Pickled Pearl Onions
Ingredients
4 cups pearl onions
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 piece fresh horseradish
1 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 hot chilies, fresh or dried
Directions
Critique
Chef: caramelized nicely, well done, good flavor
Personal/Team: The honey and spice in the sauce is a nice contrast; the texture was soft, but not mushy; had a good bite. A good accent to a light dish.
Lesson learned: Cooking with honey, you need to be careful of reducing the sauce too much, becuase the honey will burn if there isn't enough liquid added to it. I thought that cooking the onions in the sauce I had left after reducing was tough, the larger ones weren't done enough. i think realistically, double the sauce for this many onions would help them cook better.
4 cups pearl onions
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 piece fresh horseradish
1 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 hot chilies, fresh or dried
Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the onions, and cook 2 minutes. this will make them easier to peel.
- Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. trim away the onion tops and hairs at the stem end, leave the base of the stem end intact, then peel.
- Combine the mustard seeds, celery seeds, horseradish, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the honey and chili pepper. remove the horseradish and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Add the onions and cook until tender, about 10 minutes
- Remove the onions and continue cooking the liquid until reduced by half.
- Pour liquid over onions.
Critique
Chef: caramelized nicely, well done, good flavor
Personal/Team: The honey and spice in the sauce is a nice contrast; the texture was soft, but not mushy; had a good bite. A good accent to a light dish.
Lesson learned: Cooking with honey, you need to be careful of reducing the sauce too much, becuase the honey will burn if there isn't enough liquid added to it. I thought that cooking the onions in the sauce I had left after reducing was tough, the larger ones weren't done enough. i think realistically, double the sauce for this many onions would help them cook better.