In that little brown bowl were the last 4 pickled onions from my pre-Christmas batch. There was nothing to do about it, but make some more.
Twenty minutes of teary eyed peeling, twenty four hours of salty soaking (above), and two weeks of mellowing in vinegar sugar salt-n-pepper, and voila; I'll have another lot.
We eat very simply at lunch; usually thin gruel, simple veggie salads, and cheese. Pickles are essential at lunchtime; onions, gherkins, or walnuts, but I'm now going to suffer a 2 week gap without any pickled onions. My own fault, I should have seen the disaster looming.
Anyway, here they are, done; now all I have to do is wait. Torture.
I've decided to abandon most of my other pickle making. These onions are essential, walnuts are almost essential, and my lightly pickled curry flavoured cauliflower florets are certainly worthy of another batch. Otherwise I intend giving up making all those other 'also-rans'.
I love your devotion to all things pickled! I like pickles, too. I wish I could try your onions....they sure sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteYou can only buy pickling onions at a certain time of year here or do you use shallots? I won't be making as much chutney this year - it just keeps accumulating in the cupboard.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what they are; they're just small round onions from the supermarket.
DeleteI love picked walnuts the most then gherkins but am not that keen on pickled onions.
ReplyDeletePickled walnuts are my favourite of all. There is only me who likes them, but who cares - I could easily eat a jar full at one sitting. Our trees never seem to produce useable walnuts so I have to buy them, but good brands are still delicious,
ReplyDeleteYou mention Elizabeth David in your comment on my post. I love her and have many of her books - including 'An Omelette and a Glass of Wine' which I have read many times. She was a classic cook in the old style.
Re Elaine's comment above - yes - I think they are shallots. Our best supermarket always has a goodly supply so that for a few weeks yet it will be possible to make ones iwb pickled onions.
Sorry Cro - I must have been looking out of the window and hit the wrong keys!! of course iwb should read own.
ReplyDeleteMy husband would love to eat at your table.
ReplyDeleteEven the 'thin gruel'?
DeleteNow you made me want to try this, I don't know if i can find those small onions here.I shall try next week in a city market.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd like to try making some. If you don't mind, what proportions of salt for your initial brine? and how much sugar and pepper and what kind of vinegar for your pickling brine?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I do everything by eye. But roughly a quarter of a cup of salt to a pint of water for the overnight brine, then about the same ratio of sugar to vinegar for the pickle. I use red wine vinegar because it's the most common here.
DeleteThanks Cro, that will get me close enough. I'm off to the store to get a bag of small white onions and jug of red wine vinegar.
DeleteI grow and use the small “Spanish” onions for pickling, I have about tree full jars left. That won’t last until the new crop is grown dried and pickled.
ReplyDeleteI love pickled onions, Mr Twigs likes to pickle eggs, do you do those?
ReplyDeleteTwiggy
I did when my hens were over-producing. I love them too.
DeleteThough not as pretty, slice the onions and they will pickle much faster. Also, this summer, buy a cheap pair of swim goggles and never shed a tear again.
ReplyDeleteI like my pickled cauliflower very much. Mostly I like the ideal of pickling onions and cauliflower and anything else that is around works with a wet brine and vinegar and is sharp to eat with cold meats and creates something worth eating from a piece of cold mutton. Keep doing a few and just keep it simple.
ReplyDeleteWould it be sacrilege to buy a jar of pickled onions while you wait for yours Cro or don't they sell them in France ? XXXX
ReplyDeleteThe reason why I started making them was because I saw a tiny jar (Heinz; about 5 onions) in a local supermarket at some really crazy price. I then went to the veg' section and bought 2 small bags of pickling onions for about £1. The pickling process was so simple that I've never stopped.
DeleteAt my last location, the Amish would make chow-chow, which was an assortment of pickled veggies. I haven't tried making my own, and the only pickling I've done is cucumbers for pickles.
ReplyDeleteYou can't beat home made pickles! I must say I like the sound of the lightly spiced curry flavoured cauliflower florets.
ReplyDelete