Pickled cocktail onions

[JAZ]

I'm going to try my hand at pickling pearl onions. I have an idea to start with (a combination of a couple of recipes) but am wondering if anyone has a tried and true recipe. I'm not planning to sterilize and seal these -- just refrigerate them -- but I can adapt traditional recipes.

[mark922]

This is a very basic pickling brine reipe that I have used on jalapenos, cukes, onions, and beets. I find it works just fine.

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 cups cider vinegar

handful of black peppercorns

one bay leaf

two cloves garlic

Bring ingredients together in a small saucepan to a rapid boil. Pour over item to be pickled. (I use mason jars, but an old mayo jar washed out carefully works just as well.) Let cool to the point where you can handle the jar, about 15-20 minutes. Add cold water to fill the jar to just about 1/2 inch below the rim. Let sit for about 24 hours.

This will keep in the fridge for about 2-4 weeks.

[JAZ]

Thanks. I was thinking of using vermouth in the pickling brine -- do you think if I substituted it for the water it would work?

[fifi]

Hmmm... I am trying to think what the alcohol in the mix would do to the cell structure of the onions. I am not getting anywhere with that and haven't found anything comparable, as in brine plus alcohol, in the meager resources that I have. I asked my sister (she is the pickle maker) and she doesn't have a clue, either. I would be curious to find out how it works if you try it.

BTW... I have never tried to pickle cocktail onions... too much of a PITA to clean.

[JAZ]

Well, I've done pickled beets with red wine in the "brine" -- can't imagine that vermouth would be that different. Anyway, we'll find out.

[Bicycle Lee]

My recipe is simple...

fennel seeds, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, peppercorns, salt (not much), equal parts champagne vinegar and water. Bring all this to a boil and then add the onions; already peeled. Turn off the heat almost immediately and let them sit in the hot liquid until they cool. Cover and refrigerate.

[hwilson41]

Hmmm... I am trying to think what the alcohol in the mix would do to the cell structure of the onions.

Fifi;

Wouldn't the alcohol boil away so quickly that it wouldn't be a problem? I don't remember exactly, but I know it boils way lower than water (175F?).

THW

[fifi]

Not necessarily. Alcohol is a polar molecule and, in mixture with water, does not boil off at the temperature that you would expect. In fact, it takes extraordinary methods to "distill" off pure alcohol. There was a thread here somewhere (I can't find it) where the amount of remaining alcohol when cooking with wine or other spirits was astonishing.