Sooo much pooping

[Cinnamon]

Does anyone have a tried & trusted pickled onion recipe they can share?

I want to do some for my hampers...have found one for shallots pickled in Balsamic,but they only have a shelf life of 3 months,which is a little too short.

[Daphne]

This isn't exactly a recipe as I can't give you quantities, I just do things by eye, but this is how I've been making pickled onions for years and years. Buy pickling onions (maybe a little late now, so harder to find), choosing the hardest, firmest ones - I prefer smaller ones too as you get more onion and less vinegar in the jar. This year I probably bought about 2lbs of onions to last us a year. The only thing I can suggest is to try to visualise onions in the number of jars you want to fill! You'll find wide necked jars easier to fill. Peel but only take off the smallest amount from the root end - if you take off too much the onions will go soft quicker. Leave overnight in a cool place in a bowl full of salty water. NBThey will leave an oniony aroma in the room! Next day, rinse off the brine with clean cold water. Sterilise jars in dishwasher or very low oven setting for 10-15 mins. Bring vinegar of your choice up to the boil with pickling spices and simmer for a few minutes. Do not inhale unless you have a heavy cold or you'll be sorry! For vinegar quantities I'm guessing again, possibly 2 litres and as much spice as it says on the packet. I use malt which is very strong because I like it. Balsamic or balsamic & cider vinegar or balsamic and white wine vinegar would be milder. Pack the onions as tightly as possible into the warm jars and top up with vinegar. If you find you don't have enough liquid just boil up a bit more vinegar and add it in. Put jars in dark cool place, turning a few times if you remember to distribute the spices. My onions last for 2 years - perfectly safely, tho they will have gone a bit soft by then. Overall, these onions are quite potent, they won't suit people who like a bit of sweetness or mild onion - which is where shallots come in I guess

[Cinnamon]

Thanks for that - I thought that the Omlet collective was going to let me down on this one for a moment there!

[poachedegg]

I have used this recipe a couple of times and always had good feedback:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pickledonions_7719

 

But I leave longer than 2 weeks before using - the longer the better.