Confit Of Shallots
Trying to think of something rich and tasty to go with the salt beef I made the other day, I thought about an onion jam but that didn’t seem quite right. Too sweet perhaps. So then I thought about making a confit of shallots, figuring the natural sweetness of the shallots would come out without adding sugar. A quick check on Google, as always, revealed that this was not a ground breaking revelation and several recipes were found that seemed easy enough. Not one for recipes especially (well not following them anyway) I decided to reduce the idea to its absolute minimum. I also wanted to make it as easy and hassle free as possible. Easy is my middle name (stop sniggering at the back).
So here is my recipe:
* 1kg Eshalion Shallots, peeled and halved lengthways
* 1Lt Virgin Olive Oil
Method: add the shallots and enough olive oil to cover them into a large slow cooker. Turn to high and cook for 12 hours initially.
I don’t entirely know how this is going to turn out yet. They have been in just over an hour and already the kitchen smells amazing! 12 hours may end up being too long or not long enough. Watch this space for an update later.
So after 10hrs cooking in the slow cooker and then allowing to cool, they look like this. The smell is incredible and they taste so very sweet. Because I had halved the shallots more surface area was exposed and they are even sweeter than I expected (remember I added no sugar) but they are also soaked in oil of course. It’s worth noting that the oil itself also tastes delicious!
I’m going to drain them as best I can. The shallots can then be warmed through and served as a side dish with the salt beef or added to other recipes. I will also keep and use the olive oil which is infused with the sweet onion flavours of the shallots. I also made an incredible mayonnaise with a little puréed shallot in there as well. This went so well in a salt beef sandwich with the beef I prepared last week.
The Big Gay Foodie 
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