PICKLED RED ONIONS

I've been making pickled onions and cucumbers for years just with a sweet and tart vinaigrette and a few hours-to-overnight in the fridge.  Then I began seeing a lot of recipes, especially for tacos, with specifically "pickled red onions"...recipes where they cook the brine and they last for a long time.  I dug the mandolin out of the storage unit and brought it up to the condo and bought a red onion.  I decided to give it a try.  I absolutely adore pickled things (well, not pickled pigs feet nor pickled boiled eggs...but most pickled things).

I found a David Lebovitz recipe (he attributes it elsewhere also) and it was so simple I thought it would be a great first effort.  We're having soft tacos this week at some point so these should be ready for me on that evening!

PICKLED RED ONIONS
Adapted from David Lebovitz recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1 Bay Leaf (I didn't have one so I had to skip it)
5 Allspice Berries
5 Whole Cloves
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
5 cracked black peppercorns (pop them with the bottom of a heavy pan to crack open)
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into very thin rings - I mostly got half rings when I used the thin slice setting.  My mandolin is kind of "different".

Using the guard on the mandolin as it is unbelievably sharp!

Extremely thin onion slices - not many whole rings - but they will work!

Method:

In a non-reactive pan, bring all ingredients except onion to a boil until sugar dissolves.

The seasonings going into the vinegar and sugar mixture -
guard from inhaling - vinegar fumes are strong!

Add onion slices, reduce heat to a simmer, and gently simmer just for 30 seconds.

Instantly the color brightens to pinkish purple in the hot brine

Remove from heat and allow to sit until cooled completely to room temperature.

As they cool they turn more and more pink

Transfer onions and juice to a clean jar and refrigerate until use.

Pretty in Pink :-)

These are reported to be able to last for several months but are best eaten within a week.
I can't imagine they will last that long in my house :-)  I could probably sit down and eat the entire batch in one sitting.  Yum!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!