Pickled Onions
Once again your hostess would like to apologize for being such a laggardly poster. It’s not lack of interest in the blog, or in you, my readers.
The truth is the same dull reason it’s always been: my health. More precisely, my back.
Last week I had yet another cortisone injection. Rest is imperative after a steroid shot, as is avoidance of heavy lifting. As our regular caregiver was out of town, we had arranged back-up caregiving, including help on the night of my injection. Well, 8:30pm came and went. No caregiver. John called. Oops, so sorry….blah blah.
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When not contending with caregiving, or my back, I attempt to cook.
Carol’s Pickled Onions appears in The Zuni Café Cookbook.
I’d wanted to make pickled onions for years, but somehow never had the ingredients. Which is pretty amazing, when you read the ingredient list: onions, vinegar, salt, sugar, bay leaves, dried chili peppers, and peppercorns. We are not talking Ottolenghi here.
Anyway…here are we, it’s July, the planet’s either drowning or going up in flames, and I had the ingredients for Carol’s Pickled Onions. Carpe Diem.
Rodgers recommends a mandoline for this recipe, and her recommendation is a good one. Lacking a mandoline, a sharp knife will do. If your cutting skills are anything like mine (abysmal), give each onion a flat base before slicing them thinly.
Rodgers calls for either white wine or champagne vinegar here. I would add, as a veteran creator of inedible pickles, to avoid distilled vinegar, as it’s far too harsh. And while some people swear by apple cider vinegar for its flavor and numerous health benefits, it would be overwhelming in this dish. Malt vinegar? Don’t even look at it.
Moving on to sugar. The original recipe calls for two generous tablespoons. By all means, have at it. Do know the sugar is balancing the vinegar, not doing the work of food safety. Your refrigerator is doing that, so determine sweetness for yourself by tasting, or rely on Judy Rodgers and the eponymous Carol of the recipe’s title, who we can certainly assume had far better palates than some blogger in the East Bay with a weird collagen disease.
Carol’s pickled onions need an overnight rest in the fridge before consumption, after which they keep indefinitely. Use them in sandwiches, atop burgers of all kinds, or as I did, quite lavishly, atop Mexican red rice. They were so delicious I forgot to take their picture.
Pickled Onions
Slightly Adapted from Carol’s Pickled Onions, From The Zuni Café Cookbook, by Judy Rodgers
Orginal Recipe by Carol Bever
Yield: about 3 cups
Preparation time: about an hour; the pickle needs to rest overnight before consumption.
Please read the notes before starting.
10 ounces/280grams small onions–about two inches/5cm around (see notes)
1 cup/250ml water
1 cup/250ml champagne or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fine sea or canning salt.
1 scant tablespoon sugar
2 dried bay leaves
1 small dried hot chile pepper
A few whole black peppercorns
You will need a sterilized jar, a sharp knife or mandoline, and a non-reactive pan to make pickled onions. A funnel is useful but not required.
Sterilize a jar that will hold at least three cups/.75 kilos of onions with the liquid. It may not be full, but better a big enough jar than one that is too small.
Lacking a dishwasher, I wash my jars in boiling hot, soapy water, then dry them in a low oven. I handle them with tongs. I wash the lids the same way, but air dry them, again using tongs.
Thinly slice the onions with a mandoline or sharp knife. If you’re using a knife, slice a flat base on each onion to avoid cutting yourself.
To make the brine, pour the water, vinegar, salt, sugar, bay leaves, dried pepper and peppercorns into the pan and heat it to a low simmer. Stir in the sliced onions and bring the heat back to a simmer. Cook for thirty seconds. Turn off the heat, and decant the onions and brine into the jar. Allow it to cool, put on the lid, and refrigerate overnight before using.
Pickled onions keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, but it’s amazing how quickly they get eaten.
Use the onions in sandwiches, or alongside pork, poultry, beef, and rice dishes. As noted above, I used them with a Mexican red rice dish, and they were wonderful.
Notes:
Rodgers calls for yellow onions no larger than 2.5 inches/6cm around.
My onions came from the farmer’s market, and lacked labels. They were mixed colors–red, white, and purple. They were larger than boiling onions and not quite as difficult to peel. They were fresh and very sweet.
Use a wine or champagne vinegar. Don’t use a distilled, apple cider or malt vinegar, as these are too harsh.
Avoid using iodized salt if possible; your pickle will taste better.
As noted in the post, the original recipe calls for 2.5 tablespoons sugar. I think this would result in an unbearably sweet pickle, but taste and decide.
