Red Wine-Cooked Onions (Daube d’Oignons)

Ingredients

1/4 c butter
2 1/2-3 lb Spanish onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups full-bodied red wine such as Petite Sirah or Côtes-du-Rhône
salt and freshly-ground pepper
1 tsp or more red wine vinegar

Method

Heat butter in a 4-quart saucepan (not aluminum) over low heat. Add onions. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes.
Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are glazed and golden-brown (20 minutes). Sprinkle with sugar and boil down, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes to glaze.
Reduce heat to low, add wine, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are very soft and deep mahogany in colour, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Season with salt and pepper, and add vinegar to counteract any sweetness. Serve hot, lukewarm or cold.
If Spanish onions not available, increase sugar, but add a little vinegar at the last minute to counteract excessive sweetness.

Source

Adapted from a recipe card promoting The Cooking of South-West France by Paula Wolfert.

Comments

The subtitle of the cookbook is Recipes from France’s Magnificent Rustic Cuisine. The Amazon reviewers who have the book praise it highly and make it sound very appealing. The blurb sounds delicious, too;

the recipes do not disappoint. Some standouts include Morue Pil-Pil, a spicy, slow-cooked salt cod dish recipe from the Basque region, and Cèpes of the Poor, chunks of eggplant sautéed to replicate the texture of costly mushrooms.

I don’t think I’ll be making this one, though. Deeply browned onions are delicious, but worth 3 hours of to-and-fro-ing to stir the dish? You can make it for me if you want; I’m sure I’ll like it.
There’s a logical glitch at the end; if you don’t have Spanish onions, add more sugar (how much?) and then vinegar at the end to counterbalance the sweetness. But you’re supposed to add vinegar anyway; this instruction is no different than the one given in the basic recipe. I don’t think you can get this right unless you already know how it’s supposed to taste.