Perfect Caramelized Onions

 Normally for special occasions we will buy a nice steak from Dons meat, but since we are having steak fajitas the next day (needed to use up some meat I had bought), I decided on pork. The guy at Dons suggested this bacon wrapped pork and let's be honest, everything is better with bacon :) And when i think of nice restaurants & meat I think of sautéed onions & mushrooms - okay maybe not really at nice restaurants, but who doesn't love sautéed mushrooms & onions on there meat. Normally I just sauté them in a little evoo & season them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, & a little red pepper flake. then right at the end, i add a little balsamic vinegar. It always turns out so good & tasty, but I wanted something different since this was our anniversary. When I saw this post title "Perfect Caramelized Onions" I knew I had to try them. I pretty much did the same thing that I had done the day before for my gravy, except I added in garlic & balsamic vinegar. Again they took forever to caramelize, but it was definitely worth the wait. I think because we have a swamp cooler it causes the house to become humid, and this making things on the stove top take longer to cook. I could be wrong, but that's my educated guess. 

Since this recipe didn't call for mushrooms, I decided to make them on their own and basically make them the same way. They too turned out delicious! I love mushrooms, but only if they are sautéed. :) 

Enjoy! 

Perfect Caramelized Onions

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp good olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter (you can sub more oil or use some animal fat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

• 1.Dice up your onion. I like to make them into half moons – makes \’em the perfect length. Add it to a skillet with your butter melted on medium heat. Add the oil, salt, and pepper. Give the onions a good toss and turn your heat down to medium-low. Now let \’em sweat.

  2.Toss them around every few minutes. At 15-20 minutes, they should start to have a carmel-y color (unless you have my stove, then those 15 minutes turn into an hour). At this point, add your minced garlic and turn the temperature down low to just above a simmer (you want the garlic to be sweet and glossy like the onions, not brown and crispy). Toss and leave \’em be for 15 more minutes (you won\’t need to check on them as often – every 5 minutes will do).

  3.Once the onions have a nice brown color and they\’ve been fully reduced, add your teaspoon of balsamic (yes, just a tsp… a little goes a long way) to deglaze the pan and give the acid and hint of extra sugar which makes these onions UGH SO GOOD. Toss and serve.