There are different types of onion jam, also called marmalade. Simple caramelized onions can fill the bill. Or add balsamic, honey, red wine to the onions. You can bacon to make bacon jam. The recipe below adds tomato.

Sauté sliced onions to the consistency of jam (actually, it’s more like preserves or marmalade), and voilà: a condiment to serve with many everyday dishes, or a chunky sauce. Serve it with:

 
 
This recipe is courtesy of DeLallo Foods.
 
 
RECIPE: EASY TOMATO-ONION JAM

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté until golden-brown, about 6-8 minutes.

2. ADD the tomatoes to the skillet and sauté for 6-8 minutes. Add the tomato purée and cook for 5 minutes. Then turn the heat to low and simmer until the mixture thickens to a jam-like consistency, about 20-minutes.

3. SERVE as desired. If you put it in the fridge, warm it briefly in the microwave before using.

[1] Tomato-onion jam makes a chunky topping for pasta (here, fusilli).

[2] Here, it tops a tricolor bruschetta, with ricotta and guacamole (both photos courtesy DeLallo).

[1] This zucchini bread is made with guajillo chiles and walnuts (photo and recipe courtesy Melissa’s The Great Pepper Cookbook).

[2] Guajillo chiles are the dried form of the mirasol chile (photo courtesy iGourmet).

[3] Like chile peppers? The Great Pepper Cookbook adds them to favorite recipes that are typically prepared without added heat (photo courtesy Oxmoor House).

April 25th is National Zucchini Bread Day, and Cinco de Mayo is not far ahead.

Here’s a recipe to celebrate both: zucchini bread with chile peppers. It’s delicious for breakfast, coffee breaks, snacks; you can even serve it with ice cream or whipped cream for dessert.

The recipe is courtesy Melissa’s The Great Pepper Cookbook, a primer of all varieties of chile peppers, plus 150 delicious everyday recipes that showcase the range of flavors that different peppers contribute.

Don’t like chiles?

 
Here are the history of zucchini bread, and the history of zucchini.
 
 
IS IT A BREAD OR A CAKE?

Zucchini bread and siblings like banana bread and pumpkin bread belong to a category called quick breads (also spelled quickbreads)*. While they seem to be made with with similar ingredients and with the same method as cake, the differences are these:

 
 
RECIPE: GUAJILLO CHILE ZUCCHINI BREAD

The chile peppers in the recipe are ground into a powder and mixed into the batter. You won’t see them in the zucchini bread, but you will taste them.

The recipe makes two loaves, and the bread freezes beautifully.
 
Ingredients

*Quick breads include American-style biscuits, banana bread and similar fruit breads, muffins, scones, soda bread. These breads share common features: They are relatively low in fat and low in sugar compared to cake. They were invented largely because of the arrival of baking powder. Similar items made before this time used only natural leavening. Here are other types of quick bread from around the world.
________________

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment, and lightly spray the parchment with cooking spray.

2. SIFT together into a bowl the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the baking soda and stir the ground chiles.

3. BEAT the eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Process on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and off-white in color, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to slow and slowly add the flour mixture, bending until smooth and well-combined.

4. SWITCH the whisk for the paddle attachment. Add the zucchini, lemon zest and walnuts to the egg-flour mixture; mix thoroughly.

5. POUR equal amounts of the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 to 75 minutes.

6. COOL the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the loaves, remove the parchment paper, and cool completely on the wire rack. Slice and serve.
 
 
WHAT ARE GUAJILLO CHILES

The guajillo (gwa-HEE-yo) chile is a thin-skinned chile from Mexico. It has medium heat (5 on a scale of 10).

It is the dried form of the mirasol chile. It has a deep red color that intensifies when the dried chiles are soaked.

The flavor: complex notes, including green tea, berry and a faint finish of pine nut.

It is the second-most commonly used dried chili in Mexican cuisine, after poblanos, and is often used in seafood dishes.

Guajillo mean big pod in Spanish.

> The different types of chiles.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Will you be doing something festive for Cinco de Mayo?

Think beyond guacamole. This recipe, from Bush’s Beans, tops the ever-popular hummus with two Mexican favorites—salsa and queso fresco—to create fusion hummus.

Even if you’re not doing anything special, serve it as a first course with dinner, or as an accompaniment to a glass of wine or beer beforehand.

And yes, you can serve a dish of the equally-ever-popular guacamole alongside it.
 
 
RECIPE: MEXICAN HUMMUS

You can buy plain hummus or make it from scratch. You can make the flavored hummus the day before, and add the toppings before serving.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

[1] Fusion guacamole: Middle East meets Mexico (photo courtesy Flavor & The Menu).

2. PLACE the corn hummus in a serving bowl or curved plate (see photo). Top one side of the hummus with pico de gallo and queso fresco crumbles and leave the other half plain; or, top the entire bowl.

3. SERVE with warmed tortillas.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.