Guinness-Caramelized Onions

I was trying to think of something interesting to go with my loaf of  Irish Soda Bread and of coarse Guinness came to mind with it being a St. Paddy's day recipe and all. So I thought why not caramelized onions using Guinness. I have seen a few recipes like this throughout the blogosphere lately and I was inspired to try my hand, and it turned out great. While I was making this I kept thinking, "note to self, I need to come up with a french onion-style 'Irish Onion Soup' from this". How good would that be?

Here's the tasty bite I made using my Irish Soda Bread and these Guinness-Caramelized Onions.

Take a slice of Irish Soda Bread, slather with a generous amount of whole-grain mustard & some of the Guinness-Caramelized Onions, then top the whole thing off with some tasty sharp cheddar (I used Kerrygold Irish Cheddar here). Yum!

Guinness-Caramelized Onions

~makes about 2 1/4 cups~

Ingredients:

3 lb. yellow onions, halved, sliced thin

4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 t. salt

1 c. Guinness beer

1 t. dark brown sugar

1 t. fresh thyme leaves

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, adjusting heat as necessary. 

2. After about 20 minutes, when onions are beginning to break down and become sticky, add 1/2 c. Guinness. Continue to cook until the beer is completely evaporated, about another 20 minutes, continuing to stir frequently. 

3. Repeat the last step with the remaining 1/2 c. Guinness along with the brown sugar and thyme, cooking until the liquid is evaporated and the onions turn dark brown and jammy. Onions should take a total of 50-55 minutes start to finish.