That moody shallot jam

OK everyone, I promised William I would post this recipe, which I found in a Food & Wine magazine. The end result was great, but the recipe, as-written, did not give me those results. So, here's the recipe as posted in Food & Wine, followed by my notes. Enjoy!

Shallot Jam

Makes about 1 cup

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• Salt to taste

In a skillet, heat the oil. Add the shallots and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook until thick and jam-like, 5 minutes or so. Season with salt.

Shawn’s notes:

I followed the recipe above which I tore out of Food & Wine magazine – it was described as an accompaniment to chicken liver mousse on toast points (Which I haven’t made yet, but doesn’t that sound yummy?).

After cooking the mixture 5 minutes, it wasn’t even close to being thick and jammy, so I just kept cooking. I cooked and I cooked, and I cooked some more, and finally we arrived at what was—I thought—the perfect consistency for a shallot jam. Thoroughly impressed with myself, I packed the savory result into a small jar, set it aside until it cooled, put the lid on tightly and then popped it into the fridge. Later, provoked by a tingle on my tongue upon remembering the tangy delight that I’d earlier put away, I ambled into the kitchen and pulled my jar of shallot jam out of the fridge. Salivary glands well-activated, I opened the jar, and, spoon in hand, I went for it.

Horror of horrors – my jam was no longer jammy. In fact, it was more accurately cement-y. Even worse, cement of the already-dried variety. My previously unctuous dream of a sweet and savory spread had turned into an inedible pot of hard oniony candy. My dreams of sharing my shallot jam delight with my KTC dearies were dashed, and now I was one snack down. What to do, what to do?

I mulled. I shook my fist at the shallot jam. I whined to Fernando. I figured I’d just toss the shallots anyway if I couldn’t think of another way to use them, so I felt up to a gamble. Just then, I remembered the caramelized onions on the second shelf of the fridge which I’d been snacking from for the past several days. Could this be the solution? Turns out, it was.

I added the caramelized onions to a small nonstick skillet, along with a few good turns of olive oil. I chipped the hardened shallot jam into the mix, and let the whole shebang warm and soften together. After a very brief simmer, I re-seasoned with a little more salt and turned off the fire. I left this mix out to cool, and found that, somehow, it didn’t appear to be in a mood to harden back up again. Success!

Moral of the story: I am not a sugar chemistry expert, but I suspect that something happened with my sugar cooking process that made a harder end product than I’d anticipated. Notes for next time, I’d try cooking lower temps and/or less time on the stove. Can’t knock the addition of the onions, though – it was really nice!