Balsamic Syrup

The Relish Magazine insert from the Star News is a great place for recipe ideas. Though some of them look like you need a 5 five star chef to cook them. However, Relish from last week had some good ideas. Here's one that was easy to do.

Balsamic Syrup

Combine 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 star anise

2 sticks cinnamon in a saucepan.

Simmer until reduced by one-third, about 45 minutes. (You do need to stir it occasionally because the sugar settles) Let cool. Makes a cup.

Summary:

Excellent taste. I made this for Christmas gifts filling glass mason jars. I would measure out how many jars you are going to fill with the syrup and do the math from that. I had 8 different sized jars and doing the math before hand helped. I had no syrup left over. Filled the jars perfectly.

I went to Smart & Final and got a big container of their cheapest balsamic vinegar. Brown sugar came from the 99cent store (2 boxes of C & H brown sugar, can't beat that). The cinnamon sticks I had but you can find bags of them from the 99 cent store and Food for Less in bulk. The Star Anise, well yeah, I had, but that too can be bought in bulk from Foods for Less.

I saved the cinnamon sticks and star anise for another batch.

This syrup is thick and you need half of what you would normally for salads and such. I tried it on tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese. It was really good.

So try it...and when you taste it and realize it is perfect.. say to yourself....Damn I'm good!!!