Caramelized onions. Two words that can turn  a bad day right around – after the stock market insanity last week, maybe that is exactly why I could not stop day-dreaming about caramelized onions, only stopping to fantasize about winning the lottery. These little treats are so easy and elevate something wonderful into something stellar! The versatility of onions slowly coaxed into a pile of gooey, delectable sweetness if something quite marvelous as well. Creativity shines with an element that can be thrown into sandwiches, eggs, soups, meats and stir-frys, pizzas, salads, pureed into jams, stuffed inside things,  or heaped onto gooey baked cheeses. Try to make this dish with as much tender love as possible and I swear the onions taste even sweeter. You can make caramelized onions several ways, I am giving the version that I do without a ton of butter and in a much faster time frame. However, the longer the deep, rich, sweet onions are cooked on a low heat the more amazing they become. Feel free to make a bigger batch in a crock pot over the weekend (8-12 hours) or, if you are pressed for time, simply use a little more heat to whip this up in about two hours on a week night.

Caramelized Onions
Approximately One and One-half Cup, depending on size of onions

Image obtained from Ciao Florentina!

One plus One half sweet onion, sliced evenly
One tablespoons butter (or olive oil or a mixture of the two)
A good pinch of salt
One-half tablespoon cane sugar

Slice onions in half, then slice the half into 1/8 inch slices (approximately). Heat oil or butter in a large saute pan or dutch oven. Once a medium-low heat is achieved, put onions into the pan and stir well to coat. After a couple of minutes add salt and sugar. Stir well. Return to pan every few minutes to check and make sure that the onions are not burning (add more oil, butter, or a little water or broth in the event that they do begin to burn). The goal is to have onions brown and stick to the pan without burning. Stir every few minutes for about a half hour, then lower heat and continue cooking for about an hour continuing to stir and adjust according to brownness (conversely, keep the heat a tad higher and cook for less time but check for burning).Eventually, the onions will be a rich, dark brown color. Remove from heat after about an hour and a half and either use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will last several days. If desired, you can hit the onions with a dash of vinegar or wine at the end of the cooking process to de-glaze the pan (for possible reuse) and bring a little additional flavor to the onions.