- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 4 red onions sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 1/2 cups of red wine (like half a bottle if you eye it)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 lemon, juiced and zest
i love this time of year. my favorite part, buying and making gifts for people.
this year i’m making a lot of gifts. not only do i cook, but i knit. i’ve put together a little list for myself of people i really want to make “foodie” gifts for though. this year we are making batches of onion jam and ketchup.
as well as making homemade gifts i would love to share some “gifts” with you for the cook in your family. these are some of my favorite products right now.
this is my new favorite gadget. the vegetable spiral slicer. not only can you make fries with it, you can make all sorts of interesting salads. see above, that is a simple beat, parsnip and carrot salad with maple vinaigrette. add a little cilantro, it’s a great lunch or side that looks interesting and fun. i can’t wait to try veggie pasta!
one of my favorite things to drink now that i gave up coffee is tea. i’ve always been a huge fan of bulk tea. i have a big tea strainer that i use, but when i want a single cup, this is perfect. not only that, but i can use this for multiple glasses. i picked it up at sur la table a couple weeks back and i must admit, i use it 3-4 times a day. if you know a big tea drinker, this with some nice loose tea would make a wonderful gift. I purchased this at sur la table.
another sur la table purchase. this what they call a emulstir, i like to call it a salad dressing mixer 
you basically measure out all of your ingredients and press that lever. in less then a minute you salad dressing is mixed with out shaking. could you use a jar, sure, but this is pretty to serve at the table and it has a pour spout.
now back to that homemade stuff. a couple weeks back dara from chick in the kitchen posted this great sounding recipe for an onion jam. the description reminded me a lot of those balsamic honey onions i made a while back. they were irresistible. the only difference, wine. how can onions and wine be bad? they can’t. i threw this together quickly last night because a) i wanted to try it and b) today was a friends birthday and i wanted to bring her a little something special (she’ll get ketchup next week). she served a quiche and we each took a spoonful of jam, it was divine.
making holiday gifts for friends can be fun. you can make more then these onions or ketchup, you can make soap, candied nuts, candles, cake or cookie mixes, the possibilities are endless.
onion jam adapted from alex guarnaschelli’s onion jam via food network
- in a large pot heat oil, add sliced onions and mix. after about 2 minutes add garlic and give it a quick toss. wait another 2 minutes and add the wine. bring to a boil and then on medium heat cook until wine had almost completely reduced to nothing.
- meanwhile, in a separate pot, add honey. cook on medium heat until the honey starts to foam, add balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and zest. turn off heat let it sit.
- when wine is almost completely gone add the honey mixture to the onions. mix and cook for about an hour to an hour and a half on a low simmer until the mixture resembles jam.
store for up to two weeks or so in the fridge.
don’t forget, you have 2 more days to sign up for the cleanse!!!
