Recipe: Sweet and Sour Vidalia Onions (baked with garlic and thyme)

SWEET AND SOUR VIDALIA ONIONS
"Vidalia onions are full of natural sugars. Slow-cooking them in red wine vinegar and chicken broth accentuates their sweetness. The liquid doubles as a sauce, accented with mellow roasted garlic and woodsy fresh thyme."



"If you like, use a mixture of Vidalias and small, saucer-shaped cipollini onions, cutting the cipollini in half through the stem end."

4 Vidalia onions
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and quarter each onion, leaving just enough of the root end attached to keep the wedges together. Arrange the onions in a baking dish in a single layer and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf to the dish. Drizzle the oil over the onions.

In a small saucepan, bring the 1 cup broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, 2-3 minutes.

Pour the broth mixture over the onions. There should be enough to come halfway up the sides of the onions. Add a bit more broth, if needed. Cover the dish tightly with foil.

Bake the onions, stirring occasionally, until they release some of their juices and begin to soften, 30-40 minutes.

Carefully remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and continue to bake the onions, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons and the onions are very soft, 1 to 1 1⁄4 hours.

Transfer the onions to a serving dish and serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings
Adapted from source: Williams-Sonoma Vegetable of the Day by Kat McMillan