PICKLED RED ONIONS REFRIGERATOR

Here is how I do the red onions you've seen in some recent pictures.  We make these and keep them in the refrigerator (or share with friends/family).

Let us start by saying, this is NOT a canning recipe.  

They are not shelf stable.

So recently, a coworker (the one who gave us the jalapeños and sweet potatoes) brought a sack of purple onions and asked "who wants them?"  I knew immediately what I'd do with them.

Pickled onions!

First, I peeled them.  This was the first batch, ultimately I used all of them.

I put a colander into a bowl so I could put them in as a sliced them and to do something else.

Be sure to slice them thinly.  An easy way to get the strips like this is to slice the onion in half (root end to stem end) and then slice them perpendicular to that, as thinly as possible and you'll get the perfect pieces.

I toss them in the colander as I slice them and then when I'm done, I cover them with boiling water.

...this step is optional but it does take away some of the strong onion flavor and mellows it out.  Just pour some boiling water over the onions (that's why I used the colander in the bowl), let them soak while you are getting everything together, a few minutes is fine, and then just pour off the water.

This is the brining liquid for the jars.

1 1/2 cups of white vinegar

1 1/2 cups of boiling water

2 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP kosher salt

Stir it all together so that the salt and sugar dissolves.  This should be enough to fill the three quart jars.

For the first batch, I added some extras

(mix-ins if you will).

2 sliced jalapeños

1 TBSP mixed peppercorns

1 TBSP red pepper flakes

Fill the jars about 3/4 full with the onions that have been soaking in the hot water.  Put in your additions and pour in the brining liquid to top it all off.

For the second batch, I used the rest of the onions to make three more jars with no additions but changing the type of vinegar.  One with apple cider vinegar, another with red wine vinegar and finally one with just the regular white vinegar as the first three only without the additions.

Be sure and label these because once the red color leaks into the water, they all look the same, ha.

Again, these aren't shelf stable.  Though there are recipes out there for canning, these just go in the fridge and are good for a couple of months.  They are a staple in Tex-Mex cuisine and are just darn good on about anything you want to put them on.