Monday, July 20, 2009

Pickled red onions


Friday night I ventured out of my house into the scorching heat to visit a friend who I've known since culinary school. Tara ...or Evil Tara, as she has come to be known. Most of our time together is spent further exploring the world of food and sharing crazy experiences. I love having friends who are willing to try something new. They are few and far between. At any rate, Tara took me to have some good stuff. One of the highlights came in the form of nachos, believe it or not. Not that I've never had a nacho before, but these where particularly fascinating. One of the distinguishing ingredient that set them apart... pink pickled onions. I have never had pickled onions on nachos. Never. Mind you, I make pickled onions for my burgers. They are usually sweet Washington onions with an amazing creamy sauce... but these where different. These where pink! The pink color is really just the red onions after being in acid for a while. It's a very cool effect. No...I am totally avoiding any drug references right now. Be impressed.

As I focused on the onions and the flavor, I realized I could totally duplicate them at home. So...here they are. I wanted to make the nachos for Ace, who loves trying new food.

Pickled red onions

2 red onions, sliced thin
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry oregano
1/2 tsp crushed cumin seeds
1/2 tsp pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a covered bowl, refrigerate and allow to cure 24-48 hours. That's it!
These would be amazing on sandwiches, pizzas, fajitas, tacos, with fish or chicken and salads. I'm really excited to explore other possibilities. The nachos will be next.

4 comments:

Goob said...

how can I not comment when the word verification is "Muthical"...lol Did you have these at Mango's or one of their sister restaurants? This post is giving me De'ja Vu, and I'm not exactly certain why.

Chef Tess said...

Had them at a place called Maria Maria. Mangos is really one of my favorites though! Love their tamales.

Doug DePrenger said...

Can this same recipe be used for pickled jalapenos?

Chef Tess said...

Doug, I've used the pepper relish recipe for jalapenos, but used them within about a month. I don't see why this couldn't be used for peppers though, removing seeds and stems if you don't want it to be super hot.