Madeira-Glazed Shallots

The day after Thanksgiving I found myself with tons of spare ingredients. I was especially interested in finding another use for the madeira I bought to make chestnut soup. I wasn't really in the mood to make anything too involved...I was feeling a little sick of my kitchen, disgusted with myself for eating too much and overwhelmed by the mountain of leftovers in the fridge. Bluh. In spite of my temporary reluctance to cook, I obviously powered through and made these shallots anyway. Then I proceeded to load up a ginormous plate of leftovers, adding my new side dish to the mix (as if I'd learned nothing from the day before). And let me tell you, they were incredibly delicious. It's hard to hate yourself while something so fantastic is dancing around on your taste buds (but remarkably easy to do just a few short minutes later).

MADEIRA-GLAZED SHALLOTS

Makes 18

1 tablespoon butter

18 shallots, peeled

1 1/2 cups Madeira

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

3/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth

3 tablespoons honey

1.       Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté until golden, about 10 minutes.

2.       Stir in Madeira, balsamic vinegar (if using), broth and honey. Simmer until shallots are tender and liquid is reduced to glaze, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat, stirring often, before serving.

barely adapted from Bon Appétit, December 1995

shallots

I decreased the recipe because I only had 5 extra shallots.
I recommend you make the full recipe (or more) because
everything reduces way down and you WILL want more.

peeled shallots

I decided to cut mine in half. Later I realized it causes
the shallots to fall apart into rings. Not a bad thing really,
they're probably easier to eat that way. You might prefer it,
depending on how you want the final presentation to look.

shallots browning

adding the Madeira

everything added

When you can run your spatula or spoon across the
pan and leave a trail, you know you're getting close.

closer still

reduced and syrupy

.