Pickle now for winter.

I LOVE pickled onions! On their own as a midnight snack or in a plowman's lunch or with cheese and wine.   You can use them in stews or chopped up in sauces and vinaigrette. Delicious in a home made herb mayonnaise instead of capers or anchovy. I'v noticed how pricey they have become in the shops, and besides if you make your own they turn out much more tasty and with a wonderful crispness to the bite that you will never get in a mass produced product. They are an absolute joy and all my friends and family love them.

Okay pickling anything is real slow-food, these onions takes at least 2 months for the full taste to develop and they only become better with time. So it is advised to pickle on bulk.  I usually pickle 3 of these big can-fruit bottles in March, so that they can be enjoyed over the winter months, sounds OTT, but trust me there are never enough of them to satisfy to everyone's full content.  

Apart from the obvious peeling and prep of your containers, the process is really quite simple.  The main thing to keep in mind is hygiene and cleanliness. Especially if you want to preserve for a a long period of time.  To this end many pickling recipes will instruct heavy salting of your peeled onions over-night.  I however find that it ultimately makes them to salty and may leave them soft and soggy.

Through trail and error I have devised a method that is fairly fool proof and straight froward so here we go...

Ingredients: (to fill 1 large jar or 3x750g glass jars)

2kg pickling onions (usually 2 bags at the grocer)
750ml white spirit vinegar
500ml white wine vinegar
1 cup of Cola Tonic and 1 cup of water or 500ml of coca cola
2 tablespoons brown or white sugar.
1 packet of pickling spice - ask at a super market or green grocer.
3 tablespoons of salt.

EVERYTHING used in the entire process needs to be super clean and spotless.  

1) Dump your un-peeled onions in a basin with lukewarm water, soak for about 10min, this makes them much easier to peel.  I wont lie the peeling takes some time so get help if you can - a bottle of wine or a friend or both.  

2) Place your peeled onion in a large clean bowl. Add the salt and toss them about to cover the lot. Leave to stand. I don't use any salt (adding a teaspoon to the pickling mix instead) but I use a Product called Colloidal Silver (about 175 ml), available at good health stores and pharmacies.  This is to kill any germs, fungus and nastiness that might corrupt your jar.

3) Wash your jars well and rinse thoroughly in clean water. You need to sanitize the jars and their lids, to do this you can either boil them in a large pot for 10 min, microwave them containing some boiled water for 10 min or bake them in the oven also containing some boiled water for 15 min at 110 degrees Celsius. LID OFF! Set aside to cool.

4) Dump all the other ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil on the stove. Stir to dissolve the sugar  Allow to simmer for 10 min and set aside to cool.

5) NOW go have some vino with your helpful friend to give your onions about another 30 min with the salt. Periodically shaking them about, then rinse them under running water to remove all the salt.

6) Fill your jars with the onions, first about half way then some pickling mix and so forth. Try to divide all the spices between the jars. You should have enough to cover all the onions and fill the jar to the brim, if you run out top them up with some raw vinegar.

7) Cover your jars with their lids and tighten them up well.  Give each jar a good shake and wipe with a damp towel.

Pickling spice usually contains black or green peppercorns or both, allspice, cloves, mustard seeds, bay leaves and chilies.  Feel free to experiment by adding more aromatics. I like dried thyme and fresh dill.  Garlic or lemon zest are other options.  Just be sure to boil everything in the vinegar to sanitize your mixture.

Like I mentioned I leave mine to pickle for at least 2 months, but you can try a sample after about 3 weeks.  Leaving them longer is advisable as they will only get yummier as time goes by.  I turn my jars from time to time leaving them to stand on their heads for a while before turning them right side up again.

YES it takes time but its not tricky at all, the reward is well worth the effort and the wait, and I myself can't think of a better gift than a jar of home made pickled onions.