When we saw these beautiful onion rings in jewel-pink brine on not one but two sites last year we swore we'd make them immediately. Didn't get around to it yet, but really intend to this summer.
The photo above is from Matt Bites, who recently blogged again about these scarlet pickles. He adapted a recipe from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. The recipe includes cinnamon, vinegar, star anise and chilies for smoky spicy pickles, slowly and repeatedly simmered so they keep their crunch and color.
Molly at Orangette also adapted the Zuni red onion pickle recipe, and as she admits to being slightly pickle mad, we'll trust her taste. Try these! We're going to soon, for real...
These onion pickles are absolutely delicious!
You can also quick pickle some onions without any cooking by slicing red onions very thin, dousing them with red wine vinegar and tossing them with salt and sugar. Let them sit for a couple hours in the fridge or overnight and they will be a beautiful pink color. They are a great addition to slow roasted pork or salads.
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Art - I was wondering how I could thank you, so this post is very timely - I made these pickled onions with watermelon (hazlenuts and feta) last night, from your recipe in the earlier thread. A big success with everyone - and such a surprsingly great combination, both taste and texture. Many thanks!
To anyone who might be nervous of onions - my friends looked at me like I'd gone mad when I served but we all loved it (and added more onions).
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That's great Lesley-London!
I'm glad the recipe worked out for you. How are English watermelons by the way?
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I'm just north of Islington, served by many Turkish shops where they are widely available and, I think, very good (and sold alongside excellent feta). Invariably huge - and sweet. I've never tried a US one, I'm afraid - and I'd never even seen one until I was a teenager (when the ones we ate were much smaller). I always wondered when I was a child why Brer Rabbit ate PINK melon as I'd only seen yellow melon...
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PS - I'm now thinking maybe I should have just answered "imported"? I took that as a given, lol.
view Lesley - London's profile
Huge and sweet, that's the mark of a good watermelon wherever you happen to be! That salad is particularly enjoyable if you can make it with both colors of watermelon. I'm kind of lazy and like to use the seedless ones too.
We just had a house guest from Islington. Islington via NYC because he traded flats with someone in NY for 3 months.
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