Pickled Pearl Onions

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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
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the onions, and cook 2 minutes. this will make them easier to peel.
  2. 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.
  3. Combine the mustard seeds, celery seeds, horseradish, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Add the honey and chili pepper. remove the horseradish and simmer for another 10 minutes.
  5. Add the onions and cook until tender, about 10 minutes
  6. Remove the onions and continue cooking the liquid until reduced by half.
  7. 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.