Pickled Onions

Let me ask a question - does any other country eat pickled onions, or is it a British thing? I can't remember if I ever saw them when I spent some time abroad, but to be honest, although I've always liked them I've only recently become obsessed with them!

If you've never had them, or even heard of them, they're definitely something to try if you like onions. Tart, crunchy and ever so slightly sweet, they go perfectly with a salad, sandwich, cheese or just as a quick snack - popping one straight out of the jar and into your mouth ;)



Pickled Onions

Ingredients:

500ml jar
300g pickling onions (or just tiny onions - these were about 1" diameter at the most)
1 tbsp sugar
White wine vinegar

Method:

1. Sterilise your jar. I just boiled mine along with the lid for about a minute.
2. Prepare onions - cut off the bottoms, and then make a slit in the side and peel off the skin and top layer of onion.
3. Put the tbsp of sugar into your jar, and add just enough boiling water to get all the sugar to dissolve.
4. Add onions to jar.
5. Add vinegar, ensuring that all onions are covered.
6. Store in a cupboard or pantry until ready to eat, leave them for at least two weeks so they can properly pickle themselves, but they will last for ages. My Mum used to always make hers at the beginning of October to eat at Christmas, and they'd last us for months.

'Tis the Season

During this time of year, with the holidays fast approaching it's a good idea to have some party food ideas that don't take long to put together. Friends and family tend to stop by with only a moments notice and stay for a drink or two, and I always like to have something to serve them when they do. Not only that, but it's the season of parties and whether you're hosting or attending them, it's always good to have a plate of something delicious to take with you!

During December, I'm going to be posting lots of wonderful recipes which are perfect for the holiday season.

Starting with these: Candied Nuts! They're perfect as a last minute thing to throw together while your guests are on their way over. Just four simple ingredients which you'll probably have in your cupboards anyway, and they take about 10 minutes to make!



Ingredients:

1 cup of whole nuts - any kind you like!
Knob of butter or margarine

¼ cup sugar
Splash of vanilla extract

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof/parchment paper
2.. Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. You don't need a lot of butter, just a little and you could even omit it completely if you wanted.
3.. Add nuts and sugar.
4. Stir to coat the nuts in sugar, the sugar should start to melt and turn a light brown colour. Keep stirring to coat fairly evenly.
5. Add splash of vanilla and stir. The vanilla will cause the mixture to sizzle up but that's fine.
5. Tip out onto prepared baking tray. Try to spread them evenly so they don't stick together too much.
6. Leave to cool, then break up any that have still managed to stick together, and serve!

Note: These are especially good while they're still slightly warm, and you might want to double or even treble the recipe depending on how many guests you're having as they're so more-ish!