Balsamic Glaze – A Homemade Treat You’ll Love!

Inexpensive balsamic vinegar can easily be transformed into a magical condiment that tastes like a million bucks!

I don’t know about all of you, but this pandemic is wearing on my nerves. And my taste buds too. I am struggling to come up with new ideas for our seven nights a week eating at home. Heck, I rarely even know what day of the week it us…unless I look at my plastic weekly pill holder! (How old does THAT make me sound!)

Get this. One morning I turned on the TV and I couldn’t understand why my favorite Saturday morning PBS shows hadn’t been recorded. I checked the DVR settings and I still couldn’t figure it out. That’s when I realized it was only FRIDAY…not Saturday morning. 

I walked out to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee and Peepaw told me he was going to head out to vote. I gave him a puzzled look and I said, “Are you sure the drive through voting is open on Saturday?” UGH! That’s right. By the time I walked to the kitchen I had ALREADY forgotten what day of the week it was…AGAIN!! Pandemic brain is REAL, My Dear Readers!

Balsamic Glaze – The Method

Now…back to that balsamic glaze. It starts with four simple ingredients.

Simply pour a bottle of inexpensive balsamic vinegar into a sauce pan. Don’t waste your money on an expensive bottle for this recipe. (But I promise…the finished sauce will taste like you did!)

Next, add several bay leaves. I know…if you read the fine print on that plastic container you’ll see my bay leaves should have been replaced several years ago. But my finished sauce tastes just fine anyway. (I’ll add bay leaves to my next pandemic drive up grocery order…I promise!)

Add two sprigs of fresh rosemary.  Then pour in a hefty blob of rich sweet honey.

I didn’t measure the honey. Simply add enough to make the mixture as sweet as you like it. About 1/4 cup was to my taste.

How Thick? That is the Question!

Now here is the only complicated part of this recipe. Cook that mixture until it thickens. The hardest part of making balsamic glaze is figuring out when it’s thick enough. I cooked and sometimes stir the mixture until it coats the back of a spoon. Know that it will thicken a little more after it’s cooled. You don’t want to walk away from the sauce as it nears the proper consistency since it can become TOO thick quite quickly toward the end of the process. (I know from personal experience!)

When the glaze is the thickness you want, simply cool the mixture and remove the bay leaves and the rosemary sprigs. Then pour into a container and store in the refrigerator.

This balsamic glaze recipe came from chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich. Her PBS show called Lidia’s Kitchen is one of those Saturday shows I thought I had missed on that crazy Friday morning! But thankfully I didn’t miss THIS delicious recipe. 

Give this sauce a try. You’ll find it’s incredibly versatile. It’s delicious on bruschetta, a caprese salad, or drizzled on a block of Parmesan cheese. It’s even tasty as a topping for vanilla ice cream! And if you like Brussels sprouts you simply HAVE to drizzle them with this balsamic glaze.  How do I make them, you ask?

Cut the sprouts in half and toss them on a sheet pan with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees until just tender. (Flip them over halfway though the roasting  process.) When you remove them from the oven just drizzle some of this sweet balsamic glaze over them. You’ve never tasted Brussels sprouts like these…

You can thank me later.

No matter what day it turns out to be.