Onion marmalade

We had part of a bottle of red wine left after a visitor left (our last visitor from the UK before lockdown!). Clearly we weren’t going to drink it, we never do, but we also had quite a lot of onions so I decided it should become onion marmalade. I am pretty sure I have made this onion marmalade before, many moons ago. It’s easy and tasty, goes great with cheese, and keeps for a while in the fridge. I think this is the recipe I used before - and it was also the one I used this time.

2 kg red onions or regular onions 

4 garlic cloves 

140 g butter 

4 tbsp olive oil 

140 g golden caster sugar 

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaf 

pinch of chilli flakes (did not use) 

75 cl bottle red wine 

350 ml sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar 

200 ml port (used extra wine / wine vinegar instead)

Halve and thinly slice the onions, then thinly slice the garlic. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Tip in the onions and garlic and give them a good stir so they are glossed with butter. Sprinkle over the sugar, thyme leaves, chilli flakes if using and some salt and pepper. Give everything another really good stir and reduce the heat slightly. Cook uncovered for 40-50 min, 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. 

Pour in the wine, vinegar and port and simmer everything, still uncovered, over a high heat for 25-30 min, 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. Leave the onions to cool in the pan, then scoop into sterilised jars and seal. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Mulled wine / goodbye Boston

The clock is ticking through our final week in Boston. Doesn't quite seem real... Yesterday we had a birthday / christmas / solstice / goodbye / freeloading party - I guess things started to feel more real... Lots of friends came by to say goodbye and help us out by taking some of our stuff away (I was taken aback by the attendance, given the time of year). Seb rolled out his pretzel factory for one last time in Boston, and I kept a pan of mulled wine going on the hob all afternoon / evening.

The mulled wine is made the same way I used to make it as an undergrad, and ever since - lots of Christmassy memories. I am in the less-is-more camp when it comes to alcohol levels: I like to add orange juice rather than spirits. The orange juice provides sufficient sweetness for me, but in you like it sweeter you can add honey or have it nearby so people can add some to suit themselves.

I can't imagine there'll be much more cooking this Christmas - everything is in boxes and we have hardly any food left. So I suppose this is it.

(makes ~20 servings)

~ 2 bottles red wine (not the cheapest, but not the best either)
1.5 litres fresh orange juice
1 medium-large orange, sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
8-10 cloves
~5 whole green cardamom pods (optional; allspice / nutmeg might also be good)
honey on the side

Pour the wine into a large saucepan and add the orange juice. Add a bit at a time and taste in between until you get a wine-juice balance you like. Add the sliced orange, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom to the pan and heat over a low heat until it is just below a simmer. Keep the heat really low, so the mulled wine stays warm but does not boil. Ideally keep like this for ~30 min before ladling out the first serving. You can keep it going (below boiling) a few hours, and you can top up the liquid a couple of times before the spices lose their power.

Bean and tomato stew

I am trying to use things up. I don't eat cheese, but S does, and I couldn't let him throw away a perfectly good parmesan rind. This also used up some beans and red wine that had been waiting for their moment for too long. And it's a good combination: beans and tomato and herbs and lush, rich sauce.

~2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tin tomatoes
~2 tbsp tomato puree
1 parmesan cheese rind
1 tin lima beans
~1 1/2 cups white beans (cooked and frozen)
~1/2 cup red wine
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tsp dried basil
1-2 tsp dried thyme
pinch of dried red chilli flakes
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp dark soy sauce
salt+pepper

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add onion and garlic, cover and cook until softened. Add the remaining ingredients (except salt, pepper and soy sauce), cover and cook for at least 45 min, before turning off the heat, tasting for seasoning (salt, pepper and soy sauce) and letting sit for another half an hour. Remove the cheese rind and bay leaves and reheat to serve. Good with bread or pasta or polenta.

Chickpea flour pancake-pizza

Another very weird 24 hours: was woodturning late last night, finishing off my first bowl (!). When I left to bike home around 0045, I got to the JFK bridge and again, endless sirens: all shapes and sizes of cop cars whizzing along Mem Drive towards Watertown, and a cop boat in the river too. I eventually got across the road only to nearly get run down by another two cop cars coming over the bridge on the wrong side of the road, then cycled the rest of the way home dreading what I was going to see on the news when I got there.

Woke up this morning, bleary-eyed but ready to head to work, checked the news, and found the city was on lockdown: everyone in the city ordered to 'Shelter at Home' while the police conduct a manhunt (for a bombing / shooting suspect) in Watertown. All day we've been in a kind of limbo, reading news constantly while a warm, sunny Spring day passed by outside. I snacked fitfully and nervously all day, then by evening felt like I needed something real to eat...

I'd been meaning to try this recipe idea for a while. It's basically socca, simplified and restyled as a pizza.

For the base:
1/2 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt+pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

For the onions:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium-large onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp vinegary red wine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp mixed dried herbs (basil, sage, rosemary, oregano)
salt+pepper
1 tsp honey

Other toppings:
8 salty, dry, black olives, de-stoned and chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped basil
2 pieces of dry 5-spice tofu, shredded
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds

Heat the oven to 450F and put a large, flat, cast iron pan in it to heat as well.

Whisk the base ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Heat the olive oil for the onions in a medium frying pan with a lid, then add the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until well softened. Uncover, add the red wine, vinegar, dried herbs, salt and pepper and cook for a bit longer, until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add the honey (or sugar) and cook for a minute or so longer, then set aside.

Take the cast iron pan out of the oven (careful, it will be very hot and heavy) and spread the chickpea mixture across it quickly and evenly. Put back in the oven for 5-10 min. Then take out again (the chickpea mixture should be cooked to make a crust), and spread the onion mixture across it. Sprinkle the other topping ingredients across the top: shredded dry tofu, chopped basil and olives, and sesame seeds. Put in the oven for another 5-10 min, until the tofu and seeds are lightly browned.


This was interesting: I liked the chickpea base but it came out quite thin, more like a pancake. Perhaps double the quantity another time? And / or try increasing the relative quantity of chickpea flour in the mix?

Whole okra with tomato and spices

We ate okra and tofu curry from Yoma last Friday, then bought okra from the Haymarket on Saturday. I think these facts were connected (the curry was good). Last time we bought okra I forgot about it until it was too late, this time I did not let that happen. My usual way with okra is to slice it finely and saute with chopped onion and garlic, mustard seed and other whole spices. This time I wanted it whole and tomato-y, still curry-ish but not the same as the Yoma one. Simple and warming. This is a long list of ingredients but most of them sum up to curry powder.

(total cooking time approx 30 min - make sure to get the rice on first and chop veg in order as you cook)

1 tbsp veg oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 in piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 clove
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
1 400g tin tomatoes
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp light soy sauce
slug of (vinegary) red wine
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper
~30 medium sized whole okra, washed and stems trimmed but otherwise left uncut
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, cover and cook for a few minutes. Add ginger and garlic and soften a few minutes more. Meanwhile, make the spice mix: grind the clove, chilli flakes and seeds together and mix with the ground spices. When the onion, garlic and ginger are softened uncover and add the spice mix to the saucepan. Stir and fry a couple of minutes more, until the spices are fragrant. Then add the tomatoes, water, puree, soy sauce, wine, bay leaf, and some salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Lastly, add the whole okra. Cover and simmer for ~15 min, stirring occasionally (careful not to break the okra), until the okra are soft and well cooked. Taste for seasoning and stir in the fresh coriander. We ate this with raw red rice cooked with cumin seeds and a cinnamon stick and tossed with 2 tsp coconut oil when done.


This came out exactly as I hoped, and was ready just as S walked in the door. We also had salad with papaya seed dressing (similar to this one).