Quick-Pickled Red Onions

Burger season is in full swing and pickled onions are an excellent addition to your fixin’s bar. A buttered and toasted brioche bun, tender lettuce, ripe heirloom tomatoes, and crisp pickled onions transform a ho-hum burger into something spectacular.

The Washington Post wrote an article about a tiny butcher shop called The Farmer’s Daughter Market & Butcher (Capon Bridge, WV) which makes “world-class burgers” featuring theses pickled onions. I visited the quaint shop and it’s as charming as you might imagine. In addition to being a full-service butcher, they offer fresh produce, house-made sausage, cold cuts, subs, pantry staples, and so much more - I love this place! The owner has been kind enough to share his simple recipe for quick-pickled onions so you too can enjoy a world-class burger experience in the comfort of your own home.

This is a “quick” pickle so be sure to slice the onions very thin (like 1/8-inch), which will allow the pickle solution to fully penetrate the onions. Use a razor-sharp knife (this is my favorite) or a mandolin slicer.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• awesome Japanese knife https://amzn.to/37SOWxn

• walnut cutting board https://amzn.to/3Jpaovc

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Quick-Pickled Red Onions

makes 2 cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion (about 5 ounces, by weight), halved and thinly sliced (1/8-inch slices)

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (see notes below)

Directions

1. Place onions in a glass jar that has a tight-fitting lid.

2. In a non-reactive container (glass, plastic, stainless, ceramic), make the pickle solution by combining together the water, vinegar, salt, sugar, minced garlic, and mustard seed; stirring until salt and sugar are completely dissolved.

3. Pour pickle solution over the onions; rest for a few hours or overnight before using.

4. Cover jar with lid and chill leftovers; they will last in the fridge for up to a month.

Notes

• For the best flavor, Pete prefers to use brown mustard seeds - If you can’t find them, yellow mustard seeds may be substituted.

• Avoid mixing the pickle solution in “reactive'“ containers such as unlined cast iron, unlined copper, or aluminum. Examples of non-reactive containers are enameled cast iron, tin-lined copper, stainless steel, glass, ceramic, or plastic.

• Pickled onions are great on more than just burgers - use them on pull pork, potato salad, tacos, beans, tossed salads, etc.

adapted from Pete Pacelli of The Farmer’s Daughter Market & Butcher

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You might also like to try my delectable 3-Napkin Skillet Smash Burger!

Freezing Peaches

I absolutely love when fresh peach season arrives.  Peaches make an appearance in my morning smoothies so here is the easiest and most simple technique I've found to preserve these sweet summer fruits.  

Start with clean, ripe peaches.  I find the less the peaches are handled, the nicer they look so I don't peel them, but you certainly can if you like (my favorite technique for peeling peaches can be found here).   

You'll need some freshly squeezed lemon juice to make an acidulated water dip that will help preserve the peaches color. 

The acidulated water is made of 1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice and 4 parts water. 

Simply cut the peaches into wedges and dunk them in the acidulated water. 

Then place the peach slices on a silpat lined sheet pan and pop them in the freezer for several hours until firm.

After the peaches have frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer bag for short-term storage, or a freezer-safe container for longer storage.

If you plan to use the peaches within a month or so, you can use a standard freezer-safe zipper storage bag.  For longer storage, use a sturdier freezer container or a vacuum sealer (here's the one I have).

An even quicker peach preparation to use in smoothies is to place the slices (not frozen) in a heavy duty blender and give them a blitz.  Then portion individual amounts into small freezer bags.  As you can see, the color has darkened a bit, but that's fine with me since the puree is going into this smoothie recipe.  

Note:  Freshly squeezed lemon juice can be added to help preserve the color, but that would change the overall flavor of the peaches so I opted to not do that.  

Items used:

(affiliate links)

• wusthof flat paring knife https://amzn.to/3NsttR7

• vitamix https://amzn.to/3r4FV1W

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/3NJ5Vsr

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/35ZfEYe

• vacuum sealer https://amzn.to/42SqhUx

• short-term freezer storage bags https://amzn.to/3gy7Qi1

• long-term freezer storage container https://amzn.to/337r76Z

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Freezing Peaches

makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 ripe peaches, washed and dried

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 2 cups cold water

Directions

1. Peel peaches if desired.

2. Cut peaches in half and remove pit; cut peach halves into 8 wedges.

3. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and water; dip peach slices into water and place in a single layer on a silpat lined half sheet pan.

4. Freeze for several hours or overnight; transfer to freezer-safe container for long-term storage.