Balsamic Reduction

Hello! Today I've got just what you need, no matter what it's for. If you've got food, this will go well on it- from meats to salads to fruits, try it on anything and I swear it will add a delicious sweet tang.

This, my friends, is balsamic reduction. Incredibly simple and incredibly diverse in use. We've started just keeping it around the house now and we eat it on something at least once a day. Let's get cooking!

Here's all you need: balsamic vinegar and a little sugar. I started with about 2 cups vinegar.

Reduce the vinegar (put in saucepan with no lid on very low heat) for several hours to about 1/3 its original volume.

For our sugar, I added a little Mexican piloncillo (an unrefined brown sugar)- about 1 tablespoon for my purposes.

And here's the finished product- stir the sugar and reduced vinegar together, let cool, and here you have it: that sauce that can add a little bit of magic to almost anything you make. See how syrupy it looks compared to before?

Balsamic Reduction
-balsamic vinegar (this isn't super-nice vinegar, but try to use the real thing!)
-a little sugar (or in this case piloncillo, a Mexican brown sugar)
Pour all that nice vinegar in a saucepan with no lid, put it on very low, and let it go for several hours, checking on it and stirring it periodically.
Reduce the vinegar to about 1/3 of its original volume, (you can vary this for thickness and concentrated-ness). Start with as much vinegar as you like, just keep in mind the time will vary with the amount of vinegar.
To measure the amount of vinegar as you go along, keep a glass cup measure nearby to measure how much you have, to see when you're done.
When you're done reducing the vinegar, add a little bit of sugar and stir over the heat until dissolved (very quick).
Let cool, and you're done- use it on everything from ice cream to steak (or tofu)!


Please give this a try and I promise you'll use it on everything and you might even eat some just off the spoon...
Savor it!
love, rue