan.

Add the onions and salt to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook until the onions soften (about 15 minutes).

Chop the bacon fine and add it and the remaining ingredients to the pan. Cook uncovered until the liquid is reduced to almost nothing, stirring occasionally (about an hour).

Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the onions are a rich medium brown color, stirring frequently (about 10 minutes). If it starts looking too dry, add water 1/4 cup at a time.

Remove from the heat, set aside, and let cool.

(Makes about four cups)