Whats the recipe for home made pickle onions?!
Whats the recipe for home made pickle onions?
Answers:
PICKLED ONIONS
1 1/2 lb. pearl onions, peeled
2 tbsp. pickling salt
1 1/2 c. white vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. pickling spices
Drop onions in boiling water to cover. Boil 3 minutes; drain. Place in cold water. Combine 2 cups water and pickling salt; pour over onions. Let stand 12 hours. Drain; rinse thoroughly.
Combine vinegar, sugar and pickling spice; bring to boiling. Pack onions in hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Cover with pickling liquid, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath (half pints) for 10 minutes. Makes 4 half pints.
English version uses malt vinegar & brown sugar for a special flavour :-)
The pickled onions I've eaten in the USA are nothing compared to English pickled onions.
Pickled Onions
As to quantities, who can say? I can tell you the relative quantities ("so much of this to so much of that"), but as to the actual quantities, this all depends on how many jars of the little rascals you intend to lay away. In fact you'll find that this is one of those slippery recipes that you sort of "grow into" (you'll see what I mean as we proceed). All we can say is to remember that "2 teaspoons = 1 dessertspoon" and "2 dessertspoons = 1 tablespoon," and then purchase as much of the following ingredients as you think you'll need (you'll also need an appropriate supply of small-ish mason jars or similar):
Lots of small pickling (pearl) onions Colman's English Mustard (the yellow powder type)
A handful of haba?eros (hot peppers) Hard brown sugar
Heinz apple cider vinegar Salt and ground black pepper
First of all, there's an art to cooking, and it starts by doing the washing up you've been putting off all day and putting all of the pots away.
Peel the onions and soak them overnight in salt water (1 tablespoon of salt per pint of water).
The next morning, sterilize your mason jars (I boil them for ten minutes), drain your onions, and fill the jars with the onions to about 1/2 an inch from the top.
Mix as much pickling solution as you think you'll need using the following proportions .... for each pint of apple cider vinegar add 1 dessertspoon of the powdered mustard, 5.5 ounces of brown sugar, one dessertspoon of salt (flat, not heaped), and 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
Shake the pickling mixture well until everything that's going to dissolve has dissolved, and then pour it over the onions in the jars (leave 1/4 inch gap at the top).
Finely dice one haba?ero for each jar of onions and add them to the jars (adding the haba?ero is optional, but all my friends prefer the recipe this way). Screw on the lids, shake each jar well, then put them on the back shelf of your refrigerator and leave for around 4 weeks (I tend to give the little rapscallions a good shake every now and again whenever I think about it). Ooohhh, you are in for a mega-treat let me tell you!
Wash up all of the knives, chopping boards, and everything else you've used and put them all away, then wipe down all of your working surfaces. Trust me - you'll feel better when everything is clean and tidy - have I ever lied to you before? (Don't answer that!)
You won't believe your taste-buds when they sing to you (in four-part harmony) just how tasty these little rascals can be. You can use them to enhance all sorts of cold meats (chicken, beef, ham, pork, lamb, ...) and most cheeses, or you can simply serve them in a bowl and spoon a few onto the side of your salad plate. However you serve them, I think they'll be a huge success with your guests, the only problem being that you'll receive numerous requests to "please lay up a few extra jars as presents the next time you make them."
As one final point, you can also use the above recipe to pickle garlic. This may sound a bit weird to many people, but pickled garlic is a lot milder than you might expect, and it goes amazingly well with meats such as cold roast beef. The only point to consider is that you need to leave it in the jars about twice as long as for the onions before it's ready to rock and roll
water salt steep pealed onions over night
drain rinse
put in jar
pour over spirit vinegar and add pickling spices
put lid on
leave for several weeks
eat and enjoy
1~Peel the onions until they look clear, being careful not to cut the bulb.
2~If a little warm water be poured over them the task will not be quite so disagreeable.
3~Throw them as they are peeled into a bowl of white-wine vinegar, and when they are all finished strain the vinegar into an enameled stewpan, with 1 ounce of whole peppercorns, 1 dessertspoonful of salt, and an inch of whole ginger to each quart.
4~Boil gently for five minutes, let the liquid cool, and pour it over the onions.
5~It must be boiled again twice before the onions are fastened up, and should be sufficient to cover them entirely.
6~Put the pickle into jars, cork securely, and cover them with bladder, then store for use.
7~Instead of boiling the vinegar three times, the onions may be thrown into it when boiling, and simmered gently for two minutes.
This makes English style pickled onions. I've been doing them like this for years and am always being asked for the recipe. It sounds more complicated than it is!
Unless you are living in a climate where the temperature is always over 100F DO NOT PUT IN THE FRIDGE - put the onions on your worksurface in a place that is always out of the sun - I'm lucky, I have a walk-in larder. The cold of the fridge seems to affect the texture badly.
!. Get your onions or shallots, which taste even better, and rub off the loose skin. There is no point in peeling them at this stage.
2. Put them in a large mixing bowl and cover with a brine made of 4 tablespoons of salt to 2 pints of water. Cover with a cloth and leave for 24 hours.
3. Drain off the water , which will have gone a nasty brown colour, through a colander, rinse the bowl and then peel the onions and put them back in the bowl. (This way your eyes don't suffer! )
4. Make up some more brine and cover the onions. They will all try to float to the top so put a saucer or a small plate on top of the onions to keep them submerged. Cover with the cloth again and leave for 48 hours.
5. Meanwhile, make your vinegar. Some people use malt vinegar but I find the results better if I use white malt vinegar. Buy a 'pickling mix' of spices and use it as it is the first time. After that you can alter it to suit yourself - for instance I always add a couple of extra dried chillies and leave out the root ginger, but it is all a matter of taste. Put 1 tablespoon of spices in a large saucepan, add 1 pint vinegar. OPEN THE WINDOW, and bring to the simmer. Immediately remove from the heat, cover and leave to cool to room trmperature.
You now have a choice either strain of the spices and discard or leave them in until you bottle the onions. Some people put them in the bottle with the onions.
6. Sterilise your jars and lids by washing them and then putting them on a layer of newspaper in the oven (this stops them cracking) set to a low heat for 15 minutes.
7. When the jars are cold, drain off the onions from the brine and rinse in cold water. Pack them into the jars leaving enough space to make sure they will be covered by the vinegar and then cover with the cold vinegar. Put on the lids,
label and store in a dark cupboard for at least 2 months before eating.
For fresh pickiled onions
Finely cut rings of two large onions (Seperated)
add 1 tsp salt and mix well
add 1 cup chilled water and wash the onion rings draing the water out.
add 1 tsp freshly ground pepper powder
add juice of one lime and one tsp chopped coriander leaves.
serve with all kinds of meat curry dishes.