Preserves for the fayre

I am taking my goodies to the Long Eaton Open Studios event on Bank Holiday Weekend.  So I figured it was time to get my ass in gear and actually make some preserves.

I started off on Monday night with Red Onion Marmalade.  So I decided to try this recipe:

1kg large red onions thinly sliced 


2 teaspoons olive oil or butter


125g brown sugar 


125 ml red wine vinegar


50ml port

50ml (about 3 tbsp) balsamic vinegar 


pinch of chilli flakes

pinch of rosemary 

salt and freshly ground pepper

Firstly gather all the ingredients together (well the picture shows some of them).

 In a large, non reactive saucepan, heat the oil or butter. Add the red onions, chilli flakes and rosemary and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar and cook over moderate heat for about 25 mins or until the onions begin to caramalise. And they should look something like this.  

Stir in the vinegar, port and the rest of the sugar, increase the heat and stir often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.  The colour has gone a bit darker as the onions caramalise even more.  The house will now smell beautiful!

 Season to taste with salt and pepper and add to sterilised jars.  I had to read extensively about sterilising jars so make sure you do some research before doing this.

Just needs a label now.

This recipe makes about 1lb of marmalade.  

Refrigeration is needed once opened and should be consumed within 3 months.