PICKLED ONIONS

Yuletide is upon us, approaching faster than a Hurricane. Too many, the festive period is a time for eating,drinking and much merriment, and what better way to enjoy those cold cuts and abundant cheeses than with homemade pickled onions!Pickling is a way of preserving foods that is used worldwide, and varies between different cultures and country's, and certainly in the use of ingredients that are pickled. Pickled onions are a good old British favourite that put an appearance in around the festive season, but are also sold as snacks in pubs, over the counter in Fish and chip shops or in jars ready made in supermarkets. There are many recipes, for pickling here is ours!

The peel;

First the tedious task of peeling the onions. It is important to try not too bruise the onions whilst peeling, a simple top and tail with a sharp knife should be sufficient to enable peeling.

The brine;

Allow 500g of salt to 1.5lts of water. Dissolve the salt in the required amount of cold water. Quantity's will depend on the amount of onions/shallots you wish to pickle. This is an easy ratio to half or double as required. Place the peeled onions into the brine solution, with enough solution to cover and leave to soak for at minimum of 24 hours up to a maximum of 72 hours.The spice mix;

8 cloves

8 allspice

8 coriander seeds

16 peppercorns

3 bay leaf

5 dried chilli's

2 cinnamon sticks

3 tablespoons of sugar

The vinegar;

NOTE; This recipe calls for unspiced vinegar, if buying ready spiced, omit the spice mix and follow the rest of the recipe.

You will need to measure the amount of water you used for the brine as this will be the amount of vinegar required to pickle the onions. You have a choice of vinegars to use, the vinegar of choice is normally malt, but clear vinegar, white wine vinegar or a 50/50 mix of white wine vinegar and malt is used depending on the recipe. Here we have used a mix of white wine and malt vinegar.

To make;

You will need adequate jars for storing the pickles, kilner jars are probably the best but not necessary, as old coffee jars and sweet jars make an excellent alternative, any jar of sufficient size can be employed for the task as long as it has a lid. Place a small sheet of cling film/wrap between the onions and the lid, before bottling as vinegar is corrosive to certain materials.

First the jars will have to be sterilised this can be done by placing them through a full cycle in a dishwasher or alternatively place the jars into boiling water and boil for ten minutes.

In a non aluminum pan Bring the required amount of vinegar and spices to a simmer and leave simmering for 30 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for a further 30 minutes. Whilst the vinegar is standing the onions will need to be rinsed. The onions will need to be rinsed completely, too rid them of the brine. When the 30 minutes is up, strain the vinegar and dispose of the used spice. Bottle once the vinegar is cold.



Leave for a minium of 1 week in a cool place before opening, but the onions are better left for a month before eating.