Sauces & Jams · By James
Bordeaux Onion Marmalade
For my 50th birthday I was given the gift of a day with a Bordeaux chef in Bordeaux, and this was one dish he taught me. We served it with a roast duck with foie gras stuffing — unbelievable! The recipe here takes the liberty of adding thyme, which gives a delightful herb note to the marmalade. The year after we came back from this trip to France, Cam and I prepared pan-seared foie gras (sourced from Stan Sakamoto with his food service) with this marmalade for the group of friends in Medicine Hat that had helped to fund this day with the chef. The combination was one suggested in France; an unbelievably unctuous pan-seared foie gras beautifully complemented with a tart, sweet onion marmalade rich in fruity, oaky flavors from the reduced wine. Joc really loves to use caramelized onions, and when available, onion marmalade in her cooking. Her latest creation with caramelized onions was the amazing Tarte de Doight (appetizer section).
Ingredients
- 3 big purple onions — finely sliced (not diced)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 7 tbsp demerara sugar
- 1 bottle of a rich red wine
Method
- 1
Place oil and butter, onions, garlic in big saucepan and cook on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally until beginning to caramelize. This will take some time, roughly 30 minutes. It's important that you not try to rush this with higher heat — the sugars need to caramelize, not burn.
- 2
Add thyme, salt, pepper, balsamic and sugar and ¼ cup of the wine — simmer on medium-low heat until liquid mostly reduced.
- 3
Continue to add wine in ¼ cup increments and reduce (this will take time, ~1 hour). It is done when dragging a spoon across the bottom leaves a swath that rapidly fills with syrupy liquid.
A note from James
Particularly good on grilled pork (try center cut loin chops that are thick cut — 1"+), chicken or duck/goose, on cheese (amazing with brie/camembert), and if you can get it, on seared foie gras! If you like foie gras (Quebec foie gras is very fine), pan fry it in 1 cm slices and serve on bruschetta with a dollop of the marmalade — this definitely needs to be on a foodie's "bucket list."
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