Caramelised red onion

All my life I was a proper city girl. Never had any family or friends living in the countryside so I have never made a physical contact with some animals, in particular farm ones.

I have made my first physical contact with goats one day when… working with my company. When I first started I was a part-timer doing small jobs – printing postage, paying in, and once I was asked to go and take the picture of the barn for conversion that we had for sale.

So I went into a middle of the field, trying not to cave in too much in my high heels (did not have wellies in the car that day and the ground was quite soft) and I was trying to take the best shot possible. Suddenly I realised one of the goats was chewing my trousers and the other was trying to scar me by stamping aggressively.

I was trying to scar the one that enjoyed my trousers but she seemed to have more fun. I was chased by both until I got into the car and came back to the office in my trousers with goats’ saliva on.

So I do not trust goats anymore but I love goats’ cheese. And there is something really tasty that goes very well with goats’ cheese and other cheese. It is homemade caramelised onion. It is tastier when matured for 4-6 weeks so do not be tempted to open the jar earlier as you may be disappointed.

I am not quite sure how many 190ml jar I had from the ingredients below, but at least 5. I am just about to finish the last one and will have to make some more – I will double the quantities this time.

Recipe is a pure improvisation.



1kg red onion
approx. 50g butter (I used ghee)
approx. 150ml red wine vinegar
approx. 100ml dry red wine
approx. 300g dark muscovado
to handfuls of dried cranberries
half tsp chilli powder
pinch of salt

Peel, half and slice the onions and add to the heavy bottom pan with melted butter. Fry over a low heat for about 15 minutes – it should be soft but not browned.

Next add the sugar, stir gently and fry for about 10 minutes. Next add the remaining ingredients and stir. Simmer over a low heat for about 15 minutes. Most of the liquids should evaporate, so you can turn the heat up for last few minutes, but be careful and do not burn the whole thing.

Also you can add some herbs such as thyme, but I prefer plain onion and adding some fresh herbs just before serving.

Place hot onions in sterilised jars, close and place up side down a big pan lined with kitchen towel. Fill with the hot water till about half of the jars height and boil (not rapidly) for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan, set aside to cool down and store in a dark, cool place.

I think these should keep at least 1 year, but in my house do not last more than 3 months. I also use it for sausage or beef sandwiches.