To caramelise Onions

To caramelise any thing is a relatively easy afar to do, all you need is to be a little patient and not hurry things to much. Now that sound very simple and after all what is caramelising some thing if not burning it a little, well yes. That is in effect what you are doing but on the other hand, the fact that you are just burning some thing a little is an easy step to be one fraction of a second away from burning it a lot and ruining it all together.

So before you do this please do not think I will just go of and watch the television or go to the door and see who is there for you turn your back on this and you will have nothing to show for it apart from a black stick and rather unpleasant mess.

So first, you will need your onions. Now you can use sliced diced or whole onions the thing to remember is that the bigger the onion the longer that it will take to cook.
So if you are going to use whole French opinions then you will need to finish them in the oven for about one hour to cook all the way threw . It you are just going to do fine dice onions you can have them done in a few minuets on the stovetop.

Personally, I like to take shallots and cook them like this. You start them on the stovetop and then finished in the oven. It takes about half an hour all depending on the size of the shallot.

Take your onions and peal them and make sure they you have none of the brown outer skin on them at all. This does go very bitter and can taint the whole flavour of the onions. Then take a heavy saucepan. If you have one use one that you can put in the oven then you do not have to worry about swapping dishes. As well as saving on the washing up, you can keep the onions cooking in the crystallised juices on the pan.
So get your pan and place it on a medium heal and allow it to warm up then add a little oil to it. For this I would use olive oil, normally I would recommend a vegetable oil if you are going to roast any thing. To roast in olive oil is a little on the extravagant side and you lose the flavour of the oil in the cooking. But the olive oil goes very well with the onions.

Once the oil is hot, add your onions allow them to cook. Now if you are using whole onions get ready to put them in the oven so that they can cook. All you are looking for is that they go soft. You do not want them to sweat down to a pulp just soft. If you are cooking chopped or sliced onions then keep cooking them on the stovetop.

Once your onions are soft add a little salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. You do get a lot of natural sugar coming out of onions any way but the sugar helps it along the way. You can add a bit of butter as well if you like and this does make it very rich. You get a real caramel flavour with the sugar and the butter. Then just cook them until you get the colure that you are looking for.

The only thing to remember is when the caramelising starts it will continue very quickly. That is why you have to keep your eyes open and watch what is going on. If you like you can add some thyme to the whole thing as well that does go very well indeed. Then once you have got to the colure that you like take out the onions and place them in another dish , if you leave them in the hot pan they might still cook some more and then burn .

Once you have finished with the pan an as long as it is not too burned, return it to the heat, and then pour in some water. This will take of all the caramelised juices of the pan. Then add some balsamic vinegar and cook until it reduced right down to a black liquid. Add some more butter and let that melt into the liquid making a rich sauce and the put that over the onions. If you are having any red meat this is a grate thing to have with it. The sweet and sour onions with a rich butter back note and venison. It is making me hungry as I sit and write this.