So. Red onions. Go into any sandwich shop in America and order a sandwich. Any sandwich. The first or second question the order taker will ask you is, “Onions?”

Why is that?

There aren’t too many vegetables that conjure up such a diversity of opinions as onions. Yellow or white? Big or small? Sweet (and if so, can a sweet onion come from any place other than Vidalia, Georgia?) or tangy? Red? Pearl? Ya want fried onions wit dat?

Down south, where they seem to like almost any vegetable pickled, there’s this thing called pickled red onions, and apparently they like them on their pulled-pork barbecue.

I’ve never been big on pickled stuff. Oh sure, I’ve grown to like a nice barrel-pickled half sour. Truth be told, those great big pickles in the barrels at Zabar’s are way too mushy and soft for my liking, although they are a pretty good garlic delivery system. If you catch them early enough in the pickling cycle that they’re still mostly crunchy cucumbers with salty garlic notes, they are okay; in fact they’re pretty darn good.

But pickled onions?

So when my beloved ordered a salad out with extra pickled onions, I found myself asking, “what’s up with that?” “Pickled onions,” she said matter of factly, like I was supposed to know what they were.

“Would you, could you, in a box?” She asked. “Would you, could you, on your lox?

“I do not like…”

She cut me off.

“Try them, try them. You will see.”

So I did.

“Hey, I like them, Sam I am!”

“I’m not Sam,” she said, perhaps the most obvious statement she’s made to me in years, and maybe just a tiny bit cross.

So. Pickled onions. I do! I like them!

I like them so much that I came home that afternoon and made a batch, from a recipe I found on Pinterest. They were terrific; great on pulled BBQ sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, salads–almost everything we eat here at W-T House. And so, I made more. Lots more, with a (hopefully) balance of sweet, spicy, salty, and savory notes. I adapted it from that first pinned recipe I found, with enough of my own nuances, and it’s fabulous. Try this one at home…

Pickled Red Onions

Ingredients:

6 medium red onions, peeled, halved, sliced very thin

3 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pickling spice

Pinch dried red pepper flakes

Preparation:

1. Slice off the ends of the onions, halve them through the root end, and slice the halves into half moons 1/8 inch thick. A sharp knife or a mandoline is necessary for thin slices. In a large bowl, separate the half moons into individual strands.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients in a medium non-reactive (stainless steel or enamel-coated) pot, bring to a slow simmer uncovered, and simmer for 10 minutes. In the meantime, prepare 4 pint jars, disks and rings for canning (wash and sterilize). Bring a large canning pot to a slow boil.

3. Fill the warm jars with onion slices and pack them tightly to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Slowly pour the hot pickling brine over the onions until the jars are filled to 1/4 inch of the rim when you push down on the onions. Wipe the rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth and cover the jars to hand tight with the disks and rings, tap lightly to eliminate air bubbles, and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

4. Place the filled jars in the boiling canning bath so that they are not touching, and ensure that the lids are covered with 1-2 inches of water. Return the water bath to a boil and process for 10 minutes (timing may be different at different altitudes–check with a canning resource on line for canning at altitude). Turn off the heat and allow the jars to stand untouched in the water bath for five additional minutes. Remove the jars to a wire rack and allow them to cool, untouched, for 24 hours.

5. Check for good seal on the jars–they should all have popped inward. Any jars that have not sealed properly should be placed in the refrigerator; they will keep refrigerated for up to six weeks. These jars will keep, sealed, for up to a year. Once they are opened all bets are off–maybe they’ll last a day or two, but they will keep for up to six weeks,