Holy moly this month is just zipping by.  I am flat out with Christmas stuff and work.  I miss blogging regularly! So I’m grabbing a few minutes with a quick one.  🙂

My husband and I are fans of the pickled onion and they are very easy to make, just a little time consuming.  When my dad tried these it brought him right back to when he was young in England at his local.  You know when the local was still a local?  Hard to find these days!  I got this recipe from the BBC of all places.  I was surprised they post recipes but I’m glad they did as these really work.

You need to start the day before with peeling the onions.  I buy three kinds, white, red, and yellow. 

My least favourite bit is the peeling!  I cry every time.  I do wear the fashionable onion goggles.  🙂  Use only fresh firm onions.

Once they are all peeled then they need to be salted.  Just enough to lightly coat the onions.

Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside overnight.  In the morning rinse and then drain to dry.  While these are drying I start sterilizing the jars.  The size jars I have for this are 1/2 pint and I usually get enough onions to fill 7 of them.  To sterilize the jars I boil them for 10 minutes.  The vinegar mixture I use is a liter of malt vinegar, 6 oz of sugar, and several shakes of red pepper flakes.  Heat this in a saucepan and bring to a boil

I let this simmer as I am packing the onions into the jars.  It’s important the sugar is dissolved.  While packing the jars I put the rings and lids for the cans in the hot water to sterilize further.  I do not boil at this point so I don’t ruin the lids.

Carefully pour the vinegar mix over the onions.  Fill to just below the top.  Place the lids and rings on and tightened the jars.  This recipe does not need to be processed like jam or stock.  Just put in a dark cool spot.  They will be ready in two weeks.

These are great as snacks and are wonderful with a cheese plate or a ploughman’s lunch.