Confit D' Oignon

Confit D' Oignon is a must have in any pantry; is a wonderful condiment that can be used for a variety of meats, poultry, and fish or simply as a spread for sandwiches, breads, and appetizers. Serve it with charcuterie, terrines & cheeses; it is wonderful added to vegetables, soups, stews, daubes or as a sauce for steaks.

It is well worth making a few jars - it is expensive to buy, even in France; make up several jars when onions are cheap or you have a glut in your garden. You can make it with red or yellow onions, red onions gives the finished confit a fantastic colour!

In this offering we use equal parts red and yellow onions. We supply the recipe below if you want to make them for yourself.

Confit D’ Oignon

Yellow Onion, peeled, thinly sliced           500 grams
Red Onion, peeled, thinly sliced               500 grams
Olive oil                                              100 ml
Kosher salt                                          1 tsp
Black Pepper, ground                            ½ tsp
Bay leaves                                           2 each
Rosemary sprigs                                  2 each
Brown sugar                                       150 grams
Dry white wine                                    75 ml
Red wine vinegar                                 75 ml
Balsamic vinegar                                 25 ml

1. In a heavy large pan, heat up the olive oil on medium high heat and add   the finely sliced onions - toss around to make sure they all have a coating of oil.
2. Cook until they soften and start to color.
3. Add the salt, pepper, bay leaves & rosemary sprigs & cook for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the herbs have wilted.
4. Add the sugar, wine & vinegars.
5. Bring them to the boil while constantly stirring.
6. Lower the heat & simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes until the liquid is all dissolved and the onions are soft & sticky and almost all the liquid is gone.
7. You will need to be very vigilant towards the end of the cooking - stirring all the time so the onions do not stick and become burnt and scorched.
8. Remove from heat. Pick out the rosemary stem & bay leaves.
9. Ladle hot jam into sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving ½ inch head space.
10. Remove air bubbles and refilling to the proper headspace, if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal.
11. Extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".
12. Process filled jars in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
13. After processing, turn off the heat and let the jars rest for 5 minutes. 
14. Ready to eat but it is best after 2 weeks.

Recipe yields 3-8 oz. jars.