Red Onion Marmelade

Ingredients

2 kg red onions (or regular), halved and thinly sliced.
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
140 g butter
4 tbsp olive oil
140 g golden caster sugar
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
pinch chilli flakes (optional)
70 cl red wine
350 ml sherry (or red wine) vinegar
200 ml port

Method

  1. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat.
  2. Add the onions and garlic and give them a good stir so they are glossed with butter.
  3. Sprinkle over the sugar, thyme leaves, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper.
  4. Give everything another really good stir and reduce the heat slightly.
  5. Cook uncovered for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions are ready when all their juices have evaporated, they're really soft and sticky and smell of sugar caramelising. They should be so soft that they break when pressed against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Slow cooking is the secret of really soft and sticky onions, so don't rush this part.
  6. Pour in the wine, vinegar and port and simmer everything, still uncovered, over a high heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring every so often until the onions are a deep mahogany colour and the liquid has reduced by about two-thirds. It's done when drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan clears a path that fills rapidly with syrupy juice.
  7. Leave the onions to cool in the pan, then scoop into sterilised jars and seal.

Pan Hash

You will Need

potatoes cut into small cubes
onion chopped and sliced
olive oil (or chilli oil)
optional
ingredients 		chorizo (chopped)
corned beef
Cheddar cheese chunks
other left-overs from fridge

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan.
  2. Add the potatoes and stir over a medium high heat until all the cubes are coated in fat.  Turn the heat down low, cover with a lid and cook gently for about 20 mins, stirring frequently to avoid the potato sticking to the pan base.
  3. Turn the heat back up to medium and remove the lid.  Add the onions and fry gently until they are soft (chorizo that needs to be cooked can also be added at this point).
  4. Add the final ingredients (depends on what is in the cupboard/fridge) and cook through.
  5. Serve hot with plenty of salt & pepper.

Pissaladiere

Ingredients

1 bulb garlic already roasted  (A whole bulb not just one small clove.)
500 g onions finely sliced
sprigs thyme
1 pack puff pastry
1 can anchovies
handful black olives
olive oil for cooking

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large, wide pan.  Fry the onions for 20 – 30 mins until softened and lightly golden, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in the thyme, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes more.  Leave to cool a little.
  3. Heat oven to 200°C.
  4. Unroll the pastry into a neat 40 x 25cm rectangle.  Put on a large, lightly oiled baking sheet.  Score a border and pop in the fridge.
  5. Spread the mashed garlic and then the onion mixture over the pastry.  Arrange the anchovies in a criss-cross pattern, and stud each with as olive.
  6. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden.

Serve hot or cold.

Portobello Burger with Tomatoes and Rosemary Aïoli

Vegetarian.  Serves 4.

Best on a sunny summer's day, or when you want to be reminded of one.

Ingredients

For the burger:

4 portobello (big) mushrooms, stems trimmed
2 to 4 tbsp olive oil
2 beefsteak (big) tomatoes, each cut into 4 slices
4 burger buns (or pitta breads, flat breads, etc.)
optional
toppings 		½ red onion
rocket or other salad leaves
thinly sliced cheese
bacon or Parma ham

For the aïoli:

1 fat garlic clove, chopped
½ tsp coarse sea salt
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary leaves
½ tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp mayonnaise
freshly squeezed lemon juice

Technique

Make the Aïoli:  Mash the garlic with the salt to form a paste.  Mash in the chopped rosemary and then mix in the oil, beat in the mayonnaise and add the lemon juice to taste.

Make the burgers:  Heat a heavy frying pan.  Brush the mushrooms liberally all over with the olive oil then rub with salt and pepper.  Add to the pan and then cook over a high heat until tender.  (You may need to add more oil if the mushrooms are particularly absorbent.)

Remove from the pan and keep the mushrooms warm.  Add the tomato slices to the hot pan and sear briefly for about 30 seconds on each side.

Assemble:  Split the buns and spread with butter.  Add onion rings, mushrooms, tomatoes, aïoli, bacon/ham, cheese and salad leaves.  Close the buns and serve.

Roast Garlic

Ingredients

1 garlic bulb
olive oil, to cook

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact.  Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
  3. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan, muffin pans or foil.  Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.
  4. Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself.  Use a small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
  5. Eat as is, or mash with a fork and use for cooking.  Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

Used in pissaladiere.