Sweet Onion and Rosemary Jam with Sage Butter

Brian and I recently tried out a super hyped-up restaurant here in Chicago, Girl and the Goat. I was a little apprehensive due to the excessive amount of hype over a celebrity chef. I was surprisingly and delightfully wrong and left wondering how on Earth some of the flavors came together. My number one mission when I left, was to attempt to reconstruct the onion jam and sage butter we had as an appetizer (Brian thought I was nuts because it's all I talked about for several days). My gosh was it amazing. Here's my attempt at what I found to be a delightful start to a meal. It's a great make-ahead dish for holiday entertaining. Just pull it out of the fridge, and serve it!

Sweet Onion and Rosemary Jam with Sage Butter 

For the Sweet Onion Rosemary Jam:
3 large red onions (sliced thinly)
1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cloves garlic (rough chop)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons sugar
1 bay leaf
3 sticks rosemary
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the Sage Butter:
1 stick unsalted butter
5 sage leaves (rough chop)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 loaf of bread toasted with olive oil and salt
 

In a large, thick bottomed pot, heat the butter and oil over medium low heat. Add all the onion, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, whole peppercorns and salt. Give the pot a good stir to make sure the onion is coated in oil and butter. Cover and let simmer for 35 minutes. This will give the onions time to caramelize and get really sweet and flavorful.

Add the balsamic and red wine vinegars, white wine, honey and sugar. Add a bit more salt. Give the pot a good stir and let cook for 20 more minutes, uncovered. Stir the mixture occasionally to ensure nothing is burning. Adjust temperature as necessary.

Remove the rosemary sprigs and bay leaf. Some of the rosemary leaves will have fallen off, but don't worry, leave them in. The liquid should be reducing at this point. Cook for another 20 minutes (75 minutes total). Taste to see if salt should be adjusted.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and give a few quick pulses. You want to break up any rosemary leaves, and make the jam "spreadable", but not turn it into mush.

While the jam cooks, prepare your sage butter. Simply heat the butter, sage and salt over low heat. Let cook together for 5 minutes. Strain through cheesecloth into a small container and cool in fridge.

Serve the sage butter and onion jam together on any kind of bread you have! I used a big loaf of freshly baked, warm multi-grain bread to make the crostini. The jam can also be sealed up and sent off as a wonderful holiday gift!