At the request of Funsters on Recent and Past Rallies who have enjoyed the homemade Pickled Onions I put on a Jacobs table here is the recipe.
Ingredients
4 kg pickling Shallots or Onions.
5 L of Parsons Malt Vinegar.
1 Sachet of Spice mix,
Demerara Sugar (Optional)
Table salt
Pickling Jars
The recipe and process is a family one passed on to me by my father.
I make two batches of pickles each year, Shallots in the Spring and seasonal Onions in the Autumn.
The onions and shallots I use are both “Medium” size and I buy direct from Parish Farms in 4kg Nets delivered for £15.
I have tried other suppliers including the 1 or 2 lb bags from the market stalls but have not found better quality.
I only use Plain Sarsons Malt Vinegar and buy 5L containers usually on line or at the local cash and carry when on offer. It's surprising how little vinegar is needed per jar.
I use Sterilised Kilner type clip jars in various sizes renewing the rubber seals each year.
The spice mix (Per Jar)
6 Whole Spice
8 Dried Black Pepper Corns
3 Small Dried Red Chillies (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard Seeds
½ teaspoon Ginger Flakes
½ teaspoon crushed bay leaf flakes
1 tablespoon of Brown (Demerara)Sugar (more or less to taste)
In the past I used the Schwartz Pickling Spice refill sachets, however they seem to have gone out of production. 2 sachets would be enough for 4 large 3L jars.
The Spice ingredients list above was taken from the contents on the Schwartz packaging and sourced individually from the Internet. I now make up my own sachets in batches.
Prepping the Onions
This is the most tedious and time consuming part of the process.
Trim the ends of each onion and remove the brown outer skin. Repeat for all 4kg of Onions usually taking about 2 hrs. Any damaged or soft onions bin them.
(If you use small Onions or Shallots they look nicer in the jar but will take longer to clean or large will be quicker)
Wash the cleaned onions in cold water, dry off with a cloth, layer them in a large plastic colander putting a generous amount of table salt on each layer, (about a level tablespoon per layer will do).
Place the colander(s) on a bowl or dish then cover and leave for 24 hours.
I leave ours in the utility room to prevent the kitchen and house becoming onionized!
After 24 hrs remove the colander and discard the brine in the bottom of the bowl / dish.
Wash the onions quickly under cold flowing water to remove the excess salt. (Do not wash them in a bowl or sink full of water or they will reabsorb the water)
Dry them immediately with a cloth.
Add the Spice mix and optional Sugar to the empty sterilised jar.
Fill the Jars with the Onions, shaking the jar to get more in.
Add the vinegar filling to cover the onions
Place the new rubber seals on the Jar lid and seal.
Store for at least 6 weeks before use.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
4 kg pickling Shallots or Onions.
5 L of Parsons Malt Vinegar.
1 Sachet of Spice mix,
Demerara Sugar (Optional)
Table salt
Pickling Jars
The recipe and process is a family one passed on to me by my father.
I make two batches of pickles each year, Shallots in the Spring and seasonal Onions in the Autumn.
The onions and shallots I use are both “Medium” size and I buy direct from Parish Farms in 4kg Nets delivered for £15.
I have tried other suppliers including the 1 or 2 lb bags from the market stalls but have not found better quality.
I only use Plain Sarsons Malt Vinegar and buy 5L containers usually on line or at the local cash and carry when on offer. It's surprising how little vinegar is needed per jar.
I use Sterilised Kilner type clip jars in various sizes renewing the rubber seals each year.
The spice mix (Per Jar)
6 Whole Spice
8 Dried Black Pepper Corns
3 Small Dried Red Chillies (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard Seeds
½ teaspoon Ginger Flakes
½ teaspoon crushed bay leaf flakes
1 tablespoon of Brown (Demerara)Sugar (more or less to taste)
In the past I used the Schwartz Pickling Spice refill sachets, however they seem to have gone out of production. 2 sachets would be enough for 4 large 3L jars.
The Spice ingredients list above was taken from the contents on the Schwartz packaging and sourced individually from the Internet. I now make up my own sachets in batches.
Prepping the Onions
This is the most tedious and time consuming part of the process.
Trim the ends of each onion and remove the brown outer skin. Repeat for all 4kg of Onions usually taking about 2 hrs. Any damaged or soft onions bin them.
(If you use small Onions or Shallots they look nicer in the jar but will take longer to clean or large will be quicker)
Wash the cleaned onions in cold water, dry off with a cloth, layer them in a large plastic colander putting a generous amount of table salt on each layer, (about a level tablespoon per layer will do).
Place the colander(s) on a bowl or dish then cover and leave for 24 hours.
I leave ours in the utility room to prevent the kitchen and house becoming onionized!
After 24 hrs remove the colander and discard the brine in the bottom of the bowl / dish.
Wash the onions quickly under cold flowing water to remove the excess salt. (Do not wash them in a bowl or sink full of water or they will reabsorb the water)
Dry them immediately with a cloth.
Add the Spice mix and optional Sugar to the empty sterilised jar.
Fill the Jars with the Onions, shaking the jar to get more in.
Add the vinegar filling to cover the onions
Place the new rubber seals on the Jar lid and seal.
Store for at least 6 weeks before use.
Enjoy.