Bramble & Spice

I love caramelized onions. They’re an easy way to add a concentrated boost of flavor. They require just an occasional stir while cooking, so it’s easy to have them going in the background while you work on other things. Caramelized onions freeze really well, so I always make more than I will need at one time. It’s the same amount of work regardless of how many onions you do, so you might as well make extra.

You will need to make this in a stainless steel rather than a nonstick pan. A nonstick pan won’t allow a fond to form (all those browned bits that stick to the bottom of the pan). The fond gets scraped up and incorporated into the onions when you deglaze the pan with white wine, adding necessary flavor and color. You can also use red wine, broth, or water to deglaze the pan. I prefer the flavor white wine adds but any of those will work great.

Caramelized Onions

2 yellow onions, sliced about ¼ – inch thick

2 Tb olive oil

½ cup white wine

2 tsp salt

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat until the oil and pan are hot. Reduce the heat to medium low and add onions. Stir periodically. Gradually a fond will form in the bottom of the pan. As you are stirring, leave it intact. The onions will become translucent and then gradually darken as they begin to caramelize. This process should take between 40 minutes to an hour. The fond at the bottom of the pan should develop into a nice, dark brown. If it starts to turn the corner towards black or if the onions are browning on the edges, rather than turning translucent and then darkening, turn your heat down lower and keep going. When all of the onions are completely translucent and have developed some nice color, add the wine and scrape up all of the fond from the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Add the salt and some fresh pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool.